New Citizens podcast series to expose truth behind Russia Report cover-up

Why has the government refused to investigate Russian interference in our democracy? We plan to tell the story of how the Kremlin infiltrated the British establishment. But we need your help to do it

17 January 2023

This is the story of a cover-up. One that goes to the highest levels of the British state. Beginning with the testimony of a whistleblower from within the Conservative party and featuring a cast of key players and expert witnesses, we plan to tell the story of how the Kremlin infiltrated the British establishment, how an alleged Russian spy attempted to cultivate influence with senior politicians, how the authorities turned a blind eye, and how successive Conservative governments covered it up.

Donate

Featuring Carole Cadwalladr, the Guardian journalist and Pulitzer finalist, and with contributions from leading experts including former head of MI6’s Russia desk Christopher Steele, journalist Luke Harding and former chair of the Intelligence and Security Committee, Dominic Grieve, this will be a landmark investigative podcast series that exposes how fragile our democracy is and what needs to be done to protect it.

Why we need this podcast series

We have been campaigning for more than two years for a full investigation into the findings of the Russia Report. In August 2020 we joined forces with a cross-party group of MPs and peers to bring a legal action against the government for its failure to protect our democratic integrity. Our next step is to bring together for the first time all of the different threads of this story in a compelling podcast series and examine close-up the issue which our security services have identified as the single biggest threat to our national security. With your help, we think we can do it. 

Your donations will pay for equipment, researchers, editing, audio-technicians and the expensive legal protections we need to ask the questions others won’t. We are offering the following perks:

  • £5: Your name on our contributors page
  • £25: An exclusive Putin / Boris Johnson digital-artwork & your name on our contributors page
  • £50: Virtual Q&A with Carole Cadwalladr and podcast contributors 
  • £250: VIP oligarch tour of London with Russian experts + vodka & blinis

    The Citizens is a non-profit organisation which is funded through grants from Ford Foundation, Luminate, Open Society Foundations and via public donations from our supporters. Carole Cadwalladr works as an unpaid editor-at-large. Read more about us here