The Secret History of a Cold War Mastermind
A great story about a master player in the “murky intersection of spycraft, politics, and war” during the Cold War, and whether his biggest operation was a “monkey wrench or a major event?”
How Russia Meddles Abroad for Profit: Cash, Trolls and a Cult Leader
An analysis of Russian interference in the Madagascan election reveals the state is active even in regions with little apparent strategic value.
Let Me Tell You About My Friend Maria Butina — Who Might Be A Russian Spy
A friend of Maria Butina tells her story from very close up.
He Played by the Rules of Putin’s Russia, Until He Didn’t: The Story of a Murder
A fine piece of reporting, peeling back the layers of Russian power and criminality swirling around the murder of the Russian politician and fixer Denis Voronenkov.
A Spy Story: Sergei Skripal Was a Little Fish. He Had a Big Enemy.
This story goes back in time to Sergei Skripal’s life in the Russian intelligence service, long before he was poisoned in Salisbury. It skilfully intersperses his story with that of the wider geopolitical climate, from the fall of the USSR to today.
An Enemy of the Kremlin Dies in London
A very 21st century tale, involving oligarchs making, losing and hiding their fortunes, and the murder of an enemy of the Russian state, poisoned by a toxic flower in the heart of London.
Big Man Walking
“Not many people change the world. Fewer still are thanked for it.” – Neal Ascherson reviews a biography of Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union, who joined that small group when he helped to bring about its end.
From Russia With Blood
An in depth investigation by Buzzfeed News into the death of a British fixer in London points to Russian involvement, and to the death being the ninth in a series amongst a group of people linked to Boris Berezovsky, the oligarch who turned against the Kremlin. The piece also suggests that the British government did not investigate the death fully, rapidly naming it a suicide and moving on.
Dmitry Medvedev: the whipping boy for Russia’s discontented
A profile of Vladimir Putin’s political foil.
Putin’s Career Rooted in Russia’s KGB
Written in January 2000, this profile looks at the life and career of the then relatively unknown Vladimir Putin, who had been nominated as Acting President by Boris Yeltsin a month before.