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Graham Phillips
Graham Phillips in 2012
Born	Nottingham, United Kingdom
Alma mater	University of Dundee
Occupation(s)	YouTuber, documentary film maker, and journalist

Graham William Phillips is a British journalist, YouTuber, and documentary film maker, who formerly worked as a journalist for the Russian state-owned television networks Russia Today (2013–2014) and Zvezda (2014–2015). From March 2022 Phillips covered the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine from the Russian side, initially from the Chernihiv area of Ukraine, and then from Mariupol on his YouTube channel. Phillips has been described as "pro-Russia", and "pro-Kremlin", though he maintains his reporting is independent.

Biography

Phillips graduated from the University of Dundee with a dual degree in philosophy and history in the early 2000s, then moved to London. For the bulk of his career in London, he worked for the now-defunct Central Office of Information, as a clerk.

In Ukraine (2011–2014)

In late 2011, Phillips moved to Ukraine to work as a journalist, motivated, as he has stated, by the Euro 2012 football tournament. He moved to Kyiv and started a blog, where Phillips wrote about life in Ukraine, history, politics, crime, Euro 2012, and sex tourism. The blog was later deleted.

In 2012, Phillips worked in Kyiv as a journalist for What's On magazine. After leaving What's On, Phillips worked as a freelance journalist from Ukraine, publishing several articles for the New Statesman, and the Kyiv Post among others. Phillips's work as a freelance journalist in Ukraine often focused on crime, as he covered the case of Oksana Makar, a Ukrainian girl raped and killed, and Barry Pring, a British man killed outside Kiev. In November of 2012, Phillips wrote an article for Pravda.ru about the 'gloomy atmosphere' in Ukraine after the highs of Euro 2012, and worries for the future. In early 2013, Phillips self-published a book Ukraine – Men, Women, Sex, Murder, which culminated with his investigation into the death of Barry Pring. The book was removed from sale after a legal action by Anna Ziuzina, the woman he accused of Mr Pring's murder.

In 2012, and 2013 on his blog, Phillips wrote a series of articles critical of Ukrainian nationalist politician Stepan Bandera and the Ukrainian nationalist party Svoboda, referring to Bandera as a 'Nazi', and Svoboda as 'neo-Nazis'. Phillips was opposed to Euromaidan from the start, in November of 2013, and began doing interviews with Russian state channel Russia Today at this time, before going to work for them in Donbass in April of 2014, covering the Russo-Ukrainian War. At this time, Phillips was also doing 'street interviews' across Ukraine, for his YouTube channel. In May of 2014, Phillips was captured by Ukrainian forces while reporting from Mariupol. After a day in detention, he was released, on the condition that he would immediately leave Ukraine.

After covering the 2014 World Cup in Brazi as a journalist and football fan, Phillips returned to report from Donbas in summer of 2014, an apparent violation of the terms of his May release. Phillips was swiftly captured by Ukrainian forces again at Donetsk Airport, before being held for three days, and then deported into Poland, banned from Ukraine for three years. Phillips stated that he was maltreated by Ukrainian forces during his detention at Donetsk Airport, while Ukraine accused Phillips of "supporting terrorism" as a "Kremlin propagandist".

Despite his ban, Phillips returned again to Ukraine in August of 2014. In November of 2014, Phillips was wounded by shrapnel while reporting from the Donbas frontlines.

Across Europe, and Russia (2016–2021)

On 16 March 2016, he was detained in Riga, Latvia for disrupting the Remembrance Day of the Latvian Legionnaires events, after which he was deported to Russia and blacklisted for three years. Afterwards, Phillips covered the Brexit referendum in the UK, openly declaring himself a supporter of Brexit.

On 2 August 2016, together with German journalist and activst Billy Six, he entered the Berlin office of the investigative journalism organisation Correctiv without permission and demanded an interview with Marcus Bensmann, who was investigating Malaysia Airlines Flight 17. The duo repeatedly accused the organisation of lying, shouting "Lying press!" and filming the incident, and refused to leave until police called by Correctiv arrived. In a 17 September 2016 video published by Phillips, he is seen taunting a disabled Ukrainian prisoner of war shortly before a prisoner exchange who had lost both of his arms and sight in a mine blast, sparking outrage in Ukraine. Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group called for journalist NGOs to condemn Phillips' actions.

In 2017, Phillips was accused by a Ukrainian prosecutor's office of taking an active role in the information and propaganda activities of the Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic. Phillips was alleged to have collaborated, and been friends, with separatist leaders Mikhail Tolstykh and Arsen Pavlov. Phillips was known to be friends with Doctor Liza, and released a film about her in 2017, following her death in December of 2016.

