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However, his sycophants refuse to see and admit it.
Trump official who shut down Russia propaganda unit has links to Kremlin
Darren Beattie, who alarmed the State Department with his pro-Moscow views, is married to a woman whose uncle has ties to Putin.
A senior official who dismantled the US government’s Russian disinformation unit is married to a Russian woman with links to the Kremlin, The Telegraph can reveal.
Darren Beattie has provoked alarm within the State Department since being appointed in February for his ardent pro-Russian views and focus on destroying the agency tasked with tackling Kremlin propaganda.
Mr Beattie, the acting under-secretary for public diplomacy and public affairs, is married to a woman whose uncle has taken several roles in Russian politics and once received a personal “thank you” message from Vladimir Putin.
In the years before joining the government, Mr Beattie wrote social media posts suggesting Western institutions should be “infiltrated” by Putin, while he also attacked what he described as the “globalist American empire”.
Donald Trump is under pressure from many in his party, particularly senators, to take a tougher stance on the Russian leader while he continues to refuse to sign a ceasefire deal as the war in Ukraine drags on.
Many of Mr Beattie’s social media posts also concern China, repeatedly calling on the US to surrender Taiwan to Beijing, and labelling Britain a “poor and pathetic kingdom” that would be “far better off under Chinese dominion”.
A senior official who dismantled the US government’s Russian disinformation unit is married to a Russian woman with links to the Kremlin, The Telegraph can reveal.
Darren Beattie has provoked alarm within the State Department since being appointed in February for his ardent pro-Russian views and focus on destroying the agency tasked with tackling Kremlin propaganda.
Mr Beattie, the acting under-secretary for public diplomacy and public affairs, is married to a woman whose uncle has taken several roles in Russian politics and once received a personal “thank you” message from Vladimir Putin.
In the years before joining the government, Mr Beattie wrote social media posts suggesting Western institutions should be “infiltrated” by Putin, while he also attacked what he described as the “globalist American empire”.
Donald Trump is under pressure from many in his party, particularly senators, to take a tougher stance on the Russian leader while he continues to refuse to sign a ceasefire deal as the war in Ukraine drags on.
Many of Mr Beattie’s social media posts also concern China, repeatedly calling on the US to surrender Taiwan to Beijing, and labelling Britain a “poor and pathetic kingdom” that would be “far better off under Chinese dominion”.
Darren Beattie
Darren Beattie was appointed acting under-secretary for public diplomacy and public affairs in February Credit: US Department of State
State Department sources expressed scepticism over whether he had undergone security vetting, a process which has been relaxed under Mr Trump.
Mr Beattie was a member of the first Trump administration, but after being sacked in 2018 for allegedly attending a white nationalist conference, he reinvented himself as an “alt-Right” media figure.
In May 2021, public records show, he married a Russian woman called Yulia Kirillova in a ceremony in Broward County, Florida.
Ms Kirillova, who according to her Facebook page was educated in Moscow before studying abroad in Canada and Washington DC, is the niece of Sergei Chernikov, a Russian drinks magnate who part-owns a flat with her mother, Natalia.
Mr Chernikov, whose net worth was estimated to be $150 million in 2005, reportedly received a letter of thanks from Putin for his help in the election campaign which first brought the Russian leader to power.
Mr Beattie, and Revolver, the news outlet he founded after leaving the first Trump administration, argues that the US has sought to engineer “colour revolutions” around the world – a common trope in Russia and China to dismiss pro-democracy movements as Western-backed coup attempts.
The businessman has claimed the US is running “colour revolution ops” in Ukraine, Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Myanmar, and that an American “colour revolution brigade” is pushing for a “forever war in Ukraine”.
Two months before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, he said: “Imagine the whining from the Globalist American Empire if Putin ‘invades’ Ukraine… I love it when our national security bureaucrats fail!”
He has also praised Putin as “brave and strong”, and claimed the Russian leader had “done more to advance conservative positions in the US than any Republican”. He also declared: “Nato is a much greater threat to American liberty than Putin ever was.”
“The funny thing is just about every Western institution would improve in quality if it were directly infiltrated and controlled by Putin,” he wrote in September 2021.
Many of his posts focus on Britain, claiming it treats white people “far worse” than the Uyghur population that Chinese authorities have imprisoned in camps in Xinjiang.
He has labelled Britain a “sewage pit” and “the most utterly repulsive dystopia on earth”.
n a post more than two years after the outbreak of war in Ukraine, he criticised the UK’s policy of “antagonising Russia”.
All of these social media posts were still online at the time of writing, although Mr Beattie has deleted disparaging tweets about Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, having previously claimed his now-boss attended “gay foam parties”.
According to Ms Kirillova’s Facebook page, she moved to Washington on Jan 28, roughly a week before her husband began his role at the State Department.
Despite his wide-ranging brief at the heart of the US government, Mr Beattie is said to have focused a disproportionate amount of time on seeking to dismantle the Counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference hub, known as R/Fimi, while building cultural ties with Russia.
A senior State Department official said: “No one in America cares about a British gossip column. This is all fake news and low even for tabloid standards.
“Darren is a tremendous colleague who is committed to advancing President Trump’s America First agenda.
“In a few short months, he has been able to spearhead high-level projects that have been critical in advancing a foreign policy that puts our national interests first.”
Mr Chernikov and Ms Kirillova have been approached for comment.
