He was voted in on a promise to ‘do good things for the people of Wales’.
But it seems the person reaping the most benefit of Nathan Gill’s rise was Vladimir Putin.
Now after the 52-year-old was jailed for over 10 years yesterday for accepting tens of thousands of pounds in bribes from Russia, the extraordinary story can be told of how the former leader of the Reform UK party in Wales betrayed his country.
In an unprecedented case, Gill was paid £5,000 a time by Russia to read out parliamentary speeches urging Ukraine to negotiate with Moscow and seek peace after Russia invaded Crimea and sent paramilitary units into the Donbas region.
He delivered scripted media statements criticising Ukraine leader President Zelensky and supporting Ukrainian politician, Viktor Medvedchuk, a personal friend of President Putin.
Gill received over £30,000 to give TV interviews in favour of the key Putin ally and to make speeches in the European Parliament, where he was an Member of European Parliament for what was then the UK Independence Party (UKIP) from 2014 to 2020.
At first glance, the 52-year-old former Mormon bishop known for his imposing 6ft 4in height and love of cowboy boots appeared an unlikely Russian stooge.
The father-of-five used to preach every Sunday morning, he conducted weddings in his local community in Anglesey and was so devoted to his faith that he wouldn’t even drink coffee.
Former Reform UK Wales leader Nathan Gill arrives at the Old Bailey for sentence
When he was elected as Wales’ UKIP leader in 2016, Gill boasted he had the ‘respect’ of party leader Nigel Farage whom he considered a personal friend: ‘Nigel is quite a famous drinker and does like his pint, but it doesn’t exclude me from anything.’
Perhaps their closeness is what drew the little-known MEP to the attention of Russian spies, who asked Gill to bring ‘a leading figure in the party’ to meet Putin’s ally Victor Medvedchuk.
Among the longest-serving and most loyal of Mr Farage’s lieutenants, the friends shared similar views and sometimes company it now appears.
Last year, Nadia Sass, the wife of Gill’s paymaster Oleg Voloshyn posted a photo of herself with Farage outside the European parliament around 2018, saying she would ‘miss Nigel Farage and his team.’
Another tweet showed Mr Farage holding a T-shirt branded ‘Leave and Let Die #brexit’, which Ms Sass allegedly gave him.
At the time, Mr Farage and Gill were both making paid appearances on RT, the Russian state broadcaster.
Police have confirmed that Mr Farage is not under investigation and there is no evidence of any wrongdoing.
But that did not stop Ukrainian and British protestors shouting outside the Old Bailey yesterday: ‘What about Farage?’
Viktor Medvedchuk with Putin
Nathan Gill with Nigel Farage
Following his conviction, Mr Farage was keen to play down their association, describing his former colleague as a ‘bad apple’, adding: ‘You can never, ever guarantee 100 per cent that everyone you meet in your life, you shake hands with in the pub, is a good person.’
There will be questions for others in the Reform party after Counter Terrorism Commander Dominic Murphy revealed funds were made available for Gill to recruit others, with his efforts praised by Voloshyn as ‘awesome’.
Gill is known to have approached five other MEPs representing UKIP or the Brexit Party, which subsequently became Reform UK, who were named in the case.
In 2018 Gill went on ‘fact-finding mission’ to Kyiv with two other UKIP MEPs, Jonathan Arnott and David Coburn who subsequently made statements in the European Parliament criticising the Ukrainian government.
The trip, which included business-class flights and accommodation at the boutique Opera Hotel in Kyiv, was paid for by Janusz Niedźwiecki, who is awaiting trial in Poland on charges of spying for Russia.
Police believe that while Gill may have had Russian ‘sympathies’, he was hooked by the financial bungs referred to in coded messages about ‘Xmas gifts’.
Oleg Voloshyn’s wife, Nadia Sass
Struggling with over £100,000 debts after the collapse of a care home services business he set up with his mother, Gill was both financially vulnerable and too weak to resist the money proffered by those with ‘very clear connections to Putin’, police say.
Yesterday his own lawyer Peter Wright, KC, said Gill ‘offers no excuse for his venal compromise’ which was evidenced by rolls of $5,000 and 5,000 euros found at his home.
Police swooped following a tip-off from the FBI after they stopped Voloshyn at Washington’s Dulles Airport in July 2021 due to his links to Medvedchuk, a Ukrainian oligarch known as the ‘Dark Prince’ and a long-term ally and friend of Vladimir Putin.
The FBI extracted WhatsApp messages from Voloshyn’s phone revealing payments to Gill.
The US has since named Voloshyn and Medvedchuk as agents of a Kremlin plot to install a puppet government in Ukraine.
Medvedchuk, who has been accused of treason in Ukraine and attempting to loot national resources, is considered so close to Putin that the Russian leader is the godfather of Medvedchuk’s daughter.
Yesterday police said the extraordinary case raised questions about how Russia is attempting to bribe, befriend and influence British MPs to subvert democracy.
Commander Murphy warned: ‘Nothing is off the table for Russia.’
