A former politician in Nigel Farage’s Reform U.K. party was sentenced on Friday to 10 and a half years in prison for taking bribes to make pro-Russia statements in the European Parliament. Nathan Gill, 52, admitted to being paid between 2018 and 2020 to make speeches and media appearances that were scripted by Oleg Voloshyn, a Ukrainian politician who had been an official in the Kremlin-backed government of Viktor Yanukovych. Mr. Voloshyn was a member of a pro-Russian political party at the time of the offenses. Sanctions were imposed on Mr. Voloshyn by the United States and Britain in 2022. The British accused him of “spreading disinformation and pro-Russian narratives which support Russia’s actions in Ukraine.”WhatsApp messages that were presented in court showed that Mr. Voloshyn ordered Mr. Gill to find other Brussels lawmakers to take on some tasks, including appearing on a pro-Russian television channel, 112 Ukraine, which was later banned from broadcasting in Ukraine.

Source: The Times November 21, 2025 17:05 UTC