Document:Objectives, Tasks and Cluster activities and Relationships
| Euan Grant lists an extensive list of willing collaborators. Intelligence people, non-fiction authors and lots and lots of media. |
file of unspecified type by Euan Grant Subjects: clusters, Italy, Misha Glenny, Rob Sandford, Colin Freeman, CNN, Edward Lucas, Kevin Wignall, Matt Potter, Gordon Corera, BBC, CCM/DSC
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Objectives, Tasks and Cluster activities and Relationships
Cluster relevant activities / contacts
Chief Investigative reporter of La Repubblica, Rome (met and corresponded August 2018)
Estonia NATO Euro Atlantic group (met at 2BP Budva, Montenegro and as a result gave presentation on media aspects of hybrid warfare at the Baltic – Russia Youth Forum in Jurmala, Latvia Sept 2018
Edward Lucas regarding Baltic States and Spain especially and financial matters generally: both Spain and Prague are particular mutual interests regarding Sergei Skripal.
Generic activities
Articles in preparation for II directly regarding Russian activity in N Africa, following written briefings Summer 2016 for F&CO and website posting in relation to mercenary activity. Another specifically on this for John Herbst of Atlantic Council on this specific mercenary topic.
Briefing for cluster liaison contacts re Italy, Spain and Moldova. Follow up briefings written for French and Spanish clusters following recent 2TP French introductory meeting and on short notice for Nico de Pedro regarding his submission to Spanish Foreign Ministry re Russian presences. Similar one written for Jordanian representative.
Input to Simon Bracey-Lane, Harold Elletson and Keith Sargent regarding their specific clusters or the Balkan corruption project.
These reactive and proactive submissions have considerable cross over to all countries where there are clusters or there are planned to be, e.g. Ukraine in relation to the geopolitical links of the ‘Ndrangheta.
Article prepared for F&CO via Chris Hernon regarding the strategic implications in Africa of the murders of the Russian journalists in CAR which was based on research undertaken since 12998 and contacts made in Ukraine with ex GRU from soviet era
Generic contacts UK – media, academia, armed forces, central government
Lt. Col Rob Sandford, MOD Central on staff of ACGS – regular approaches following contacts he made after the March 2016 Chatham House Defence Conference
Lt. Gen Jonathan Shaw (retd) ex Head of UK SF and MoD Cyber Security – briefer and speech writer for him
Brig. (retd) Nigel Hall – recent contributor to his ideas for New Bletchley which seeks through a network of networkers including George Robertson to create a privately and publicly funded “New Bletchley” – this is currently under development which may start to make real progress in early 2019
Misha Glenny, author of McMafia, most recently met Oct 2018 and who has requested a meeting in Jan 2019 on “ ideas” for his next project – possible input into series 2?
Colin Freeman - former Chief Correspondent of the Telegraph ( inspirer of his Russian org crime article 2002, last contact 2016)
Lucy Fisher (Defence Correspondent Times, Sept 2018)
Edward Lucas – frequently and briefed him in early July 2018 on Russian Wagner group in Africa, i.e. several weeks before the murder of the journalists in CAR
Ben MacIntyre of the Times – have discussed close work congruences several times ( last Sept 2018)
Nina dos Santos – CNN Europe Editor ( lengthy verbal input re Russian mercenary activity following her contact to II)
Will Jordan of Al Jazeera Europe ( former BBC Monitoring colleague I who approached for insights on transnational Russian crime: note this is now v much live as he has sought advice on an ongoing basis in relation to Spanish and Spanish American links to Russia and has been given contacts with links to retired US law enforcement officers regarding early Nov research work in the Greater Miami region.
Charles Cumming – author of the very Russian linked Kell books ( several times, most recently Sept 2018, introductory letter prepared)
Kevin Wignall , author of the about to be filmed ( met Sept 2018, contacted by him soon after)
Matt Potter, author of the invaluable non-fiction Outlaws Inc. ( met May 2018 when he was in conversation with Mark Galeotti’s “ The Vory” book)
Oliver Bullough, author of “Moneylands 2018” – frequently met and contributor to his work, will attend his RUSI 9th November event: the book gets close to Kremlin high-ups
Andrew Verity, BBC Panorama and producer of early 2018 broadcast on Odessa based oligarch property in London – last met September 2018 when he attended my workshop on Russian Criminality at the Cambridge Financial Crime Symposium which de facto additionally covered subjects in the cancelled Workshop by the two Symposium organisers, namely Prof. Barry Rider and Prof. Frank Madsen, namely Russian state protected criminality – “ How Real is McMafia”
Gordon Corera BBC Security Correspondent – frequently in contact, have provided eye witness material regarding Russian sympathies among attendees of Christopher Andrew’s Cambridge Intelligence Seminars
Richard Galpin – current or recent BBC correspondent in Moscow – lengthy meeting at his request 2013 or 2015 regarding Russia’s Spanish and S American links – NB he appears to be preparing an in depth TV documentary on the Skripal case with “ trailers” broadcast c. 251018 from Prague and Madrid
Tim Whewell of BBC Radio 4 – contributor to his 2015 File on 4 documentary on the UK and Russian linked Banca di Economii scandal in Moldova (he is a former colleague of Stephen Dalzell)
Regularly on LBC Radio usually re Russian matters esp. Skripal – most recently Oct 2018 re INF
Luke Harding of The Guardian – appeared separately on same BBC One London Politics Jan 2018 programme on Russian money in London, to coincide with screening of McMafia
David Leask of The Herald ( former BBC Monitoring colleague of Chris Hernon) – mutually aware of each other’s work on extensive Scottish angles to Russian dirty money and the presence of Sputnik in Edinburgh
Tom Burgis of FT – a protégé of Quentin Peel – and Cynthia O’Murchu of the same. Former re African activities of Russia and, especially, the Israeli links. These lead into things which are not unconnected to Arron Banks. Cynthia O’ Murchu was briefed on Transnistrian Russians prominent in Crimea and Donbass in 2014, and on wider aspects of the Romanian / Moldovan / Greater Odessa connections with Kremlin associated arms trafficking and intercontinental politically protected transnational crime.
