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> The Evening Standard was bought by businessman and former Russian intelligence officer Alexander Lebedev and his son Evgeny in 2009. > The Lebedevs also boug

> The Evening Standard was bought by businessman and former Russian intelligence officer Alexander Lebedev and his son Evgeny in 2009. > The Lebedevs also bought the Independent in 2010, and scrapped that paper's print edition entirely six years later. A Russian intelligence officer owning two major UK newspapers seems like a seriously undercovered story.

elzbardico 2y ago
Lebedev is known opositor of Putin. So, it doesn't matter if he is a corrupt oligarch, we put him on the good guys column.
- mikeyouse 2y ago
  Bit of a deeper dive gives a very different picture.. https://bylinetimes.com/2022/03/15/lebedev-the-kgb-spy-who-helped-put-putin-in-the-kremlin/ https://bylinetimes.com/2022/03/15/lebedev-the-kgb-spy-who-h... > Britain’s spies were not worried too much about the boy, Evgeny, a seemingly self-obsessed featherweight who once, while freelancing for the BBC, asked Alexander Lukashenko, the strongman of Belarus, what he thought about group sex. Their anxiety focussed on the father, a once and maybe current KGB/FSB actor, who helped put Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin. All of Evgeny’s money flows from this single fact, that Putin was grateful to his father for his service as a spy and he was rewarded handsomely for it. And Alexander Lebedev still owes fealty to the master of the Kremlin. > On the face of it, Alexander Lebedev looks like a model anti-Putin oligarch. He’s big mates with Mikhail Gorbachev with whom he part-owned the now closed Novaya Gazeta, the last good newspaper in Russia. He’s a liberal, or poses as such, and, like his son, he’s thick with the luvvies: friends with Kevin Spacey, John Malkovich, Sir Elton John, Ralph Fiennes who plays M in the Bond movies and Hugh Grant. > No wonder Boris Johnson ignored warnings from MI6 that the Lebedevs were to be avoided. But look into Alexander Lebedev’s past and the story gets dark, very quickly.
  - surfingdino 2y ago
    Look at the bio of his advisor and your jaw drops fast and hard https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominic_Cummings https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominic_Cummings
mathieuh 2y ago
That’s Lord Lebedev to you. Almost unbelievably he was given a peerage by Boris Johnson. It was a big story in the UK for a while, Johnson also attended a party at Lebedev’s villa in Italy after a NATO conference.
- bitwize 2y ago
  So a Russian national was given a peerage by a PM named Boris? That's not sus...
- vasco 2y ago
  I think you mean Baron Lebedev, of Hampton in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and of Siberia in the Russian Federation. Monarchy is ridiculous, lol. Lets keep giving these people validation like this.
  - eru 2y ago
    Taking money for symbolic titles seems good (for Britain). Gets money out of their hands into British hands. Actually handing out power is more questionable, but I'm not sure whether Britain is worse or better than other countries in this regard. Eg in Germany or the US you can also get some influence for money, you just won't get a fancy noble title with it.
    - deleted 2y ago
      [deleted]
    - outop 2y ago
      The upper chamber of British parliament is made up of lords.
      - eru 2y ago
        Yes. And a lordship gives you both a fancy title and some (minor) say in politics. I wanted to disentangle the two aspects.
- 2y ago
rorylawless 2y ago
What's more, Evgeny Lebedev sits in the House of Lords. Despite the sanctions following the invasion of Ukraine, Britain is still lousy with Russian oligarchs with a worrying amount of influence.
- yardstick 2y ago
  Seems a little unfair? Wikipedia indicates he’s lived in the UK since he was 8, and obtained citizenship in 2010. There’s probably a case to be made for not allowing any Lords or MPs unless they are British by birth rather than naturalisation or descent.
  - brainwad 2y ago
    That case would be wild, since you don't even need to be a _British_ citizen to be an MP - Ireland or any Commonwealth nation will also do.
    - chgs 2y ago
      You don’t even have to live in the UK https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-party-election-tynemouth-australia-diver-ed-punchard-a9205191.html https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-party-...
  - arp242 2y ago
    Well, he didn't buy the Evening Standard on his own, but together with his father. The Independent was bought by his father, who then appointed Evgeny as chairman. It's Alexander who is the main concern really, but it doesn't seem so easy to separate Alexander from Evgeny. Also someone who just happens to be rich because daddy is perhaps not worth of a peerage, and not entirely how the system is supposed to work. Unless he actually did anything special, which I don't think he did.
    - lostlogin 2y ago
      > not entirely how the system is supposed to work Are you sure? I think that’s exactly how it’s supposed to work and is how it’s always worked.
TrainedMonkey 2y ago
My layman understanding is that Russians own a lot of UK, largely financed by revenues from oil and other natural resources.
ClumsyPilot 2y ago
We allow shell companies with unknown owners to own anything. At least this guy is a known quantity

elzbardico 2y ago

Lebedev is known opositor of Putin. So, it doesn't matter if he is a corrupt oligarch, we put him on the good guys column.

