Kathrine Frich
Since the start of the war in Ukraine, Moscow has relied not only on its own forces but also on foreign recruits willing to fight under the Russian flag.
From volunteers drawn by ideology to ex-convicts seeking a new start, the Kremlin has opened its ranks to outsiders.
Now, one British national who joined Russia’s campaign years ago appears to have been formally embraced by the state.
Passport approval
Ben Stimson, 49, from Oldham, has reportedly been granted Russian citizenship after intervention by pro-Kremlin MP Maria Butina.
“Ben has already proven his love and loyalty to Russia, his empathy for the residents of the new territories,” she said, referring to occupied areas of Ukraine.
“Yesterday we received a response. A positive decision was made to grant Russian citizenship to the fighter Benjamin Stimson.”
Butina added that the leadership of the ruling United Russia party had supported the move.
Jailed in UK
Stimson travelled to eastern Ukraine in 2015 to join Russian-backed separatists before returning to Britain, where he was arrested.
In 2017, he was sentenced at Manchester Crown Court to five years and four months in prison on terrorism offences. After his release, he returned to Russia.
Former British Army commander Colonel Richard Kemp previously described Stimson and another British fighter for Russia, Aiden Minnis, as “an absolute disgrace and are traitors who upon their return to the UK should be arrested and jailed. They clearly don’t know who the enemy is.”
Fighter’s status
Reports last week suggested Minnis, 39, from Wiltshire, had gone missing and was feared dead, though this has not been confirmed.
Stimson later posted: “Aiden is alive and well and always was.”
Minnis had also previously been granted Russian citizenship.
Butina, 37, was jailed in the United States in 2018 after pleading guilty to conspiring to act as an agent of a foreign government.
Stimson’s father, Martin, was reported in 2024 to have publicly distanced himself from his son over his decision to fight for Russia.
Sources: East2West, Express.
