British Volunteer Chris ‘Swampy’ Garrett Killed by Russian IED Explosion in Kharkiv Region

British volunteer and veteran Chris Garrett, 40, was killed on Tuesday when clearing a Russian minefield in eastern Ukraine’s Izyum city in the Kharkiv region. 

The explosion killed another member of his ordnance disposal team and left another in critical condition.

Garrett had served in the Ukrainian Armed Forces since 2014 and had co-founded the NGO Prevail Together, which worked across Ukraine on explosive ordnance disposal (EOD), medical assistance and humanitarian aid. 

Prevail Together board member, Shaun Piner, reported on X that Garrett and two others were seriously injured in an incident involving an improvised explosive device (IED) at a home in Izyum on Tuesday, with both Garrett and another individual later succumbing to their wounds.  

Garrett, a native of the Isle of Man, earned the nickname “Swampy” for his past work as a tree surgeon,  according to a news outlet in the Isle of Man. He came to Ukraine in 2014 after serving in the British Army, where he trained in ordnance disposal in Myanmar.

He joined a Ukrainian National Guard unit between 2014 and 2018 during the first phase of Russia’s Donbas invasion and later transitioned to a combat role, serving in a scout sniper platoon.

Following the full-scale invasion in February 2022, Garrett returned and was one of the first to help remove ordnance after the liberation of Bucha, Irpin, and Hostomel Airport near Kyiv, according to The Sun.

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Garrett told The Sun that he and his team worked to detonate tons of unexploded artillery shells, mines, and IEDs, and trained over 2,000 Ukrainian military and police personnel.

Following Moscow’s invasion, Ukraine has become one of the most landmine and ordnance-contaminated countries in the world.   

Ukraine-based US video journalist Corrie Nieto, a friend of Garrett’s, told Kyiv Post that Garrett “loved [Ukraine] with all his heart.”

“Chris was a legend in Ukraine. He’d been here since the early days of the ATO. I was lucky enough to sit down and interview him a few times, and through that, we became friends,” Nieto said, referring to Russia’s initial invasion in 2014 via pro-Russian proxy groups using the official Ukrainian terminology, Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO).

“He loved this country with all his heart and did everything he could to help, including founding ‘Prevail,’ which has trained thousands of soldiers in explosive ordnance disposal. What happened is a tragedy. I’ll miss my friend deeply. He died a hero of Ukraine,” he added. 

For his efforts in mine clearing and bomb disposal, Garrett was sentenced in absentia to a 14-and-a-half year prison sentence by a court in Russian-occupied Donetsk, a charge he dismissed in March of this year as “a pathetic attempt to smear me by those who have murdered, raped and tortured thousands of civilians in Ukraine,” according to The Sun.

Garrett had previously worked with Nate Vance, cousin of US Vice President JD Vance, and referred to Nate Vance as “a fantastic guy to work with and a proper team player… No make-up, no eyeliner, just a 100% real man, unlike his cousin” in an X update. 

Chris Garrett is survived by his partner and infant daughter.