mikeyouse 2y ago
Bit of a deeper dive gives a very different picture.. https://bylinetimes.com/2022/03/15/lebedev-the-kgb-spy-who-helped-put-putin-in-the-kremlin/ https://bylinetimes.com/2022/03/15/lebedev-the-kgb-spy-who-h... > Britain’s spies were not worried too much about the boy, Evgeny, a seemingly self-obsessed featherweight who once, while freelancing for the BBC, asked Alexander Lukashenko, the strongman of Belarus, what he thought about group sex. Their anxiety focussed on the father, a once and maybe current KGB/FSB actor, who helped put Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin. All of Evgeny’s money flows from this single fact, that Putin was grateful to his father for his service as a spy and he was rewarded handsomely for it. And Alexander Lebedev still owes fealty to the master of the Kremlin. > On the face of it, Alexander Lebedev looks like a model anti-Putin oligarch. He’s big mates with Mikhail Gorbachev with whom he part-owned the now closed Novaya Gazeta, the last good newspaper in Russia. He’s a liberal, or poses as such, and, like his son, he’s thick with the luvvies: friends with Kevin Spacey, John Malkovich, Sir Elton John, Ralph Fiennes who plays M in the Bond movies and Hugh Grant. > No wonder Boris Johnson ignored warnings from MI6 that the Lebedevs were to be avoided. But look into Alexander Lebedev’s past and the story gets dark, very quickly.
- surfingdino 2y ago
  Look at the bio of his advisor and your jaw drops fast and hard https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominic_Cummings https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominic_Cummings

mathieuh 2y ago

That’s Lord Lebedev to you. Almost unbelievably he was given a peerage by Boris Johnson. It was a big story in the UK for a while, Johnson also attended a party at Lebedev’s villa in Italy after a NATO conference.

bitwize 2y ago
So a Russian national was given a peerage by a PM named Boris? That's not sus...
vasco 2y ago
I think you mean Baron Lebedev, of Hampton in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and of Siberia in the Russian Federation. Monarchy is ridiculous, lol. Lets keep giving these people validation like this.
- eru 2y ago
  Taking money for symbolic titles seems good (for Britain). Gets money out of their hands into British hands. Actually handing out power is more questionable, but I'm not sure whether Britain is worse or better than other countries in this regard. Eg in Germany or the US you can also get some influence for money, you just won't get a fancy noble title with it.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
  - outop 2y ago
    The upper chamber of British parliament is made up of lords.
    - eru 2y ago
      Yes. And a lordship gives you both a fancy title and some (minor) say in politics. I wanted to disentangle the two aspects.
2y ago

rorylawless 2y ago

What's more, Evgeny Lebedev sits in the House of Lords. Despite the sanctions following the invasion of Ukraine, Britain is still lousy with Russian oligarchs with a worrying amount of influence.

yardstick 2y ago
Seems a little unfair? Wikipedia indicates he’s lived in the UK since he was 8, and obtained citizenship in 2010. There’s probably a case to be made for not allowing any Lords or MPs unless they are British by birth rather than naturalisation or descent.
- brainwad 2y ago
  That case would be wild, since you don't even need to be a _British_ citizen to be an MP - Ireland or any Commonwealth nation will also do.
  - chgs 2y ago
    You don’t even have to live in the UK https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-party-election-tynemouth-australia-diver-ed-punchard-a9205191.html https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-party-...
- arp242 2y ago
  Well, he didn't buy the Evening Standard on his own, but together with his father. The Independent was bought by his father, who then appointed Evgeny as chairman. It's Alexander who is the main concern really, but it doesn't seem so easy to separate Alexander from Evgeny. Also someone who just happens to be rich because daddy is perhaps not worth of a peerage, and not entirely how the system is supposed to work. Unless he actually did anything special, which I don't think he did.
  - lostlogin 2y ago
    > not entirely how the system is supposed to work Are you sure? I think that’s exactly how it’s supposed to work and is how it’s always worked.

TrainedMonkey 2y ago

My layman understanding is that Russians own a lot of UK, largely financed by revenues from oil and other natural resources.

ClumsyPilot 2y ago

We allow shell companies with unknown owners to own anything. At least this guy is a known quantity