The former Mormon bishop at the heart of Reform UK – and personal friend of Nigel Farage – who became a Russian stooge

The vote was taken on the promise of ‘doing good things for the people of Wales’.

But it seems that the person who benefited most from the rise of Nathan Gill was Vladimir Putin.

Now, after the 52-year-old was sentenced yesterday to more than 10 years in prison for accepting tens of thousands of pounds in bribes from Russia, an extraordinary story can be told about how the former leader of the Reform UK party in Wales betrayed his country.

In an unprecedented case, Gill was paid £5,000 each by Russia to read parliamentary speeches urging Ukraine to negotiate with Moscow and seek peace after Russia invaded Crimea and sent paramilitary units into the Donbas region.

The Ukrainian leader has issued written media statements criticizing President Zelensky and supporting Ukrainian politician Viktor Medvedchuk, a personal friend of President Putin.

Gill received more than £30,000 to give TV interviews in favor of Putin’s key ally and deliver speeches in the European Parliament from 2014 to 2020, where he was a Member of the then UK Independence Party (UKIP) MEP.

At first glance, the 52-year-old former Mormon bishop, known for his imposing 6-foot-10 height and love of cowboy boots, seemed like an unlikely Russian stooge.

The father of five preached every Sunday morning, hosted weddings in his local community on Anglesey and was so committed to his faith that he didn’t even drink coffee.

When Gill was elected UKIP leader of Wales in 2016, he boasted that he ‘respected’ party leader Nigel Farage, whom he considers a personal friend: ‘Nigel is a pretty famous drinker and he likes his beer but that doesn’t exclude me from anything.’

Perhaps their closeness was why the little-known MP attracted the attention of Russian spies, who asked Gill to bring ‘one of the party’s leading figures’ to meet Putin ally Victor Medvedchuk.

Friends among the longest-serving and most loyal of Mr Farage’s lieutenants appear to share similar views and sometimes accompany them.

Last year, Nadia Sass, wife of Gill’s paymaster Oleg Voloshyn, posted a photo of herself with Farage outside the European parliament around 2018 and said she would ‘miss Nigel Farage and his team’.

Another tweet showed Mr Farage holding a T-shirt saying ‘Leave and Let Die #brexit’, which Ms Sass allegedly gave him.

At the time, Mr Farage and Gill were making paid appearances on Russian state broadcaster RT.

Police confirmed Mr Farage was not under investigation and there was no evidence of wrongdoing.

But that didn’t stop Ukrainian and British protesters shouting outside the Old Bailey yesterday: ‘What about Farage?’

Viktor Medvedchuk with Putin

Nathan Gill with Nigel Farage

Following his conviction, Mr Farage was willing to downplay their relationship, describing his former colleague as a ‘bad apple’, adding: ‘You can never, ever 100 per cent guarantee that everyone you meet in your life, everyone you shake hands with in the pub, is a good person.’

There will also be questions for others in the Reform party after Counter Terrorism Commander Dominic Murphy said Gill had been funded to recruit others and his efforts were praised as ‘fantastic’ by Voloshyn.

Gill is known to have approached five other MPs named in the case, representing UKIP or the Brexit Party, which later became Reform UK.

In 2018, Gill went on a ‘fact-finding mission’ to Kiev with two other UKIP MPs, Jonathan Arnott and David Coburn, and later made statements in the European Parliament criticizing the Ukrainian government.

The expenses for the trip, which included business class flights and accommodation at the boutique Opera Hotel in Kiev, were covered by Janusz Niedźwiecki, who is awaiting trial in Poland on charges of spying for Russia.

Police believe that although Gill had ‘sympathy’ for Russia, he was caught up in the financial troubles mentioned in the coded messages about ‘Christmas presents’.

Oleg Voloshyn’s wife Nadia Sass

Police said Gill, who was left more than £100,000 in debt following the collapse of the care home services business he set up with his mother, was both financially vulnerable and too weak to resist money offered by people with ‘very obvious links to Putin’.

Yesterday his own barrister, Peter Wright, KC, said Gill ‘offered no excuse for his bribery compromise’, evidenced by rolls of $5,000 and €5,000 found at his home.

Police took action following a tip from the FBI after stopping Voloshyn at Washington’s Dulles Airport in July 2021, citing Voloshyn’s connections to Medvedchuk, a Ukrainian oligarch known as the “Black Prince” and a long-term ally and friend of Vladimir Putin.

The FBI recovered WhatsApp messages from Voloshyn’s phone showing payments to Gill.

The United States has since named Voloshin and Medvedchuk as agents of the Kremlin’s plan to install a puppet government in Ukraine.

Medvedchuk, who is accused of treason and attempting to plunder national resources in Ukraine, is seen as so close to Putin that the Russian leader becomes the godfather of Medvedchuk’s daughter.

Yesterday police said the extraordinary case raised questions about how Russia was trying to bribe, befriend and influence British MPs to subvert democracy.

Commander Murphy warned: ‘Nothing is off the table for Russia.’