Mr Beattie described the allegations as “malicious defamatory trash that is beneath the standards of even the British tabloid press”.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2025/06/03/trump-official-shut-russia-propaganda-unit-kremlin-ties/
Trump official who shut down Russia propaganda unit has links to Kremlin
Darren Beattie, who alarmed the State Department with his pro-Moscow views, is married to a woman whose uncle has ties to Putin.
A senior official who dismantled the US government’s Russian disinformation unit is married to a Russian woman with links to the Kremlin, The Telegraph can reveal.
Darren Beattie has provoked alarm within the State Department since being appointed in February for his ardent pro-Russian views and focus on destroying the agency tasked with tackling Kremlin propaganda.
Mr Beattie, the acting under-secretary for public diplomacy and public affairs, is married to a woman whose uncle has taken several roles in Russian politics and once received a personal “thank you” message from Vladimir Putin.
In the years before joining the government, Mr Beattie wrote social media posts suggesting Western institutions should be “infiltrated” by Putin, while he also attacked what he described as the “globalist American empire”.
Donald Trump is under pressure from many in his party, particularly senators, to take a tougher stance on the Russian leader while he continues to refuse to sign a ceasefire deal as the war in Ukraine drags on.
Many of Mr Beattie’s social media posts also concern China, repeatedly calling on the US to surrender Taiwan to Beijing, and labelling Britain a “poor and pathetic kingdom” that would be “far better off under Chinese dominion”.
A senior official who dismantled the US government’s Russian disinformation unit is married to a Russian woman with links to the Kremlin, The Telegraph can reveal.
Darren Beattie has provoked alarm within the State Department since being appointed in February for his ardent pro-Russian views and focus on destroying the agency tasked with tackling Kremlin propaganda.
Mr Beattie, the acting under-secretary for public diplomacy and public affairs, is married to a woman whose uncle has taken several roles in Russian politics and once received a personal “thank you” message from Vladimir Putin.
In the years before joining the government, Mr Beattie wrote social media posts suggesting Western institutions should be “infiltrated” by Putin, while he also attacked what he described as the “globalist American empire”.
Donald Trump is under pressure from many in his party, particularly senators, to take a tougher stance on the Russian leader while he continues to refuse to sign a ceasefire deal as the war in Ukraine drags on.
Many of Mr Beattie’s social media posts also concern China, repeatedly calling on the US to surrender Taiwan to Beijing, and labelling Britain a “poor and pathetic kingdom” that would be “far better off under Chinese dominion”.
Darren Beattie
Darren Beattie was appointed acting under-secretary for public diplomacy and public affairs in February Credit: US Department of State
State Department sources expressed scepticism over whether he had undergone security vetting, a process which has been relaxed under Mr Trump.
Mr Beattie was a member of the first Trump administration, but after being sacked in 2018 for allegedly attending a white nationalist conference, he reinvented himself as an “alt-Right” media figure.
In May 2021, public records show, he married a Russian woman called Yulia Kirillova in a ceremony in Broward County, Florida.
Ms Kirillova, who according to her Facebook page was educated in Moscow before studying abroad in Canada and Washington DC, is the niece of Sergei Chernikov, a Russian drinks magnate who part-owns a flat with her mother, Natalia.
Mr Chernikov, whose net worth was estimated to be $150 million in 2005, reportedly received a letter of thanks from Putin for his help in the election campaign which first brought the Russian leader to power.
Mr Beattie, and Revolver, the news outlet he founded after leaving the first Trump administration, argues that the US has sought to engineer “colour revolutions” around the world – a common trope in Russia and China to dismiss pro-democracy movements as Western-backed coup attempts.
The businessman has claimed the US is running “colour revolution ops” in Ukraine, Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Myanmar, and that an American “colour revolution brigade” is pushing for a “forever war in Ukraine”.
Two months before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, he said: “Imagine the whining from the Globalist American Empire if Putin ‘invades’ Ukraine… I love it when our national security bureaucrats fail!”
He has also praised Putin as “brave and strong”, and claimed the Russian leader had “done more to advance conservative positions in the US than any Republican”. He also declared: “Nato is a much greater threat to American liberty than Putin ever was.”
“The funny thing is just about every Western institution would improve in quality if it were directly infiltrated and controlled by Putin,” he wrote in September 2021.
Many of his posts focus on Britain, claiming it treats white people “far worse” than the Uyghur population that Chinese authorities have imprisoned in camps in Xinjiang.
He has labelled Britain a “sewage pit” and “the most utterly repulsive dystopia on earth”.
n a post more than two years after the outbreak of war in Ukraine, he criticised the UK’s policy of “antagonising Russia”.
All of these social media posts were still online at the time of writing, although Mr Beattie has deleted disparaging tweets about Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, having previously claimed his now-boss attended “gay foam parties”.
According to Ms Kirillova’s Facebook page, she moved to Washington on Jan 28, roughly a week before her husband began his role at the State Department.
Despite his wide-ranging brief at the heart of the US government, Mr Beattie is said to have focused a disproportionate amount of time on seeking to dismantle the Counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference hub, known as R/Fimi, while building cultural ties with Russia.
A senior State Department official said: “No one in America cares about a British gossip column. This is all fake news and low even for tabloid standards.
“Darren is a tremendous colleague who is committed to advancing President Trump’s America First agenda.
“In a few short months, he has been able to spearhead high-level projects that have been critical in advancing a foreign policy that puts our national interests first.”
Mr Chernikov and Ms Kirillova have been approached for comment.
Mr Beattie described the allegations as “malicious defamatory trash that is beneath the standards of even the British tabloid press”.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2025/06/03/trump-official-shut-russia-propaganda-unit-kremlin-ties/