From Russia with Blood

Acknowledgments

This story would not have come to light without the phenomenal work of my colleagues at BuzzFeed News. Tom Warren, Richard Holmes, Jane Bradley, Alex Campbell, and Jason Leopold: working with you heroes has been the biggest adventure of my professional life, and I thank you for every second. Mark Schoofs led us with his alchemical blend of vision and rigor, daring us to aim higher at every turn, and our work would have been a shadow of itself without his inspirational stewardship. Special thanks are also due to Alex and Mark for their sparkling edits to this manuscript, and to Tom for his meticulous fact-checking. I owe many things to the genius of Ariel Kaminer, including the title of this book. Eliot Stempf kept us all safe as we reported our way through treacherous territory, for which we can never thank him enough. And I’m endlessly grateful to Ben Smith for making BuzzFeed News the sort of bold and brilliant place where the thorniest investigations can flourish.

Thanks to my agent, Bridget Matzie, for seeing the potential to turn our investigation into a book, and for backing the project with such skill and vim; to my editor at Little, Brown, Phil Marino, for his inspired thoughts on framing this narrative; and to Barbara Clark for the sharpest copyediting I’ve ever seen.

The many sources who took risks to speak out and supply the evidence that underpins this story will always have my gratitude and admiration.

Love and appreciation to my incredible mum, Libby Blake, for her eagle-eyed reading of this manuscript as it flew off the keyboard—and for being a constant beacon of courage, strength, and integrity in my life.

Finally, all the love and thanks in my heart to Duncan Piper-Blake—my first and last reader—for the gift of your garden room, and all the magic you bring, and the endless adventures ahead.