Shaun Walker
@shaunwalker7.bsky.social
Pinned
I’m really excited that my book on the history of Russia’s “illegal” spies comes out soon. It’s taken me years of work and covers a century of Soviet/Russian history...
Below, a short thread about the book, as well as info on how to pre-order a copy.
Below, a short thread about the book, as well as info on how to pre-order a copy.
I feel like there are a lot of as-yet-unknown twists to this story - one to keep an eye on.
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
Russian activist held in Poland admits he worked as FSB agent, court papers say
Igor Rogov, who left Russia in 2021, due to go on trial accused of informing on other Russian opposition activists
www.theguardian.com
November 10, 2025 at 12:50 PM
I feel like there are a lot of as-yet-unknown twists to this story - one to keep an eye on.
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
Thought this was an interesting point made by Polish foreign minister Sikorski in Kyiv this weekend - a good summary of what could be the problem with all the discussions of boots on the ground and the "coalition of the willing".
September 14, 2025 at 8:33 PM
Thought this was an interesting point made by Polish foreign minister Sikorski in Kyiv this weekend - a good summary of what could be the problem with all the discussions of boots on the ground and the "coalition of the willing".
My long profile of Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Ukraine’s former army commander and current ambassador to London, who many see as Ukraine’s next president, with plenty of new info from behind the scenes:
www.theguardian.com/world/ng-int...
www.theguardian.com/world/ng-int...
General, envoy … future Ukraine president? Valerii Zaluzhnyi’s London waiting game
Refusal to take calls from JD Vance after Zelenskyy-Trump showdown reflects political tightrope ‘war hero’ has walked since being fired as army chief
www.theguardian.com
August 25, 2025 at 7:27 AM
My long profile of Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Ukraine’s former army commander and current ambassador to London, who many see as Ukraine’s next president, with plenty of new info from behind the scenes:
www.theguardian.com/world/ng-int...
www.theguardian.com/world/ng-int...
Wrote this on the past two weeks of politics and protests in Kyiv
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...
In wartime, demonstrations in Ukraine can never be more than a peaceful protest
Zelenskyy forced to U-turn on anti-corruption bodies but protesters know unrest only plays into Russia’s hands
www.theguardian.com
August 2, 2025 at 12:18 PM
Wrote this on the past two weeks of politics and protests in Kyiv
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...
I spoke to perpetrators and investigators in the grim trend in Ukraine of Russians recruiting teenagers online and turning them into unwitting suicide bombers
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...
Russia pays young Ukrainians to be unwitting suicide bombers in shadow war
Oleh, 19, was offered $1,000 for a paint attack on a police station – but the bag he was given contained a crude bomb
www.theguardian.com
June 30, 2025 at 11:48 AM
I spoke to perpetrators and investigators in the grim trend in Ukraine of Russians recruiting teenagers online and turning them into unwitting suicide bombers
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...
My story about a newish phenomenon of deportations from the occupied areas of Ukraine. Russia tells people they are banned from “Russia” for 40/50 years, drives them 20 hours under guard to the border with Georgia and pushes them across
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...
Banned from home for 40 years: deportations are Russia’s latest move to ‘cleanse’ Ukraine
A deal freezing frontlines would be unacceptable for Serhiy Serdiuk, who was taken to Georgia in handcuffs with his family after refusing to teach the Russian curriculum
www.theguardian.com
June 21, 2025 at 9:35 AM
My story about a newish phenomenon of deportations from the occupied areas of Ukraine. Russia tells people they are banned from “Russia” for 40/50 years, drives them 20 hours under guard to the border with Georgia and pushes them across
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...
Will be talking with the amazing David Hoffman next Thursday for anyone in DC who might be interested…
carnegieendowment.org/events/2025/...
carnegieendowment.org/events/2025/...
The Illegals: A Conversation With Shaun Walker on the Untold Story of Russia’s Deep-Cover Spies
For more than a century, Soviet and Russian spymasters have poured enormous resources into the training and deployment of deep-cover spies known as “illegals.” These agents live behind enemy lines for...
carnegieendowment.org
June 19, 2025 at 7:56 PM
Will be talking with the amazing David Hoffman next Thursday for anyone in DC who might be interested…
carnegieendowment.org/events/2025/...
carnegieendowment.org/events/2025/...
Wrote this on Lana Estemirova’s new book Please Live, about her mother Natalia, the rights activist murdered in Chechnya in 2009, her work and their relationship.
It’s a powerful, beautiful read - can’t recommend highly enough.
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...
It’s a powerful, beautiful read - can’t recommend highly enough.
