Parents whose British son died fighting in Ukraine ‘begged him not to go’
A family has paid tribute to their ‘brave’ son who has been killed after volunteering to fight in Ukraine.
Callum Tindal-Draper, 22, from Gunnislake in Cornwall, was killed in action while serving with the foreign volunteer platoon against Russia, which invaded the country in 2022.
In an interview with the BBC, his father Steven Draper said he begged his son not to travel to Ukraine, but he told him he was ‘not frightened of bullies’.
‘We begged and begged and begged him not to go,’ his father said.
‘But Callum said “dad, I’m not frightened of bullies and what’s going on in Ukraine is awful and someone needs to stand up for these people”.’
In the same interview, his mother Caroline Tindal said she had visited him in September and he seemed as if he had found ‘who he was meant to be’.
‘It was such a transformation and he said to me “mum, coming out here was the best thing that ever happened to me, I’ve found who I was meant to be”,’ Ms Tindal said.
‘He found who he was meant to be, he became that person and he lived it.’
The war in Ukraine is now in its third year, and shows little sign of ending soon.
This morning, the UK’s Chief of Defence staff pledged that Ukraine will determine how its war with Russia will end, amid Donald Trump’s suggestion of a deal between Kyiv and Moscow.
Admiral Sir Tony Radakin told Sky News’s Sunday With Trevor Phillips: ‘When we talk about this coming to an end, that’s for the government of Ukraine to determine, and in the meantime, we continue to support Ukraine.’
Sir Tony had earlier said it would be wrong for him to speculate on how US policy might change but warned that Russia ‘is making tactical gains and is seizing more territory, but it’s doing that at enormous cost’.
He described an ‘enormous cost in terms of (Russia’s) soldiers, and over 1,500 people a day either killed or wounded in October; enormous cost in terms of its economy, having to reshape its economy so 40% of its public spending is now on defence and security; and at the strategic level, Russia is losing.
‘Russia wanted a smaller Nato. It’s got a larger Nato. Russia wanted to subjugate Ukraine. It’s never going to subjugate Ukraine.’
Ms Tindal also posted a tribute to her son to a group on Facebook, writing: ‘He fought till he could no longer hold them off any more and his platoon are calling him a “hero” and “As brave as they come”.
’22 is a young age. But you lived and died following your heart, soul and morals.
‘May you rest in peace and help watch over those who have passed.’
Mr Tindal-Draper was a former student of Duchy College, in Stoke Climsland, Cornwall.
In a tribute on Facebook, the college’s Military and Protective Services Academy said he was a ‘model student’ with a ‘strong moral compass’.
‘He was a passionate, articulate and bright student, who was keen to learn, with a strong moral compass,’ the post said.
‘He was very proud of his family history in the services.
‘He was well liked and respected by his peers, and was not one to shy away from causes he believed in and was instrumental in collecting the three minibus loads of humanitarian equipment for civilians that the learners gathered when the war in Ukraine initially kicked off.’
The post added that Mr Tindal-Draper worked for the NHS after finishing the course.
An FCDO Spokesperson said: ‘We are aware that a British national has reportedly died in Ukraine and stand ready to assist the family in the UK’.
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