A British man who flew to Russia to combat alongside Vladimir Putin’s forces in Ukraine has insisted he’s “not a terrorist”.
Ben Stimson filmed himself wearing Russian fight gear and flaunted a grenade apparently looted from Ukrainian forces.
He has posted footage showing to point out international fighters strolling previous {dead} our bodies within the struggle zone – in addition to a street journey out of occupied Mariupol.
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“Sure, I am again in Russia and I am again in uniform,” he says in a single video, insisting that he believes what he’s doing is true in one other.
It not his first stint in Ukraine, having spent 4 months within the Donbas area with pro-Russian militia in 2015 – a visit he summed up as “vodka, girls and weapons”.
Upon his return to the UK he was convicted of a terror offence and jailed for greater than 5 years.
A choose accepted that Stimson didn’t “really interact in any preventing” throughout that point in Ukraine “and had meant to carry out humanitarian work”, regardless of him being pictured holding an AK-47.
Now, it appears, Stimson is again with Russian forces as soon as once more.
He’s believed to have flown out to Russia probably through a 3rd nation in late February.
In photos posted to social media, Stimson claims to have been detained at a UK airport below the Terrorism Act and had telephones and a laptop computer confiscated, however later stated on 25 February he had made it to Moscow.
If he returns to the UK, Stimson may as soon as once more face investigation and potential imprisonment.
A international fighter in what’s reported to be the Donbas area of Ukraine. Pic: Ben Stimson
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“Each man takes his selection,” he says in a video. “A whole lot of us selected to come back over to this facet… to the Russian facet, as a result of we imagine what we’re doing [is] proper.
“It is easy to name somebody a terrorist,” he provides. “We do what we imagine is true… I’m not a f****** terrorist. Keep in mind that.”
He additionally filmed himself holding up a grenade apparently captured from Ukrainian forces – taunting viewers again residence that it had been paid for by UK taxpayers.
One other British man can be with Russian forces in Ukraine, in response to stories.
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A authorities spokesperson stated: “The federal government’s precedence stays sustaining the protection and safety of the UK.
“Any one who travels from the UK to battle zones to interact in illegal exercise, ought to anticipate to be investigated upon their return.”
Further OSINT reporting by Olive Enokido-Lineham