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...
‘She lived without fear’: daughter of Chechen activist publishes book she vowed to pen after mother’s murder
Lana Estemirova promised to tell story of her mother, a renowned human rights activist. This month it is published
www.theguardian.com
June 6, 2025 at 8:34 AM
Wrote this on Lana Estemirova’s new book Please Live, about her mother Natalia, the rights activist murdered in Chechnya in 2009, her work and their relationship.
It’s a powerful, beautiful read - can’t recommend highly enough.
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...
It’s a powerful, beautiful read - can’t recommend highly enough.
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...
I spoke to the Crimean Tatar legend Mustafa Dzhemilev on a life of two exiles, turning down Putin’s money, and his views on Donald Trump and Steve Witkoff (“I’ve seen a lot of stupid diplomats in my life, but one like him, that’s a first.”)
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...
‘Does he know anything?’: Crimean Tatar leader Mustafa Dzhemilev on Trump’s plans to legitimise Russian annexation
Exiled Soviet-era dissident tells the Guardian that for the US to turn its back on the territory would be ‘shameful’
www.theguardian.com
May 27, 2025 at 4:13 PM
I spoke to the Crimean Tatar legend Mustafa Dzhemilev on a life of two exiles, turning down Putin’s money, and his views on Donald Trump and Steve Witkoff (“I’ve seen a lot of stupid diplomats in my life, but one like him, that’s a first.”)
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...
London: there are a few tickets left for Thursday’s Guardian event when I’ll be talking to Christo Grozev and Daniela Richterova about Russia’s modern espionage programmes and Christo’s work to uncover them
Non-London: online tix also available
www.theguardian.com/guardian-liv...
Non-London: online tix also available
www.theguardian.com/guardian-liv...
Russia’s spies: Uncovering Russia’s secret espionage programmes
Exploding weapons factories, assassination plots and fake news: Vladimir Putin’s hybrid war campaign against the West has stepped up several notches since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
www.theguardian.com
May 20, 2025 at 9:51 PM
London: there are a few tickets left for Thursday’s Guardian event when I’ll be talking to Christo Grozev and Daniela Richterova about Russia’s modern espionage programmes and Christo’s work to uncover them
Non-London: online tix also available
www.theguardian.com/guardian-liv...
Non-London: online tix also available
www.theguardian.com/guardian-liv...
“If you don’t engage in good faith we’ll have to abandon our support for your adversary” is quite a negotiating position.
May 19, 2025 at 1:31 PM
“If you don’t engage in good faith we’ll have to abandon our support for your adversary” is quite a negotiating position.
My analysis from a week in Kyiv that had lots of gambits, ultimatums, counter-offers and threats but didn’t change much when it comes to the fundamentals, as everyone puts on “a theatre play with one audience member” - Trump.
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...
Week of geopolitical poker over Ukraine ends with no endgame in sight
Path to peace looks as unclear as it was before European leaders’ meeting with Zelenskyy in Kyiv
www.theguardian.com
May 17, 2025 at 9:35 AM
My analysis from a week in Kyiv that had lots of gambits, ultimatums, counter-offers and threats but didn’t change much when it comes to the fundamentals, as everyone puts on “a theatre play with one audience member” - Trump.
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...
After Euro ultimatum in Kyiv today, Putin's going to do a surprise video address at midnight Moscow time (in 45 mins). Is he going to agree to ceasefire? Would be big surprise for him to cave under ultimatum... Double down? Go on a random history rant?
Feels quite unpredictable.
Feels quite unpredictable.
May 10, 2025 at 8:13 PM
After Euro ultimatum in Kyiv today, Putin's going to do a surprise video address at midnight Moscow time (in 45 mins). Is he going to agree to ceasefire? Would be big surprise for him to cave under ultimatum... Double down? Go on a random history rant?
Feels quite unpredictable.
Feels quite unpredictable.
Reposted by Shaun Walker
NEW: Our exclusive deep dive into a suspected Russian-led cell behind the parcel bomb plots with the first interviews with those directly involved, revealing how the sabotage campaign unfolded on the ground With @shaunwalker7.bsky.social
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...
Explosive sex toys and cosmetics: the story behind the DHL parcels plot
Exclusive account reveals previously unreported details and insights into how Kremlin’s sabotage campaign played out on the ground – and the multinational effort to track down the network behind it
www.theguardian.com
May 5, 2025 at 7:14 AM
NEW: Our exclusive deep dive into a suspected Russian-led cell behind the parcel bomb plots with the first interviews with those directly involved, revealing how the sabotage campaign unfolded on the ground With @shaunwalker7.bsky.social
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...
