“I am proud to be British, proud of my country. However, I am ashamed of our country’s position regarding events in Donbass [Donbas], and am doing as much as I can to correctly represent the honour, and history, of our great nation,” Graham Phillips said in his letter posted on The Truth Speaker magazine.
Phillips responded to the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s letter sent on February 18, in which London expressed concern over him being “photographed while wearing military uniforms, separatist insignia, or holding firearms.” The office also recommended Phillips to leave Ukraine for safety reasons.
“I’m not in Ukraine, I am in Novorossiya, which voted to secede from Ukraine in referendums last May 11th, after the violent revolution of Euromaidan installed an unelected, far-right government,” Phillips claimed in response.
Phillips, who was working for Russia's Zvezda television channel and made special reports from the hotspots for the RT television channel, was detained twice by the Ukrainian State Security Service while working in eastern Ukraine. He was also wounded while covering clashes between Kiev forces and independence supporters.
Over 5,600 people died as a result of military operation led by Kiev forces in eastern Ukraine, according to the United Nations. More than 12,000 were injured, including civilians and journalists on professional duty.
On February 15, a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine came into force after the agreement reached by the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany.
