I’m not a traitor to the British people.
Maybe to the British government.
I’m a traitor.
This is Ben Stimson.
We’re off to Donbass doing humanitarian.
An antiques trader from Olderman, England who went to fight for Vladimir Putin.
I’m a soldier.
I stand by my beliefs that what I’ve done is the right thing to do.
In Britain, he’s been called a traitor, but in Russia, he’s seen as a hero.
Whether special military operation is right or wrong, history will tell.
I believe it’s right.
And this is his first interview with British media.
Why did you decide to fight for Russia? All my life I’ve been uh an anti-NATO activist right from a child childhood.
My mother was a CND activist.
She was outside American air bases.
Um she also marched against Iraq, the Iraq war, the illegal Iraq war.
And I just saw it back in 2014, 2015.
This was another the West putting its nose in, stirring up another coup, another color revolution.
But why do you think Vladimir Putin was justified in launching a full-scale invasion on 24th of February 2022? I’d call it special military operation.
Why is the West now bombing Iran? If you’re saying what’s happening in Iran is unjustified, if you’re saying uh the war in Iraq was unjustified in 2003, why do you think the so-called special military operation, Russia’s war in Ukraine, protect the ethnic Russians of the Donbas who have been under siege for had up for eight years.
The 50-year-old signed a contract with the Russian military in 2024.
He served for more than a year.
First, he says, as an engineer, and then as an instructor for other English-speaking recruits.
Some in Britain have called him a traitor.
How do you respond to that? Are you a traitor? I have not seen any declaration of war from either side.
So, I’m not a traitor.
Britain is the land of my birth.
I’m not a traitor to Brit.
I’ve still got a lot of friends in in Britain.
I’ve still got family in Britain.
I’m not attracted to the British people.
Did you fire any weapons? I can guarantee you I’ve killed nobody.
No, I’ve never shot at anybody knowingly.
But this wasn’t Stimson’s first time in Ukraine.
Now, Donetsk is my favorite city in Russia.
In 2015, he spent four months in the Donbass with pro Moscow militia.
And on returning to Britain back then, he was convicted of a terror offense and jailed for more than 5 years.
Maybe I would have been better just going on protests in London and marching, but no, I I chose to sign up for the militia in 2015 because I thought and I still believe I was protecting the people of the Donbas, the ethnic Russian people for their identity, their language, and the evidence is there that the West interfered during the Maidan.
And that’s what I stand by.
Aside from your reasoning, um, how did you end up going from Oldm to the Donbass? Why was the cause of the people of the Donbass, as you say? Why was that so important for you, someone coming from Olden? Well, from a I’m from a working-class background.
Olden’s a very very workingass uh town, as you know.
The miners of the Donbass during the great minor strike supported the workingclass miners of the north of England of the Yorkshire coal fields.
Having served in the military, Stimson was able to acquire Russian citizenship earlier this year.
I’m happy to finally receive Russian citizenship.
My future is in Russia.
But after moving to Russia, his family in the UK cut ties with him and he says they’re now subject to death threats.
I have to accept my my decisions.
Um, of course I’d like to speak to my father again.
Look, it’s not going to happen.
That’s his decision.
So, no regrets.
No, not regrets.
I would obviously like to still be in contact with my immediate family, but it’s not going to happen and I have to accept that.
So, just to be clear, Russia and its war in Ukraine, that is worth more to you than as a principal.
As a principal man, yes, that is my moral decision.
Why? Because in life there are things bigger than us.
Returning home is not an option for Stimson.
He’ll almost certainly be arrested.
The Foreign Office declined the request for comment, but its travel advice states if you travel to Russia to join the Russian army or to help others engaged in the war with Ukraine, you could be breaking UK laws.
You could be prosecuted when you return to the UK.
Speak to him.
But Stimson insists he’s happy to remain in Russia.
This is a much more free country than Britain is right now in my opinion.
You can your viewers can say try and say different but the evidence is there.
What about the evidence that we’ve seen here that people who criticize the government criticize the war in Ukraine even just by the smallest way can land themselves in prison.
I’ve not seen that.
I’ve not seen any evidence that maybe I’m not looking in the right places but I’ve not seen.
You’ve reported extensively on it.
I’ve not I’ve not seen that.
I’ve not seen that.
I’ve not seen people getting dragged.
You’re not aware that any criticism of the war here can land you in prison.
Not that I’ve seen.
People can’t protest here.
I’ve seen protests here recently.
Where? Maybe I’m not looking in the right places.
What about the fact that opposition politicians end up in prison? Some die in prison.
Alexi Nalli died behind bars.
Does that not bother you? I don’t know much about Alex Na.
The question for the UK authorities now is how many other Brits are fighting for Russia? Thank you to the Communist Party, the Russian Federation and the American Communist Party for the gener generator.
Simpson refused to answer that question, only saying, “It’s more than you think.