“These people are disposable.”
I’ve been working for a while on this story about how Russian intel services recruit (often unsuspecting) Ukrainians and Belarusians for their sabotage offensive in Europe, and how Western services are trying to counter it.
www.theguardian.com/world/ng-int...
I’ve been working for a while on this story about how Russian intel services recruit (often unsuspecting) Ukrainians and Belarusians for their sabotage offensive in Europe, and how Western services are trying to counter it.
www.theguardian.com/world/ng-int...
‘These people are disposable’: how Russia is using online recruits for a campaign of sabotage in Europe
Moscow’s intelligence services have launched a new type of attack on the west, violent but piecemeal and hard to prove
www.theguardian.com
May 4, 2025 at 9:01 AM
“These people are disposable.”
I’ve been working for a while on this story about how Russian intel services recruit (often unsuspecting) Ukrainians and Belarusians for their sabotage offensive in Europe, and how Western services are trying to counter it.
www.theguardian.com/world/ng-int...
I’ve been working for a while on this story about how Russian intel services recruit (often unsuspecting) Ukrainians and Belarusians for their sabotage offensive in Europe, and how Western services are trying to counter it.
www.theguardian.com/world/ng-int...
Yesterday we published our investigation into torture & death of Ukrainian journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna.
Now, what I & several Guardian colleagues have been working on for past few months: inside one of Russia's worst torture prisons for Ukrainians
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...
Now, what I & several Guardian colleagues have been working on for past few months: inside one of Russia's worst torture prisons for Ukrainians
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...
Inside Taganrog: beatings, electrocution and starvation at prison where Ukrainians were tortured
Russia is holding an estimated 16,000 civilians in arbitrary detention at 180 separate facilities. Taganrog was the most notorious.
www.theguardian.com
April 30, 2025 at 9:45 AM
Yesterday we published our investigation into torture & death of Ukrainian journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna.
Now, what I & several Guardian colleagues have been working on for past few months: inside one of Russia's worst torture prisons for Ukrainians
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...
Now, what I & several Guardian colleagues have been working on for past few months: inside one of Russia's worst torture prisons for Ukrainians
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...
Reposted by Shaun Walker
The Viktoriia project launches today- our first story. Our deep dive into Russian detention centres, with @shaunwalker7.bsky.social and @forbidden-stories.bsky.social consortium to follow tomorrow.
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...
‘Numerous signs of torture’: a Ukrainian journalist’s detention and death in Russian prison
The Guardian, working with media partners, has tracked down first-hand accounts to reconstruct Viktoriia Roshchyna’s final months
www.theguardian.com
April 29, 2025 at 11:24 AM
The Viktoriia project launches today- our first story. Our deep dive into Russian detention centres, with @shaunwalker7.bsky.social and @forbidden-stories.bsky.social consortium to follow tomorrow.
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...
“Carpet. Plane. Siberia.”
An adapted short extract from my new book The Illegals: on how the KGB used its deep cover spies to get close to the leading lights of the Prague Spring.
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...
An adapted short extract from my new book The Illegals: on how the KGB used its deep cover spies to get close to the leading lights of the Prague Spring.
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...
Exposing ‘the illegals’: how KGB’s fake westerners infiltrated the Prague Spring
Kremlin’s most prized spies were sent in to Czechoslovakia to whip up the 1960s reform protests in a move then replicated across the eastern bloc
www.theguardian.com
April 20, 2025 at 2:50 PM
“Carpet. Plane. Siberia.”
An adapted short extract from my new book The Illegals: on how the KGB used its deep cover spies to get close to the leading lights of the Prague Spring.
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...
An adapted short extract from my new book The Illegals: on how the KGB used its deep cover spies to get close to the leading lights of the Prague Spring.
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...
My book The Illegals, on Russia's deep-cover spies, is out in UK & US this week... Please consider picking up a copy if you're interested in Russian history, crazy spy stories or both.
A nice review in today's NYT:
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/17/b...
A nice review in today's NYT:
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/17/b...
Book Review: ‘The Illegals,’ by Shaun Walker
In his new book, “The Illegals,” Shaun Walker studies the Russian agents who worked deep undercover as Americans for decades.
www.nytimes.com
April 17, 2025 at 1:18 PM
My book The Illegals, on Russia's deep-cover spies, is out in UK & US this week... Please consider picking up a copy if you're interested in Russian history, crazy spy stories or both.
A nice review in today's NYT:
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/17/b...
A nice review in today's NYT:
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/17/b...
