Graham Phillips is reportedly being investigated for alleged war crimes over a video which showed pigs eating the remains of Ukrainian soldiers, and his treatment of a British PoW
A Putin-loving ex-civil servant has become the first Brit to face a war crime probe over the Ukraine conflict. Graham Phillips, 46, is reportedly being investigated by the Met Police’s War Crimes Team, the FBI and the CIA over alleged breaches of the Geneva Convention.
The allegations include filming pigs eating the remains of Ukrainian soldiers and mistreating Brit Aiden Aslin, 31, who was captured while fighting for Ukraine.
In the footage posted online in 2022, a Russian soldier picks up an ID card belonging to one of the deceased and asks, “Is Yuri tasty?”, according to The Sun.
Phillips adds in Russian: “It’s a buffet!!! He’s also eating!! Munching, munching and munching! They’re not even shy.”
The newspaper reports that Phillips can be heard encouraging the pigs, saying: “Eat, be healthy”, before adding: “It turns out he was useful for someone.”
The footage has been handed to the Met’s War Crimes Team, which forms part of SO15, the Counter Terrorism Command.
A spokesperson said officers launched an investigation in 2022 and were “liaising” with the Crown Prosecution Service.
Phillips, who is sanctioned by the British government and lives in Russian-occupied Mariupol, told The Sun: “Why should I have intervened in that incident with the pigs? Those Ukrainian soldiers came to Donbas to murder the civilians of Donbas, who want to be with Russia, not part of the Ukrainian Nazi regime. They ended up becoming pig fodder.”
Police are also said to be investigating Phillips’ interview with a handcuffed and bruised Aiden Aslin, which sparked controversy when it was posted online in 2022.
British PoW Aslin, who lived in Ukraine and served as a Ukrainian Marine, was branded a mercenary by Phillips, who asked him why he should escape the death penalty. The Geneva Convention bans filming designed to humiliate PoWs.
If he is charged, Phillips will become the first British national to face a war crimes trial since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
Phillips has protested his innocence, telling The Sun: “In over 3½ years of this ‘investigation’, the Metropolitan Police haven’t once contacted me. If I were ever to be formally accused, or charged of a breach of international law, I would of course, of sound, clear conscience and in absolute honesty, co-operate fully, and defend myself fully.”
A Counter Terrorism Policing spokesperson told the newspaper: “We can confirm that officers from the Counter Terrorism Policing (CTP) War Crimes Team are conducting an investigation into allegations against a UK national alleged to have committed war crimes in the ongoing Ukraine-Russia conflict.”
The spokesperson confirmed that no arrests had been made and nobody has been interviewed under caution.
The only Brit to have been prosecuted for war crimes is former Royal Marine Sgt Alexander Blackman, jailed in 2013 for killing a wounded Taliban fighter in Afghanistan. He was later released from prison after his murder conviction was reduced to manslaughter.
For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters.
#Putinloving #Brit #civil #servant #filmed #pigs #eating #Ukrainian #soldiers