In early 2018, Phillips released a film, Brit in Crimea, where he took Scottish businessman Les Scott on holiday to the Russian-annexed Crimea. In August 2018, Phillips gatecrashed an exhibition at the Embassy of Georgia in London by Gia Bugadze dedicated to the 10th anniversary of the Russo-Georgian War, and was arrested by police for disrupting the event, shouting that the exhibition was 'propaganda' and that its attendants were 'NATO zombies'. In October 2018, Phillips released a documentary on his YouTube channel, accusing the Ukrainian nationalist politician Stepan Bandera of being a Nazi. He then travelled to his grave, in Munich, and vandalised it by tearing down the Ukrainian flags and attaching a banner reading "Ukrainian Nazi Stepan Bandera is buried here", prompting an investigation by the Munich Police Department.

In 2019, Phillips started recording and publishing videos in Kosovo, in which he called the country a terrorist state, Kosovo Liberation Army a "terrorist organization" and Ramush Haradinaj, Hashim Thaçi, and other Kosovar leaders "war criminals and terrorists", sparking outrage in Kosova. Phillips received death threats for his comments and was denied further entry into Kosovo for life. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Phillips reported from Russia, and also the UK, where he covered Black Lives Matter events in London, describing himself as opponent to the movement.

Phillips has repeatedly reported from Crimea since the Russian annexation in 2014. Phillips has frequently described himself as a fan of Rover cars, and make several videos, and documentaries on the theme, including from the Longbridge site.

In 2021, Phillips released a new documentary about the MS Estonia, based around his interview with survivor Paul Barney.

Return to Ukraine (2022)

Despite receiving a lifetime ban in 2014, Phillips returned to Ukraine in 2022 to report about the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He has called support for Ukraine "virtue signalling" for a "fashionable cause" and likened it to the support for Black Lives Matter. In March, Phillips was reporting from the Chernihiv area of Ukraine.

In April, Phillips was back reporting in Donbas, and on 18 April 2022, Phillips interviewed Aiden Aslin, a British-Ukrainian soldier who had been captured by the Russian Armed Forces while serving in Ukrainian military and fighting in Mariupol. Phillips uploaded video of the interview to his YouTube channel, in which Aslin could be seen in handcuffs. British barrister Geoffrey Robertson said the interview could be a violation of international law, saying "coercive interrogation of prisoners of war for propaganda purposes is contrary to the Geneva Conventions". According to Yahoo! News, Phillips may face a war crime prosecution as a result of the interview. Former British Cabinet minister Damien Green described him as the modern-day equivalent of Second World War Nazi propagandist Lord Haw Haw.

On 20 April, Phillips was criticised by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Nottinghamshire Member of Parliament Robert Jenrick in the House of Commons. Johnson accused Phillips of producing propaganda messages and Jenrick said "the interviewer Graham Phillips is in danger of prosecution for war crimes". On 23 April, YouTube announced that it had removed Phillips' interview of Aslin citing privacy violations. In addition, the company announced that it had restricted Phillips ability to monetise content via his channel.

For his part, Phillips has stated that he has "nothing to hide," adding that Aslin had "requested the interview". "Let anyone serious present any real charges against me, and I'll fully answer all of them - I'm an independent journalist of complete integrity, and absolutely sound of conscience and ethics," he said.

Awards

In 2015, he was awarded a medal, allegedly, by the Border Service, a branch of FSB, Russia's primary security service. Phillips has further been awarded several medals by the separatist republics of Donbas, for his journalistic work, including a II degree Medal of Merit by the head of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic Igor Plotnitsky.

