Briton Ben Stimson, 50, has spoken to the British media for the first time (Image: Sky News)
A 50-year-old antiques dealer from Oldham who fought for Vladimir Putin in Ukraine has insisted he is “not a traitor”. Ben Stimson spent more than a year in the Russian military after signing a contract in 2024 and admitted Russia, and its war, is worth more to him than his now estranged family back home.
The Briton said: “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. I’ve still got a lot of friends in Britain, I still got family in Britain.”
“I’m not a traitor to the British people,” Mr Stimson added, while also conceding “maybe to the British Government I’m a traitor”.
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Mr Stimson made the comments to Sky News’ Moscow Correspondent Ivor Bennett in his first interview with the British media.
He said he believes Russia’s war in Ukraine is “right” but that “history will tell”.
But the Briton did not call Russia’s full-scale invasion a ‘war’, instead repeating Kremlin propaganda by describing it as “the special military operation”.
The war, which began when Russia invaded in February 2022, is the biggest conflict in Europe since the Second World War and both sides have suffered huge losses. Mr Stimson said he firstly served as an engineer before becoming an instructor for other English-speaking recruits.
When asked by Sky News if he fired any weapons, he said: “I can guarantee you I’ve killed nobody.”
The Briton also said he was “more the third line” and didn’t see the frontline.
He previously spent four months with pro-Moscow militia in the Donbas, eastern Ukraine, in 2015 prior to the outbreak of the full-scale war. Upon returning to Britain back then, he was convicted of a terror offence and jailed for more than five years, Sky reported.
He told the broadcaster he was “protecting the people of the Donbas, the ethnic Russian people, for their identity, their language” before going on to accuse the West of interference.
When asked how he ended up travelling from Oldham to the Donbas and why it was so important to him, he said he was “from a working class background” and that Donbas during the Miners’ Strike supported the working class miners of the north of England.
Ben Stimson spent more than a year in Russia’s military (Image: Ben Stimson/east2west news)
Sky shared a selfie video recorded by Mr Stimson in which he says Donetsk — in Ukraine’s Donbas region — is his “favourite city in Russia”.
Mr Stimson was able to gain Russian citizenship earlier this year following his service in Moscow’s armed forces. He is said to be viewed in Russia as a hero but having moved to the country, his family in the UK cut ties with him and Mr Stimson claimed they are now subject to death threats.
The Briton said he must “accept my decisions” but admitted he would like to speak to his father again, although there is “nothing” he can do.
When asked whether Russia and its war in Ukraine is worth more to him than family, Mr Stimson responded: “As a principled man, yes.”
He refused to answer how many Britons are fighting for Russia but said it’s more than people would expect. Mr Stimson would likely face arrest if he was to ever return to the UK.
The Government warns anyone who travels to Russia to join its military or help others engaged in the conflict with Ukraine “could be breaking UK laws” and could be prosecuted upon their return.
