RMT assistant general secretary Eddie Dempsey, left, with pro-Putin separatist Aleksey Mozgovoy in eastern Ukraine
(Picture: .)A Labour MP has called on a leader of the union whose Tube strikes are causing misery for millions of Londoners to apologise for past support of a pro-Putin separatist in Ukraine.
RMT assistant general secretary Eddie Dempsey’s previous sympathies for Aleksey Mozgovoy were revealed on Wednesday.
Mr Dempsey met Mozgovoy, head of the pro-Russian “Ghost Brigade” in Luhansk, when he visited the area on a “humanitarian” mission in 2015.
He wrote a tribute to Mozgovoy, who he described as a “charismatic” insurgent, after he was killed two weeks later.
Labour’s Chris Bryant, member of the Commons foreign affairs committee, told the Daily Telegraph Mr Dempsey should apologise.
He said: “The writing has been on the wall in relation to Putin and his territorial ambitions for more than a decade now, and anybody who has not been able to see that should step aside from the political arena. He should apologise — and be ashamed of himself.”
An RMT spokesman said: “The union does not support either Vladimir Putin or his actions in Ukraine.”
Mr Dempsey said: “I fully agree with the union’s position.”