References

1. ^ Ball, Tom (12 April 2022). "Graham Phillips: Briton banned from Ukraine is back doing Kremlin's bidding". The Times. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
2. "British journalist Graham Phillips held in Ukraine". BBC News. 21 May 2014. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
3. Walker, Shaun (21 May 2014). "British journalist Graham Phillips released by Ukraine forces". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
4. ^ Scott, Katy. "Controversial Tayside YouTuber accused of being 'Putin agent' returns to Ukraine". The Courier. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
5. Schultz, Robert (15 July 2015). "British Citizen Exposed as a Tool of Russia's FSB" (in Ukrainian). StopFake. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
6. "COURIER OPINION: Tayside blogger Graham Phillips' Ukraine videos are dangerous Russian propaganda". The Courier. 20 April 2022. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
7. ^ Capurro, Daniel; Bowman, Verity (19 April 2022). "Who is Graham Phillips, the ex-Whitehall civil servant now pushing Russian propaganda?". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 19 April 2022. Cite error: The named reference ":1" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
8. "Graham Phillips articles for New Statesman". New Statesman. 2012. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
9. "KyivPost / Graham Phillips". Kiev Post. 2012. Retrieved 26 April 2022.
10. "The tragic case of Ukraine's Oksana Makar draws to a close". New Statesman. 30 October 2012. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
11. "Businessman 'murdered' by lap dancer bride while they celebrated 1st wedding anniversary, inquest told". The Independent. 27 January 2017. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
12. "Ukraine's post-Euro Blues". Pravda.ru. 27 November 2012. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
13. "Book Removed From Sale". 7 June 2013. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
14. "Stepan Bandera – Nazi Loser?". 14 April 2013. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
15. "View From the Streets in Kharkiv". Yahoo! News. 14 March 2014. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
16. "British journalist Graham Phillips released by Ukraine forces". The Guardian. 23 May 2014. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
17. "Graham Phillips: Donetsk Detention Diary". Pravda. 5 August 2014. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
18. "British Journalist Graham Phillips Wounded in Eastern Ukraine". Fars News Agency. 24 November 2014. Retrieved 21 April 2022.
19. "Pro-Kremlin journalist Graham Phillips deported from Latvia and blacklisted for three years". The Baltic Times. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
20. "REVEALED: Vote Remain youth think they can stay in EU as 'individual citizens'". The Daily Express. Retrieved 21 April 2022.
21. "Anti-Brexit protester Hollie, by Downing Street (Reportage)". Retrieved 24 April 2022.
22. Niewendick, Martin (4 August 2016). "Ungebetener Besuch beim Rechercheverbund „Correctiv"". Der Tagesspiegel Online (in German). 1865-2263. Retrieved 21 April 2022.
23. "British blogger Graham Phillips breaks into a German media outlet and prompts a visit from German police". Meduza. 3 August 2016. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
24. Eckel, Mike (23 September 2016). "British Reporter's Diatribe At Maimed Captive Rankles Kyiv". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
25. Coynash, Halya (21 September 2016). "Not in Our Name: Journalist NGOs Should Condemn Propagandist Graham Phillips' Torture Stunt". Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
26. Gordon, Dmitry (17 February 2017). "Суд надав ГПУ доступ до всіх телефонних переговорів журналіста Філліпса з квітня 2014 року" (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 19 April 2022.
27. (in Ukrainian). 24 January 2017 https://pravoslavie.ru/100445.html. Retrieved 26 April 2022. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help); Text "ENGLISH-LANGUAGE “DR. LIZA” DOCUMENTARY TO BE FILMED" ignored (help)
28. Morrison, Thea (8 August 2018). "Russia Today Journalist Voices Anti-Georgia Messages at Embassy in UK". Georgia Today. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
29. "Munich police open case involving desecration of Bandera's burial site – Ukrainian consulate". Interfax-Ukraine. 16 October 2018. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
30. "Graham Phillips, the UK journalist campaigning against Kosovo". ocnal.com. 9 March 2019. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
31. Morina, Die (11 March 2019). "UK Journalist Banned From Twitter Angers Some in Kosovo". Balkan Insight. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
32. Strachan, Graeme (18 March 2019). "Former Perth High pupil given life ban from Kosovo". The Courier. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
33. ^ "Who is Graham Phillips, the YouTuber accused of 'war crimes'". The Guardian. 20 April 2022. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
34. "MG Rover". Retrieved 25 April 2022.
35. "MS Estonia documentaries". Retrieved 21 April 2022.
36. Wood, Poppy (19 April 2022). "Aiden Aslin capture video: Russia uses pro-Kremlin Briton to interview captured fighter in propaganda war". i. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
37. "YouTube blogger 'in danger of committing war crime' over propaganda interview of British POW in Ukraine". Yahoo! News. 20 April 2022.
38. Emma, Vardy (23 April 2022). "Aiden Aslin: Captured Briton's YouTube interview removed". BBC. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
39. Глава ЛНР вручил британскому журналисту Грэму Филлипсу награду Республики

• Living people
• Alumni of the University of Dundee
• British journalists
• British YouTubers
• British expatriates in Ukraine
• British expatriates in Russia
• People deported from Latvia
• People deported from Ukraine
• People from Nottingham
• RT (TV network) people