View: I travel to warzones to show what you won’t see in mainstream media

Opinions expressed in View articles are solely those of the authors.

I was at the fall of Kabul in August. In December, I was wanted for arrest by the newest country in the world, South Sudan, for talking about the corruption I witnessed. I was the first westerner to enter Kazakhstan during the riots in January by climbing a mountain in a neighbouring country.

My travel often raises eyebrows with the UK’s anti-terrorism police who have interrogated, and cleared me, many times.

Nonetheless, I’m here to document the wars without the bias, propaganda or filter that big media all too commonly present. I want to provide an on-the-ground perspective from a normal person.

I'm also here to help others. One thing I don’t appreciate about war journalists is that they report and then leave soon after. Through donations, I’ve managed to help a few families leave Ukraine or get them the resources they need.

In South Sudan, I handed out laptops at refugee camps. I’m currently financially supporting an Afghanistan family as they’re wanted for execution by the Taliban for helping out NATO.

And now I am in Ukraine. I could be here for a few weeks - or possibly a lifetime if things go wrong.

I woke up on the day of the invasion to several missed calls and messages. I had been in Ukraine for three weeks but had come home just two days before the war broke out.

After shouting at stationed Russian troops on the Donetsk frontlines wearing a Putin mask and exploring abandoned military bases on the border, I thought it was just going to be a small regional conflict. But I was wrong and I had to go back.

Within an hour I was out of bed and catching a train to the airport to fly to Poland. I booked one way to save money - just in case I didn’t come back.