British pro-Russia video blogger hits back at UK sanctions, says he got no chance to defend self

GRAHAM PHILLIPS, a pro-Russia video blogger and freelance journalist, who has been added to the UK government's sanctions list after being accused of being a conduit for propaganda in favour of the Kremlin, has slammed London saying the sanctions were imposed on him without actual accusations and that he was not given an opportunity to defend himself.

"So all my assets have been frozen, and I've been slandered on a state level by the British government without any notification, without any opportunity to defend myself. No official charges against me, not even any actual accusations against me. Just that.... the British government don't like my work. And for that they can seize my bank accounts from me, for starters, as other machinations are doubtless afoot," Phillips wrote in his Telegram channel, Russia's state-run TASS news agency said.

It was said that Phillips, who is from Nottingham, learned about the sanctions on his way to

Phillips learned the news on his way to Severodonetsk in Luhansk Oblast in Ukraine, where he had planned to deliver a batch of humanitarian assistance.

In 2014, Phillips was among the journalists who covered the conflict in eastern Ukraine. He was even listed as missing along with another journalist during the battle for the airport of Donetsk, TASS reported. Later, it was found that the duo were captured by the Ukrainian military. Phillips was later released but Kyiv had imposed a ban on him, barring him from entering Ukraine for three years.