How I unmasked a Russian agent, one of Ukraine’s greatest enemies

The inside story on how I uncovered Maria Butina, who later went on to be a convicted Russian agent.

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Maria Butina speaks with journalists in Moscow on March 5, 2020. (Photo by KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP via Getty Images)

Every great investigative story starts with an unlikely tip. 

Usually it sounds just a little too wild to be true. 

Oftentimes, these claims are impossible to prove. 

So when I first heard about an unusual case of a Russian citizen in Washington, D.C., I was skeptical I could do anything with it. The claim came from someone who had firsthand knowledge and deep suspicions – but no hard evidence.

I was at the Tabbard Inn, a charming hotel near Dupont Circle in the nation’s capital, talking to a source who became increasingly animated over the course of our breakfast. 

As rumors swirled about Russian involvement in the 2016 election, my source told me that he had observed this Russian citizen acting in very strange ways.

This woman, the source said, had been introducing herself differently depending on her audience.

Formerly a furniture store owner in Siberia, she presented herself as a powerful Russian central bank aide; a staunch advocate for gun rights; a Russian political representative; a graduate student; a journalist; or a conduit between Russia and the Trump campaign. 

I could not have imagined how the intervening years would go, with the two of us living sort-of parallel lives: me now living in Ukraine, fighting to keep the story of this country’s resistance in the news – and her living in Russia as a member of the Russian Duma, one of the leading propagandists for the Putin regime’s illegal invasion.

This is the story of how I followed the rabbit hole down to see how far it went… and ended up breaking open the Maria Butina case, ultimately leading to her arrest, conviction and deportation from the United States. 

In this undated handout photo provided by the Alexandria Sheriff's Office, Russian national Maria Butina is seen in a booking photo in Alexandria, Virginia. (Photo by Alexandria Sheriff's Office via Getty Images)

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