Graham Phillips (blogger)

Graham William Phillips (born 1979) is a British blogger / videoblogger who positions himself as an 'independent British journalist', and who has been under UK Government sanctions since July 2022 for "producing and publishing pro-Russian propaganda about the Ukraine War". Phillips was the first mono-British citizen to be added to the sanctions list, and remains the only mono-British national to be sanctioned by the UK. Phillips was also sanctioned by Ukraine in 2022, and banned from the country. In April 2025, further sanctions were imposed on Phillips by the UK. In June 2025, Phillips was added to a list of 'Kremlin mouthpieces' by the Center for Countering Disinformation of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine.

In the Donbas War, 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, also receiving multiple medals for his work including one from Russia's Federal Security Service. Writing on Phillips in 2017, the BBC described him as "often in the midst of tearing bullets and toppling buildings (in Donbas). His daredevil style has drawn the attention of audiences".

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 territorial integrity, sovereignty, or independence of Ukraine". Sanctions also caused Phillips' YouTube channel to be shut down in 2023. In October 2024, Phillips was granted political asylum in Russia. In November 2025, it was announced that Phillips was under investigation by the Metropolitan Police for war crimes related to multiple alleged breaches of the Geneva Conventions, including Phillips' 2022 interview with prisoner of war (POW) Aiden Aslin. Phillips has denied the accusations.