The colour of Russian Money part 20: The Fourth Estate part 4; Through the Looking Glass: how western journalists stepped into Russia’s alternative reality in the Donbas
A cache of hacked e mails published by the Distributed Denial of Secrets Initiative has revealed how Russian intelligence proxies have shaped western coverage of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine- this piece anonymises the documents and focuses on the processes by which Russia manipulates coverage
The colour of Russian money part 19: how Latvia’s financial wizard made billions of dollars disappear…(part 2)
Latvia’s ex Prime Minister Dombrovskis has a few questions to answer about his spouse’s failed real estate business…
Pipe dreams… how Russia influenced the green movement and neutralised opposition to its Baltic pipeline
Why is Germany helping Russia to build a gas pipeline which it does not need and damage sensitive habitats in the Baltic?
The colour of Russian money part 18: how Latvia’s financial wizard made billions of dollars disappear…(part 1)
A former Latvian PM was hailed as a financial genius when he managed the aftermath of the collapse of the country’s largest bank. But was everything quite as it seemed?
The colour of Russian money part 17: An Open Letter to Ilse Znotina
The head of Latvia’s Financial Intelligence Unit may have detailed knowledge of the questionable transactions which accompanied the bank’s collapse. Will she share it with us?
The colour of Russian money part 16: An Open Letter to Paul Volcker
Paul Volcker, the former chairman of the Federal Reserve, has invested in a bank that appears to have been propped up via a bogus privatisation deal at a cost of over €55m to the Latvian people…
The Colour of Russian Money part 15: The Fourth Estate part 3; Edward Lucas: The Economics of truth?
Actions speak louder than words. Edward Lucas is publicly one of the most vociferous opponents of Putin. But actions speak louder than words and his behaviour in the contextof the collapse of the Parex, Ukio and ABLV Banks raises some interesting questions…
The colour of Russian money part 14: The fourth Estate part 2. Leonid Bershidsky
Leonid Bershidsky is one of the most prominent liberal voices writing on Russia and Ukraine in the western media. Yet there are grounds for treating his work with a measure of caution and historic business links to the entourage of corrupt ex president Viktor Yanukovych.
The colour of Russian money part 13: The fourth Estate part 1. The Atlantic Council
The first in a series on how journalism and think tanks are affected by the oligarchisation sponsored by Russia and its western collaborators.
Dancing with Stalin: a long read on Russia’s genocide of Ukraine in the 1930s
In the 1930s Stalin and his henchmen exterminated millions of Ukrainians by mass executions and organised artificial famine. Ukrainians commemorate the victims annually on the fourth Saturday in November.
A War of Words and Ukrainian Authors Part 10: An Executed Renaissance
The destruction of a whole generation of Ukrainian authors during Stalin’s genocide of Ukraine in the 1930s remains ignored in the west: yet it shines a light on the character of a Russian imperialism that is presently threatening liberal democracy
The colour of Russian money part 12: a death in Riga
How a Russian mafia kingpin’s career spans both the looting of Latvia’s Parex bank and the subversion of American politics.
The colour of Russian money part 11: pulling a fast one…
Mystery surrounds the funds allegedly looted from Latvia’s Parex bank which collapsed in 2008… however key Parex figures are linked to fast loan providers which were created while the bank collapsed. Latvia’s oligarchic past gives us a glimpse into one possible future for Britain and the EU…
The colour of Russian money part 10: fathers and sons
Parex bank may have collapsed but an oligarchic clan linked to its former owners and employees may control much of Latvia’s banking and political system…
A War of Words and Ukrainian Authors Part 9: Pavlo Tychyna plays a solar clarinet…
Pavlo Tychyna one of Europe’s greatest poets, remains relatively unknown outside Ukraine, yet this author like all great writers can enhance our understanding of the human condition
A War of Words and Ukrainian Authors Part 8: Russian oppression and Ukrainian literature
Russian soft power has led to the west having a distorted view of Ukraine’s history and its literature…
A War of Words and Ukrainian Authors Part 7: the deranged genius of Antonych
One of the best poets in any language, a boozy bard who wrote like Dylan Thomas on acid, is little known outside Ukraine. Read about him and stroll through a nocturnal Carpathian forest haunted by pagan Gods
Dirty Russian Money Part 8: The Devil’s Advocate?
One enterprising English law firm sits at the centre of a web of connections between Russian oligarchs and the British elite. An analysis of its connections shows how deeply Britain has been penetrated by Russian wealth and the potential threat it poses….
Dirty Russian Money Part 7: a bitter after taste from a Latvian coffee
The tale of a Latvian coffee firm and what it tells us or doesn’t tell us about how money that may or may not be looted by oligarchs may or may not be laundered. But none of this may apply to this daydream over a cappucinno…
Dirty Russian Money part 6: how Russia’s war on Ukraine is fostering corruption
The west criticises Ukraine for corruption and a violent right wing that enjoys limited popular support without looking at the context of the country’s war with Russia. By failing to do so it is placing its own security at risk.
Putin plays his Trump…
Opinion: On 16 July Putin will meet Trump in Helsinki and try to realise a return on his investment in his tangerine tinted Fascist puppet. But time is running out for them both…
A war of words and Ukrainian authors part 6: Chicken Kyiv? The courage of Ukrainian authors after the fall of Yanukovych
What my 15 minutes of fame in Kyiv in 2012 tells us about how special services control cultural life in an autocracy…
A war of words and Ukrainian authors part 5: Vasyl Holoborodko, nothing but the poems…
Vasyl Holoborodko is reluctant to talk about the Russian invasion engulfing his birthplace in the Donbas but his poetry is a powerful testimony to the effects of war and exile.
