A Ukrainian view of Nathan Gill's prison sentence for taking pro-Russian bribes

Yuliia Bond

Tonight, I keep thinking about one number: 10 and a half years.

That is the sentence Nathan Gill - the former Reform UK leader in Wales - received for taking money linked to Russia to promote messaging that benefitted a regime that is destroying my country.

And I want to ask something very simple: Does 10 years feel like justice?

Ask the parents who lost their children.

Ask the families shattered forever.

Because these are the realities:

Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians killed.

Thousands of children killed or injured.

Almost 20,000 Ukrainian children taken or deported, many still missing.

Cities erased.

Families torn apart.

Millions displaced.

Trauma that will last for generations.

If anyone thinks 10 years in prison is “enough,” go and ask the mother who buried her child after a missile strike.

Ask the father whose little one was taken across a border and never returned.

Ask the grandmother who stands every day with a photo of the grandchild stolen from her.

Ask them what justice feels like.

Because this was not a victimless crime.

This was not a “bad decision.”

This was not “just corruption.”

What he did played with the security of this country and with the lives of millions of Ukrainians.

It strengthened the information warfare of a regime that bombs hospitals, kidnaps children, and executes civilians.

And we cannot pretend this is only about one man.

𝗢𝗻 𝗮 𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗪𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀

During the Caerphilly by-election, Reform UK leaflets claimed the Welsh Government’s Nation of Sanctuary scheme was “£55 million for asylum seekers.”

But official information shows that around 91% of that funding supported Ukrainian families - women and children fleeing a genocide.

The candidate also urged people to sign a petition to scrap the scheme, and thousands signed it - many not realising it was the very programme helping Ukrainians rebuild their lives here.

This messaging was misleading and harmful.

This is how disinformation works: not with big lies, but small twists that create anger and division.

𝗢𝗻 𝗮 𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲

It is publicly documented that the leader of Reform UK spent years appearing on Russia Today, a state-controlled broadcaster used by the Kremlin to push its narratives.

This is not an accusation - it is a fact anyone can verify.

Critics and analysts have raised concerns that some of his past comments on Ukraine echo talking points that are very familiar to those who follow Kremlin propaganda:

calls for “peace” that ignore Ukraine’s right to defend itself,

suggestions that sanctions hurt Britain more than they hurt Russia,

downplaying the threat of Putin’s regime.

People may agree or disagree with these positions - but we cannot deny that these narratives are exactly the ones Russia wants repeated in Western democracies.

And when those narratives spread here, Ukrainians pay the price there. With blood.

𝗢𝗻 𝗮 𝗴𝗹𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲

Across Europe, researchers, journalists, and official reports have highlighted worrying patterns:

Some far-right parties in different countries have:

taken loans from Russian-linked banks,

voted against sanctions on Russia,

advocated “peace plans” that match Moscow’s demands,

praised Putin’s leadership style,

or pushed narratives that weaken support for Ukraine.

Not all far-right parties do this but many of them share a style of nationalism that looks very familiar to Ukrainians:

the kind that decides some lives matter less,

some nations can be controlled,

some voices can be silenced.

That same ideology fuels hate crimes and racism here in Wales.

The targets are different, but the logic of dehumanisation is the same.

𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗻𝗼𝘄, 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱, 𝗳𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲

I want you to know: I understand you.

You aren’t voting for extremism - you’re voting because you feel ignored, betrayed, and left behind by the political system.

Far-right parties know this.

They use real pain to gain votes.

I meet Reform UK supporters who are kind, thoughtful, compassionate - and who truly support Ukraine.

When I ask them, “Would you still vote for them?” they often say:

“Yes. Because I need change here first.”

I hear you. I really do.

But I’m asking you, with all my heart:

If a party’s leaders echo narratives that match the interests of a regime killing children in Ukraine…

If they spread messages that make people resent the refugees who fled those bombs…

If they build platforms that critics say align with Kremlin narratives…

What kind of “change” will they truly bring to your community?

Because if someone shrugs at our suffering,

if they repeat lines that weaken support for the victims of war,

how will they treat the vulnerable here?

How will they treat you when you need help?

𝗦𝗼 𝗜 𝗮𝘀𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂: 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻.

This sentence may be finished, but the story isn’t.

Disinformation is still here.

Extremism is still here.

And the values that destroyed Ukrainian cities and families - that same anger, that same division - can grow anywhere if we let it.

Choose leaders who defend human dignity.

Choose leaders who reject foreign influence.

Choose leaders who won’t use your pain to fuel their power.

𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝘀𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀:

If 10 years in prison feels “enough,”

then what is the value of a stolen child?

A broken family?

A bombed home?

A life?

Because to me - and to every Ukrainian mother and father - there is no sentence long enough to measure that loss.

Yuliia Bond is a refugee from eastern Ukraine who has lived in Caerphilly since 2022