Shaun Walker
@shaunwalker7
Central & Eastern Europe Correspondent, The Guardian. The Illegals - a History of Russia's Most Audacious Spies (out April 2025) [email protected]
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.
I spoke to perpetrators and investigators in the grim trend in Ukraine of Russians recruiting teenagers online and turning them into unwitting suicide bombers theguardian.com/world/2025/jun…
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 theguardian.com/world/2025/jun…
Will be talking with the amazing David Hoffman next Thursday for anyone in DC who might be interested…
In his new book The Illegals, @shaunwalker7 traces the evolution of the KGB’s most secretive spy network from its Bolshevik beginnings to a series of spectacular operational failures under Vladimir Putin. Join Shaun, @thedeadhandbook, and @CarnegieRussia for a discussion and book…
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. theguardian.com/world/2025/jun…
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.”) theguardian.com/world/2025/may…
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 theguardian.com/guardian-live-…
“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. theguardian.com/world/2025/may…
Long-time Putin court reporter Andrei Kolesnikov says Putin held no consultations with aides etc on response to the ceasefire offer, but just sat alone and wrote it out late last night. (Don’t think Kolesnikov risks “guessing” such things so it’s probably the case)
Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron, Friedrich Merz and Donald Tusk will be arriving here in Kyiv tomorrow morning. Just as the US says it has intel of “potentially significant air attack that may occur at any time over the next several days” theguardian.com/world/2025/may…
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 theguardian.com/world/2025/may…
“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. theguardian.com/world/ng-inter…
Repeated beatings, electric shocks, suffocation, prisoners wrapped from head to toe in sticky tape and then “used as human furniture”… Inside one Russian torture facility (of many) where Ukrainian POWs and civilian detainees are held. A horror story: theguardian.com/world/2025/apr…
“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 theguardian.com/world/2025/apr…
