The general secretary of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers sang at a pro-Putin rally and waved communist flags in occupied Ukraine.
Eddie Dempsey travelled to the Donbas region in May 2015, describing the journey as a “humanitarian convoy”.
Video recordings and photographs from his trip captured him clutching the red Communist Party banner, standing before a Vladimir Lenin statue and joining in Russian-language slogans.
These included “United we are invincible” and “The Donbas, the tomb of fascism”.
At the time of his visit, Mr Dempsey was employed as a railway mainline driver and belonged to the RMT’s Paddington No 1 branch.
He was attending an event billed as the Anti-Fascist Forum in the city of Alchevsk, a propaganda gathering staged by the Luhansk Communist Party on behalf of the Prizrak Brigade, a separatist militia.
Mr Dempsey had received an invitation from Aleksey Mozgovoy, the Prizrak Brigade’s founder, who would be killed just two weeks after the event.
During his time there, the union leader wore clothing displaying the coat of arms of Novorossiya, a 19th-century Russian province encompassing southern and eastern Ukraine.
RMT boss Eddie Dempsey, fifth from the right, was filmed attending a communist, pro-Putin rally in Ukraine
|
YOUTUBE: LUHANSK REGIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF UKRAINE
Pro-Putin militants had adopted this name, believing they could revive Novorossiya as part of a revival of Russian imperialism, the Daily Telegraph reported.
Mr Dempsey had travelled to Ukraine alongside approximately 100 communists on the expedition organised by Banda Bassotti, a far-Left punk group from Rome.
Ukrainian authorities subsequently pursued the extradition of the Italian, Spanish and Greek participants from the band’s convoy under anti-terrorism legislation.
In one photograph, the RMT chief appears among a group holding a red banner bearing the words “Communist Party” in yellow lettering beneath the hammer and sickle emblem.
Other videos from the trip showed Mr Dempsey wearing a Russian nationalist T-shirt
|
YOUTUBE: GHOST BRIGADE (Бригада Призрак)
Other images display flags from extreme-Left organisations, including Italy’s Communist Refoundation Party, Germany’s Anti-Imperialistische Aktion and the Soviet Victory Banner.
Mr Dempsey was invited to Ukraine Aleksey Mozgovoy, the Prizrak Brigade’s founder and local warlord, who would be killed just two weeks after the event.
Mr Dempsey subsequently wrote about his visit for the Morning Star newspaper, including a now-deleted obituary praising Mozgovoy’s “precious goal” of establishing a Communist state under Russian control.
Under his leadership, the RMT has launched strike action that repeatedly saw British rail services and the London Underground grind to a halt.
The RMT under Ed Dempsey previously launched crippling strikes affecting British rail services and the London Underground
|
GETTY
The RMT has also faced criticism after its 2025 annual conference passed a motion demanding the Government end financial support for Ukraine.
“Eddie Dempsey is a lifelong anti-fascist with an extensive track record of fighting racism in Britain and abroad,” a spokesman for the union told GB News.
“His decision to go on a humanitarian convoy to Ukraine was motivated by the appalling House of Trade Unions fire in 2014, in which at least 42 people were killed, following clashes with far-right Ukrainian nationalists.
“Mr Dempsey has at no time supported Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and has repeatedly called for a peaceful resolution to the conflict.”