Statement on the withdrawal of the article entitled “The Colour of Russian Money Part 5…”
I have been compelled to withdraw an article regarding Citadele bank. But some questions remain…
Dodging between the raindrops: what one Latvian banker’s charmed career suggests about the EU, Russia and Corruption
What the charmed career of one Latvian banker tells us about the EBRD, Russia, and corruption…
The man behind the Babchenko murder plot?
Initial media reports in the UK have given a partial or inaccurate account of the man allegedly running one of Putin’s slush funds for subversion in Ukraine. Here is what we know to date about him and his links to Russia.
The Death and Resurrection Show; Babchenko’s staged murder and bias against Ukraine
When Ukraine staged a murder to save a journalist it was vitriolically attacked while Russia, which commissioned his murder, was treated with kid gloves. Why?
A War of Words and Ukrainian Authors Part 4:Crimea River, a conversation with Vyacheslav Huk
Ukrainian author Vyacheslav Huk was in Kyiv when his Crimean birthplace was annexed by Russia. His poetry is a powerful expression both of Ukraine’s European aspiration and the pain of being an exile within his own country.
Tribeca Festival honours Russian Fascist propaganda short
The 2018 Tribeca Festival gave the award for best narrative short movie to a Russia Fascist propaganda flick inspired by terrorists who dream of destroying the US
Who watches the Watchmen? A Dutch MP beloved of MH17 conspiracy theorists and a death in Malta
Pieter Omtzigt, the Dutch MP appointed by the Council of Europe to oversee a sensitive investigation into the murder of a crusading Maltese journalist, has a track record which raises questions over how he will fulfill his role
The Colour of Russian Money Part 4: the strange link between alleged Russian sanctions busting and the wreck of the Titanic
Latvia and the EU are trying to clean up the country’s banking sector after the Mafia linked Parex bank hit the rocks. But has Parex’s successor Citadele bank provided services to a Russian firm currently sanctioned by the US?
On the Frontlines of World Cyber War 1 part 4: losing Facebook? how Western Internet Firms service Russian Terrorists
Russian intelligence curated terrorists receive services from several western internet firms, who may be driving a nail into the coffin of their own societies…
On the frontlines of World Cyber War 1 part 3: It was the Bots wot won it…
Crucial votes in the US and UK may well have been won by bot nets on social media. Research by Oleksandr (Sasha) Talavera and his colleagues indicates the disturbing implications for democracy.
A War of Words and Ukrainian Authors Part 3: The Novel Way an Ex Miner From the Donbas Told the Truth about Putin’s Invasion of Ukraine
Maxim Butchenko, an ex Donbas miner turned journalist, saw his family torn apart by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine’s Donbas. He has written a novel which is essential reading for anyone wanting to understand how hybrid war technology poisons societies.
The colour of Russian money part 3: Scotland, Ukraine’s unlikely offshore territory?
A number of high profile investigations by UK journalists have looked at how UK shell firms are used to launder dirty Russian and Ukrainian money… but the practice is far more widespread and banal than you might think…
The colour of Russian money part 2: a Latvian laundromat?
John Christmas was the head of the Latvian Parex bank’s international group when he tried to draw the attention of the authorities to alleged corruption at the bank. He had to flee Latvia but his evidence might help tackle the links between European banks and the Russian mafia.
The Dogs of War Part 1: Kateryna Havrish on saving the animals of Donbas
Kateryna Havrish was running an animal shelter in the Donbas when her life was turned upside down by war. She became a latter day Noah trying to save all the cats and dogs who were made homeless by the war… while coming to terms with her memories of crimes committed against civilians.
A War of Words and Ukrainian Authors Part 2: Oleh Shynkarenko writes in Three Dimensional Ink
Ukrainian novelist Oleh Shynkarenko on how even people whose apartments have been blown to bits by Putin sing his praises- and a hologrammatic novel that captures our present reality
On the front lines of World Cyber War 1 part 2: Hacked off; one Ukrainian White Hacker’s battle with Russian Terrorism
Eugene Dokukin and his colleagues have taken down hundreds of sites supporting Russian terrorism and have a lot to tell the west about how to fight Putin: but hardly anyone is listening.
On the frontlines of World Cyber War 1, part 1: why Russia produced a fake version of a real plan to attack Ukraine
How Russia produced a fake version of a plan to attack Ukraine to distract from the real, hacked, document
A War of Words and Ukrainian Authors part 1: The Revolution will not be Televised?
Émigré Ukrainian poet Vasyl Makhno on the heartache of watching Ukraine’s Revolution of Dignity unfold on a laptop.
Is Putin Keeping Nepotism in the Family? What does the Latest Appointment to Gazprom’s Board Mean for Europe?
What does the appointment of Putin’s nephew to the Gazprom board mean for Europe?
The colour of Russian money part 1: UK registered firms break sanctions and export coal from Russian occupied Ukraine
UK registered firms whose ultimate ownership is masked are illegally exporting coal from Russian occupied Donbas
Shelling out for a good book? How Russia weaponised the Paris Book Fair…
How Russia “weaponised” its stand at the Paris Book Fair in March 2018
The Ugly Truth: Russians would vote for Putin even if the elections were fair
The election was neither free nor fair but Putin is the choice of most Russians
Is Russia Planning a Major Land War in Europe and Asia?
Hackers claim to have broken into computers at the Russian MoD and downloaded plans to invade several countries in Europe and Asia