Graham Phillips

Biography

Graham William Phillips (born 26 January 1979) is a pro-Russia blogger/videoblogger/journalist who describes himself as an "independent British journalist" and who is under UK Government sanctions for producing and publishing "propagandist video content which glorifies the Russian invasion of Ukraine and its atrocities, and promotes disinformation advanced by Russia as a justification for the invasion". He is also sanctioned by the European Union and Ukraine for the same reasons. Phillips was the first British-born UK citizen to be added to the UK sanctions list, and remains the only British-born national to be sanctioned by the UK. Phillips maintains that he "shows the truth about Donbas" and accuses the Ukrainian Government of being 'Nazis' and of indiscriminately shelling civilians. From 2013, during Euromaidan in Ukraine, then the Donbas War in eastern Ukraine, Phillips initially worked as a stringer for Russian state-owned television networks RT (2013–14) and Zvezda (2014–15), before going on to report for his own YouTube channel, building his channel up to hundreds of thousands of subscribers, and over 112 million views, before YouTube deleted it. Russian authorities awarded him medals for his work, including one from Russia's Federal Security Service. Phillips was an active supporter of Brexit in the 2016 UK referendum. Writing on Phillips' work from the Donbas in 2017, the BBC described him as "often in the midst of tearing bullets and toppling buildings. His daredevil style has drawn the attention of audiences". In the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Phillips has made videos from the occupied territories, sometimes wearing Russian combat uniform and insignia, and displaying the Russian Z symbol. In July 2022, several months after the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, the government of the United Kingdom imposed sanctions on Phillips, stating that his work "supports and promotes actions and policies which destabilise Ukraine and undermine or threaten the

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