London: I'll be talking on Wednesday at Waterstones Gower St about my new book on the history of Russia's illegals programme, with the best possible conversation partner: @gordoncorera.bsky.social, who has himself written a (brilliant) book about illegals
t.co/zwbJCwCy84
t.co/zwbJCwCy84
https://www.waterstones.com/events/the-illegals-shaun-walker-in-conversation-with-gordon-corera/london-gower-street
t.co
April 14, 2025 at 10:12 AM
London: I'll be talking on Wednesday at Waterstones Gower St about my new book on the history of Russia's illegals programme, with the best possible conversation partner: @gordoncorera.bsky.social, who has himself written a (brilliant) book about illegals
t.co/zwbJCwCy84
t.co/zwbJCwCy84
Ahead of my book on the history of Russia's Illegals programme coming out next week, here's a taste in Guardian Longread form.
‘I am not who you think I am’: how a deep-cover KGB spy recruited his own son
www.theguardian.com/news/2025/ap...
‘I am not who you think I am’: how a deep-cover KGB spy recruited his own son
www.theguardian.com/news/2025/ap...
‘I am not who you think I am’: how a deep-cover KGB spy recruited his own son
The long read: For the first time, the man the KGB codenamed ‘the Inheritor’ tells his story
www.theguardian.com
April 10, 2025 at 7:35 AM
Ahead of my book on the history of Russia's Illegals programme coming out next week, here's a taste in Guardian Longread form.
‘I am not who you think I am’: how a deep-cover KGB spy recruited his own son
www.theguardian.com/news/2025/ap...
‘I am not who you think I am’: how a deep-cover KGB spy recruited his own son
www.theguardian.com/news/2025/ap...
I spoke with @christogrozev.bsky.social about his feelings on being trailed by the Bulgarian spy ring jailed in London last week for spying for Russia, and the effect it has had on his life:
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...
‘They came across as muppets’: Christo Grozev on being target of Bulgarian spy ring
Investigative journalist called ‘modern-day Sherlock’ by Alexei Navalny on unsettling photos, reprisals and being exiled from Vienna
www.theguardian.com
March 10, 2025 at 7:24 PM
I spoke with @christogrozev.bsky.social about his feelings on being trailed by the Bulgarian spy ring jailed in London last week for spying for Russia, and the effect it has had on his life:
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...
I wrote this story on a young man from Kharkiv who was kidnapped by Russian troops from his home village while trying to rescue his mum, and on his mum’s two-year quest to find him and bring him home. With striking photos by Julia Kochetova
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/f...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/f...
Kidnapped, tortured and jailed: one woman’s quest to bring her son home from Russia
Ivan and Maryna’s story is just one of hundreds of thousands of family tragedies that have afflicted Ukrainians after three years of Russian invasion
www.theguardian.com
February 24, 2025 at 6:01 PM
I wrote this story on a young man from Kharkiv who was kidnapped by Russian troops from his home village while trying to rescue his mum, and on his mum’s two-year quest to find him and bring him home. With striking photos by Julia Kochetova
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/f...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/f...
Spent an hour chatting with Zelenskyy yesterday about his upcoming mission to persuade Trump to stay on Ukraine's side. If not, Ze thinks Europe won't be able to fill the gap.
"Security guarantees without America are not real security guarantees."
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/f...
"Security guarantees without America are not real security guarantees."
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/f...
Zelenskyy: Europe cannot guarantee Ukraine’s security without America
Exclusive: In extended interview with the Guardian, Ukraine’s president says he will offer US firms lucrative reconstruction contracts to try to get Trump onside
www.theguardian.com
February 11, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Spent an hour chatting with Zelenskyy yesterday about his upcoming mission to persuade Trump to stay on Ukraine's side. If not, Ze thinks Europe won't be able to fill the gap.
"Security guarantees without America are not real security guarantees."
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/f...
"Security guarantees without America are not real security guarantees."
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/f...
“Never in the postwar period has remembrance been as important as now … We are at an enormous turning point. Everything’s changed very quickly... In these times we need some tangible points of reference."
My interview with Auschwitz museum director
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...
My interview with Auschwitz museum director
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...
Speeches by politicians banned at 80th anniversary of Auschwitz’s liberation
Director of the memorial says he wants the focus to be on the last survivors of the Nazi concentration camp
www.theguardian.com
January 13, 2025 at 9:08 AM
“Never in the postwar period has remembrance been as important as now … We are at an enormous turning point. Everything’s changed very quickly... In these times we need some tangible points of reference."
My interview with Auschwitz museum director
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...
My interview with Auschwitz museum director
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...