Shows
Sergei & the Westminster Spy RingI Cannot HelpAs this tale of spies and influence at the heart of Westminster draws to a close, Carole, Peter and Sergei reflect on the story they’ve fought to uncover for so long. Meanwhile, The Guardian’s international correspondent Luke Harding shares his analysis of what Russian diplomats were up to in London. From the world of shadows, the former head of Estonian intelligence service, Rainer Saks, offers his perspective about the highly sociable “diplomat” Sergey Nalobin, and the whole Russian secret operation to interfere in the British democratic process.And we talk about what we can do to lea...2025-03-0447 min
Sergei & the Westminster Spy RingSergei Cristo versus the Security ServiceOn reading the Russia Report finally published by the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament (ISC) in the Summer of 2020, Sergei realises the significance of his experience with the Russian diplomat and MI5 eight years previously.He writes to his old friend Dr Julian Lewis MP, who becomes the Chairman of the Committee. The advice comes back from Westminster, which sends Sergei round the circles of police and judicial authorities, which, in the end, yields nothing. But not without some odd footwork by the authorities, including redacted police reports and delayed responses. As S...2025-02-2529 min
Sergei & the Westminster Spy RingFollow the MoneyCarole, Peter and Sergei are closing on the core of the Russian Westminster plot as they untangle the secrets around the parliamentary Russia Report. With Dominic Grieve, the former Conservative Attorney General and chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament, which produced the groundbreaking report, and two of the Committee’s key witnesses, Edward Lucas and Christopher Steele, they discover almost everything we need to know to answer some of the big questions about the significance of the Russia covert interference operation in the British democratic processes. And about the lengths to which the powers that be, for...2025-02-1144 min
Sergei & the Westminster Spy RingListen Now: The Spy WhoIf you’re enjoying Sergei & the Westminster Spy Ring, we think you’ll love The Spy Who, from Wondery. In this special episode, we’ll play you an extract from their season: The Spy Who Putin Poisoned. When the USSR falls apart, GRU officer Sergei Skripal finds himself adrift in the new Russia, having never asked for the country's new democracy. So when he meets a shadowy wine dealer, he leaps at the chance to make some money, without a clue how the deal would lead him to Salisbury.Listen to The Spy Who ad-free on Wonder...2025-02-0706 min
Sergei & the Westminster Spy RingChemical AttacksRelations between Russia and the Conservative-led British government are being pushed to the brink. In Salisbury, former KGB officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia are found unconscious on a park bench, poisoned by the radioactive nerve agent Novichok. The attack sends shockwaves through Britain and Europe, while the suspected perpetrators are flaunted in a prime time TV interview on Russia Today, convincing Sergei Cristo that his former homeland is now run like a mafia state.NATO countries respond by expelling swathes of Russian diplomats and spies. So why does the UK’s foreign secretary shake off...2025-02-0444 min
Sergei & the Westminster Spy RingThe Professor and the TrollsWestminster is caught up in bitter Brexit debates and Trump’s first term in office is getting mired in investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Suddenly the two worlds collide in the form of an enigmatic Maltese professor, revealed in the unsealing of FBI indictments. Sergei is disgusted with the atmosphere pervading British politics. Meanwhile, new trolling tactics of the Russian embassy, echoed by some on UK political fringes, takes a threatening turn, directed not least against Carole and then UK Prime Minister, Theresa May.How much does the foreign secretary at the...2025-01-2831 min
Sergei & the Westminster Spy RingHoney Pots and Stalin's VodkaSergei Cristo circles back to his first meeting with Nalobin at the Carlton Club in London and the newspaper article that had got the Russian diplomat’s attention. How could this story about a suspected Russian honey pot be linked to activity around the Russian Embassy during the Brexit campaign? And what is a mysterious man introducing himself as Oleg doing at the UKIP party conference at Doncaster race track in 2015? It’s time to tie up some loose ends. Episodes drop weekly!A Project Citizen productionTo find out more about th...2025-01-2141 min