Joby Warrick – Washington Post: summer and autumn 2013 input into the Odessa network of arms trafficking to Syria, and re other matters relating to Kremlin links to the region.
Richard Brooks of Private Eye: source of Russian and Ukrainian material for his May 2013 special report “Brass plates”
Diplomats: work known to British Ambassador Montenegro (before Budva meeting May 2018) and to former Ambassadors to Russia – Anthony Brenton, Andrew Wood and Rodric Braithwaite
Met Timothy Barrow, current Ambassador to the EU and former Ambassador to Kyiv and then Moscow (while in EUBAM Kyiv 2005-7): this involves common knowledge of sensitive issues
Work familiar to Admiral Lord West, Lord (Donald ) Anderson re his Somalia and Ukrainian interests, and to Michael Ancram
Kenneth Murray of Police Scotland and who has close links with David Leask of The Herald (met at Cambridge Symposium, Sept 2018 with follow up correspondence in October and invitation to meet his team in Glasgow)
Mary Young, Professor of Law at University of Western England and convenor of annual Organised Crime conference – October 2018: this has a heavy top tier financial element
Generic contacts – Think tanks
Mark Galeotti ( co contributor, last contact May 2018)
Lucy Fisher ( Defence Correspondent Times, Sept 2018_)
Robert Brinkley – Chatham House Ukraine Forum and Ambassador in Ukraine when I was first there. Met regularly, most recently October 2018.
Crina Boros , ex Reuters and now Invetigate Europe and www.tcij.org ( Hungarian Romanian who covers Eastern European corruption, met most recently Oct 2018)
Richard Norton–Taylor, ex Guardian Defence correspondent – frequently met and contacted by him on Linkedin Oct 2018
Shashank Joshi – Defence Correspondent of The Economist – new information provided to him in person re Wagner PMC October 2018
RUSI – well known to Neil Watling,Rafaello Pantucci, Jonathan Eyal, Peter Roberts, Ewan Lawson, Jonathan Evans ( due to having worked under his agency colleagues drafted into HMCE in late 1990s and early 21st century, e.g. Nick Fishwick of SIS and current Security Service DG Andrew Parker, who headed my unit)
IISS – Nigel Inkster, ex DDG of SIS with late 90s responsibility for liaison with law enforcement: regular speaker at Peter apps’ PS21 events. Eleanor Beevor, late October new staff member of IISS and a long time collaborator in PS21 events: much of her French and Arabic speaking skills in Jordan, Somalia and – especially – the African Great Lakes region where she has high level contacts are linked to Russian and now Chinese activity: this is a potentially useful cooperation link if conflicts of interest can be avoided.
Henry Jackson Society – receive personalised invites from Andrew Foxhall to Russian linked events, and briefed him in May 2018 on the Wagner Group in Sub Saharan Africa ( i.e. several months before the killing of the journalists in the CAR); also a member of a small invitation only group run by John Hemmings on China and SE Asia: through this Keith Sargent has been able to attend; the Group has senior speakers from the region and the USA and attendees are typically from UK MOD, F&CO and Cabinet Office, and Chatham House and RUSI.
Centre for European Reform – Ian Bond, have provided briefings for Reuters on Russian strategic level dirty money at request of Ian
PS21 – young persons think tank headed by Reuters correspondent Peter Apps, recently recruited to UK Military Intelligence – this also provides Whitehall and esp. MOD links, e.g. Flavia Munteanu of DWP ( Moldovan, strong political links), Tariq York of Cabinet Office and Army Intelligence – esp. on financial matters and on to 77 brigade
Oleksandr Hryb – former Ukrainian army officer now naturalised British citizen and British Army reserve officer
Generic contacts EU and foreign
Dorin Purice, recently Minister or Deputy Minister of Interior in Moldova ( contact indirectly through Flavia Munteanu of UK DWP< mutual friends): DP was direct counterpart when based in EUBAM Moldova in 2007 – Dorin Purice has a VERTY wide range of contacts in European law enforcement and on how effective it is, or not
Sir Rob Wainwright, DG of Europol until 2018, met frequently during events organised by RUSI – intended early contact
Georg Roebling, Head of EU OLAF Directorate of Policy for AFIS (Anti-Fraud Investigation strategy): met October 2018 and invited to meet OLAF following my questions at the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Global Illicit Trade Summit
Ukraine
Oleksandr Pukhliak, political attaché, London Embassy (regularly, most recently Sept 2018)
Several contacts in Soviet era GRU from Ukraine, one has proved invaluable proactively in the past
Oksana Nazarchuk, OSCE Conflict Prevention in Vienna HQ (ex-Chief Interpreter, Border Guards Kyiv)
USA
Martha Bayles, ex RL and RFE – re possibilities for making use of fictional work for reinforcing messages about Russian hybrid warfare
Munira Mustaffa, post graduate PhD student at American University in Washington DC: my former assistant and until August 2018 chief analyst for counter terrorism analyst for
Malaysian foreign ministry and ex Kroll Europe based in London, where she worked on corporate due diligence regarding major corporations in ex-Soviet states. This involved highly sensitive names indeed. The terms of her study visa mean that Munira is allowed to work, but only for non US based clients.
Euan Grant
Senior Fellow
www.statecraft.org.uk
+ 44 794 989 4643 ( WhatsApp, Viber, Signal)
Skype: euan.g.grant EGrant@statecraft.org.uk 3t November 2018
