Ex-football hooligan and grandfather, 61, who went to Ukraine to fight Russian army has not been heard from for months
- Robert Grady, 61, went to Ukraine to fight the Russian Army in March last year
- But he has not been heard from on social media since posts dried up in August
An ex-football hooligan and grandfather who went to fight in Ukraine has not been heard from for months.
Robert Grady, 61, went out to Ukraine in March last year to fight against the Russian Army after Vladimir Putin‘s invasion of the country in February 2022.
After returning to the United Kingdom in April last year claiming he was recovering from Covid, Mr Grady appeared to be back in the country and said he had found a ‘good job’ and was living the ‘dream’ in July.
But after saying he couldn’t reveal much about his new job because it was related to ‘special forces’, Mr Grady has not been heard from since August 2022 after his social media posts dried up.
His last social media post was in August when he changed his Facebook profile picture to a Ukrainian coat of arms placed on the front of the Scottish saltire.
Robert Grady, 61, went out to Ukraine in March last year to fight against the Russian Army after Vladimir Putin’s invasion of the country in February 2022.
In April 2022, the former Hibernian FC hooligan was captured in a video wearing body armour and holding an assault rifle.
He said: ‘My name is Rob. I’m a 61-year-old grandfather from Scotland. I’ve travelled to Ukraine to help Ukraine fight the Russians.
‘I’ll do anything I can in my power to save Ukraine from Putin. Everybody in the world please help Ukraine.’
But after a month in the country he shared on social media that he had returned home and was in the process of recovering from Covid.
Months later in July he posted a picture of himself dressed in camouflage body armour and shorts holding an assault rifle.
He said he was ‘back’ in Ukraine in response to people’s comments, with people telling him to ‘keep up the good work’ and ‘stay safe’.
Mr Grady claimed he had landed a ‘good job’ but it was related to special forces so he couldn’t say ‘too much’ in response to some users comments.
Months later in July he posted a picture of himself dressed in camoflauge body armour and shorts holding an assault rifle
He said he was ‘back’ in Ukraine in response to people’s comments, with people telling him to ‘keep up the good work’ and ‘stay safe’. Pictured: Ukrainian servicemen load an armoured vehicle before deploying to the frontline of Bakhmut, Chasiv Yar, Ukraine
His last post was in August, a month after he confirmed he was back in Ukraine and he has not been heard from on social media since.
He changed his Facebook profile picture to an image of the Scottish Saltire with a Ukrainian coat of arms superimposed over the top.
Mr Grady built up a reputation as a hooligan linked to the Easter Road club from the early 1980s.
He was a member of the Capital City Service (CCS) and received a football banning order as recently as 2014 for taking part in a street brawl after a cup final.
In the summer of last year, a Georgian commander said there were around 3,000 British volunteers fighting in Ukraine against Russia.
Estimates from the commander are unofficial but said that Brit volunteers were the second largest group of foreign fighters, ahead of the US and behind Georgia.
The Foreign Office has been approached for comment.