Sergei & the Westminster Spy RingQuestion EverythingIt’s now 2013 and a new organisation has risen from the ashes of the disgraced Conservative Friends of Russia - the Westminster Russia Forum. This time the launch is on the House of Commons riverside terrace. Russia Today is booming, experimenting with new ways to reach new audiences through packaging up content for online viral hits. Its tagline is question everything. Marina Litvinenko is dismayed when the government rejects her call for a public inquiry into her husband’s fatal poisoning. And in Ukraine, there’s an uprising in Kyiv - the Maidan - a fight to defend a pro-EU...2025-01-1439 min
Sergei & the Westminster Spy RingDigital BarbecuesWith seemingly little interest from MI5 in Sergei’s concerns around what he believes to be an illegal offer of Russian funds into the Conservative party, he looks for other ways to raise the alarm. And after the success of the Conservative Friends of Russia launch party, the Russian embassy opens up a new charm offensive, inviting bloggers and social media specialists to ‘digital barbecues’ within their sumptuous surroundings. Insider, Steve Lacey, takes us on his journey down the rabbit hole of Russian propaganda.Episodes drop weekly!A Project Citizen & The Citizens productionT...2025-01-0737 min
Sergei & the Westminster Spy RingA Party at the EmbassySergei Cristo starts making enquiries into the mysterious new diplomat whose conversation over tea at the Carlton club has raised red flags. And what his friends, Marina Litvinenko and Oleg Gordievsky, tell him only increases his anxiety. Meanwhile, a new organisation launches - Conservative Friends of Russia - at the gardens of the Russian Embassy in London, just days after members of Pussy Riot are imprisoned in Moscow.Episodes drop weekly!A Project Citizen & The Citizens production.To find out more about the story and issues it raises visit www.the-citizens...2024-12-3129 min
Sergei & the Westminster Spy RingA Meeting at the Carlton ClubA Russian diplomat newly posted to the capital contacts a Conservative party activist, Sergei Cristo, and asks for an introduction. They meet at the oldest Conservative private member’s club in London, late 2011. The conversation raises suspicions for Sergei and he looks to share his concerns. But is anyone listening?Episodes drop weekly!A Project Citizen & The Citizens production.To find out more about the story and issues it raises visit www.the-citizens.comPresented by: Carole Cadwalladr and Peter JukesWritten by: Carole Cadwalladr and Pe...2024-12-3124 min
Sergei & the Westminster Spy RingTrailer: Sergei & the Westminster Spy RingIntroducing… Sergei and the Westminster Spy Ring.Follow Conservative whistleblower Sergei Cristo, Orwell Prize-winning journalist Carole Cadwalladr and co-founder of Byline Times, Peter Jukes, as they uncover an alleged Russian spy operation that penetrated the heart of Westminster.A Project Citizen & The Citizens production. To find out more about the story and issues it raises visit www.the-citizens.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.2024-12-2702 min
Sergei & the Westminster Spy RingDigital Gangsters: Cambridge Analytica and FacebookAfter the subpoena of a Cambridge Analytica director by the Mueller Inquiry, an explosive UK Parliamentary report explains the role of Facebook in harvesting our deepest secrets and targeting us with dark ads and Russian propaganda
See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.2019-03-0700 min
Sergei & the Westminster Spy RingMeeting Mr Brexit: Why Nigel Farage is a 'Person of Interest'How did Britain's Nigel Farage go from enjoying 'proper fucking lunches' with his mates in the City to hanging out with Trump? Boosted by Russia? And buddies with Bannon? In this episode, we explore his place at the centre of a web of relationships that connect to the man in Mueller's sights: Roger Stone
See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.2018-11-2900 min
Sergei & the Westminster Spy RingPreamble: the Golden LiftA few days after the important news that Britain's biggest ever political donor is to be investigated by Britain's FBI, Carole and Peter sketch out some of the connections between the EU referendum vote, the election of Donald Trump, and the interference of Vladimir Putin. More psych ops dark ads and dark money to come.
See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.2018-11-1700 min
Sergei & the Westminster Spy RingTrailer for Dial M for MuellerPrize winning Observer journalist Carole Cadwalladr, who broke the Cambridge Analytica story, teams up with host of the hit podcast Untold: the Daniel Morgan Murder, to explore in real time the background and breaking news about the connections between Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Britain's historic Brexit vote
See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.2018-11-1600 min