Russia uses journalists as cover for its intelligence operatives.
Posted by The Bulwark Daily, Checked
- Sources
- 4 support1 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 80%
The Bulwark DailySep 29, 2026
Multiple sources, including a Reuters report quoting Dmitry Muratov that journalists can sometimes be used as spies, a 2017 Politico report on Kremlin agents masked as journalists, and a 2025 Lansing Institute analysis of intelligence officers under journalistic cover, support the claim that Russia uses journalists as cover for intelligence operatives.
This claim is about the present, so it is judged as of the day it was checked.
What was said
… And then, yeah, I mean, the kind of reporting that I was doing, I think, was probably raising not just curiosity but interest and perhaps suspicion, which I try to detail in the book, about why that might be: how Russia uses, still to this day, journalists as cover for its intelligence operatives. So they might say, Why should we trust you that you don't? I have a first meeting with this source, which I think is a way, perhaps, by FSB officers to check whether their suspicions are correct or to set me up to then go to Putin and say, "Look, this guy …
The Bulwark Daily · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. Politico (2017) reports current and former U.S. officials say Russian intelligence uses paid accomplices including journalists, and that the Kremlin is suspected of masking agents as journalists, citing a fake Le Monde reporter in Kiev and a German man accused of posing as a journalist for separatists.[2]
Supports. Reuters (2023) quotes Nobel laureate Dmitry Muratov saying journalists can sometimes be used as spies or intelligence agents, though he argued Gershkovich did not fit that pattern.[1]
Supports. A 2025 Lansing Institute analysis says that after diplomatic expulsions the Kremlin increased insertion of intelligence officers under journalistic cover, citing Austria revoking accreditation of two TASS correspondents over SVR links.[3]
Supports. A 2023 Irish Examiner analysis says Russian operatives have used cover as businesspeople, tourists or journalists, and that the war has pushed Moscow toward more unofficial agents.[4]
Context. A 2020 Securing Democracy report describes Russia entrapping local leaders in interviews with purported journalists as part of information operations.[5]
Sources
5 sources: 1 fact-checker, 1 tier 2, 3 not rated
- 1Nobel-winning Russian editor: "I know Gershkovich, he's no spy"reuters.com · fact-checker · cited for: supports
- 2Russia probes spotlight 'deniable' Kremlin intelligence tactic - Politicopolitico.com · tier 2 · cited for: supports
- 3lansinginstitute.org › 2025/10/03 › how-tradecraftHow Tradecraft Failures Blew Moscow’s Media-Cover Spieslansinginstitute.org · not rated · cited for: supports
- 4Russia turning to sleeper cells and unofficial agents in Europeirishexaminer.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 5Leaks, Lies, and Altered Tape: Russia’s Maturing Information Manipulation Playbooksecuringdemocracy.org · not rated · cited for: context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
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