A British man who has served three tours of Ukraine as an independent fighter says 50% of his comrades are dead - and trauma means he won't return.

Jack Sutton, 36, served as a private with the Staffordshire Mercian Regiment in the British Army for four years before he left in 2014.

He travelled to the war-torn country shortly after Russia's invasion in February 2022 after deciding he wanted to help and has spoken of the horrors he has seen while fighting on the front line against the Russians.

He spent six months there, before returning for two more six month stints over the next two and a half years.

Across his three tours, Jack served in Bakhmut, Kharkiv, Kyiv, and Donetsk alongside the 1st and 2nd Infantry Battalion of the International Legion, he said.

Jack spent time in trenches manning machine guns in dense forest, capturing Russian soldiers and retrieving the bodies of fallen comrades.

He has now revealed his day-to-day life was like "hell" and "not for the faint-hearted" as he battled to stay alive."

Jack watched his friends blown up in front of him, contend with drones whizzing above him, and had to pack the remains of his fallen comrades into body bags so they could be sent home to their relatives.

He was unable to eat meat when he returned because it reminded him of the "smell of dead bodies"."

Since his return home, Jack has struggled with re-adapting and has spent time crying because of the flashbacks.

He says 50% of the men he served with are no longer alive, and he sees no prospect of the war ending anytime soon.

Whilst he says he "would love to carry on helping", Jack says he has "taken too many blows too the head."

Jack from Birmingham, who is homeless, said: "Day-to-day, you're basically doing four days on on the front line and then four days off. It's hell in a word."

"It's not for the faint-hearted - my best friend was blown up. It was difficult out there."

"It's constant adrenaline, and then you have to deal with the adrenaline comedown."

"You're fighting to stay alive."

"I've come back, and I'm struggling day to day."

Speaking of how he decided to go, he said: "When the war started, they reached out asking for help."

"The Ukrainian president sent out a tweet asking for soldiers from other countries - I went to the Ukrainian Embassy, and because I have experience, I was straight out there serving."

"Getting there is a war in itself. "

"When you get to the border it's like a whole different world. "

"When I first went you didn't get paid, you were just there to get bombed."

"But now, you go online and they'll push you straight to the front line if you have prior experience, but if you don't have experience, you'll do a small six week camp to prepare."

"I was a machine gunner - it affected me the way I am as a person now."

"If I could take it back, I would - it took a toll on me."

"The first few months there were full on."

"It takes something from you, but you also want to keep helping."

Jack says while he would "love" to continuing helping, he now struggles to talk with his friend - who also served in Ukraine - because of the shock."

He said: "I only went there to help. I'd love to carry on helping, but I can't anymore - I've had that many blows to the head."

"I can't see the war coming to an end anytime soon."

"Even as a British solider this is a totally different ball game in Ukraine - you're fighting another army. "

"It really dawns on you. "

"Across the eastern line is trench warfare now. "

"I've got footage out of me in no man's lands, but my main role was to support my platoon with the support weapon - that's a lot of pressure."

"My best friend is scarred for life; he's lucky to be alive."

"I struggle to talk to him; when you've been through that much trauma, it's hard."

"He got hit with a mortar, and the shrapnel hit him."