I was born in the USSR, grew up in Boston, and spent nearly two decades in Moscow working inside Russian media and the Kremlin's propaganda machine—before coming back to the U.S. 

I’m based in New York, writing about power, politics, and the lives shaped—or broken—by both. My work has appeared in The Atlantic, Rolling Stone, Air Mail, New Lines, and elsewhere.

What fascinates me is how people explain away the worst things they do—and what happens when the story they’ve told themselves stops working. Or never does.

My memoir, The Propagandist, is out in 2026

This site collects what I’ve written, what I’ve lived through, and what I’m still trying to understand.