Trailer: Sergei & the Westminster Spy Ring

It’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, pro-Western future. Months later Russia invades Crimea. Meanwhile, the chatty Russian diplomat who first met Sergei at the Carlton club is socialising across the capital. Has anyone paid any attention to the warnings of Sergei Cristo?Episodes drop weekly!A Project Citizen productionTo 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 Peter JukesProducer and Sound Design: Ruth AbrahamsStudio Producer: Sean Byrne RobertsLocation Producers: Sheridan Flynn and Manasa NarayananOriginal Music: Phil ChannellMixed: Nigel Appleton Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With 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 productionTo 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 Peter Jukes with Ruth AbrahamsProducer and Sound Design: Ruth AbrahamsStudio Producer: Sean Byrne RobertsLocation Producers: Sheridan Flynn and Manasa NarayananOriginal Music: Phil ChannellMixed: Nigel Appleton Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sergei 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.comPresented by: Carole Cadwalladr and Peter JukesWritten by: Carole Cadwalladr and Peter Jukes with Ruth AbrahamsProducer and Sound Design: Ruth AbrahamsStudio Producer: Sean Byrne RobertsLocation Producers: Sheridan Flynn and Manasa NarayananOriginal Music: Phil ChannellMixed: Nigel Appleton Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A 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 Peter Jukes with Ruth AbrahamsProducer and Sound Design: Ruth AbrahamsStudio Producer: Sean Byrne RobertsLocation Producers: Sheridan Flynn and Manasa NarayananOriginal Music: Phil ChannellMixed: Nigel Appleton Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Introducing… 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.