Wikipedia

Kompromat

For the 2022 film, see Kompromat (film).

Kompromat
Russianкомпромат
Romanizationkompromat
IPA[kəmprɐˈmat]
Literal meaningcompromising material

Kompromat (Russian: компромат, IPA: [kəmprɐˈmat] ⓘ, short for компрометирующий материал, variously translated as "compromising material", "discrediting material", or "incriminating material"), is damaging information about a person or a group, commonly a politician, businessperson, or other public figure, which may be used for negative campaigning or smear campaigning to discredit the person or group. It can also be used for blackmail purposes, often to exert influence over a person rather than for monetary gain, and extortion. In English it is also called "dark PR" or "black PR".[1] Kompromat may be acquired from security agencies or intelligence agencies, or outright forged, and then publicized, e.g., via a public relations official.[2][3]

Etymology

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The term kompromat is borrowed from the Russian NKVD slang term компромат from the Stalin era, which is short for "compromising material" (komprometiruyushchy material). It refers to disparaging information that can be collected, stored, traded, or used strategically across all domains: political, electoral, legal, professional, judicial, media, and business. The information may be truthful, fictional, or a mix of both, including presenting information out of context.[4] The origins of the term in Russian trace back to 1930s secret police jargon.[5] According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the first known use in English was in 1990.[6]

Use in Soviet Union and Russia

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Use of kompromat has been common in the politics of Russia[7] and other post-Soviet states.[8][9][10]

In the early days, kompromat included altered photographs, planted drugs, grainy videos of liaisons with prostitutes hired by the KGB, and a wide range of other primitive entrapment techniques.[11] More contemporary forms of kompromat appear as a form of cybercrime.[11] One aspect of kompromat that stands the test of time is that the compromising information is often sexual in nature.[12]

The use of kompromat is part of the political culture in Russia, with many members of the business and political elite having collected and stored potentially compromising material on their political opponents.[13] A person or organization collecting kompromat may not target specific individuals, instead collecting a range of information that could be useful later.[14] Compromising videos may be produced long in advance of when leverage over people is needed.[15]

Especially when promoted or supported by public figures or news media, kompromat is a form of disinformation, creating confusion and reducing public trust in institutions.[16][17][4]

Opposition research is conducted in the U.S. to find compromising material on political opponents so that such material may be released to weaken those opponents. Some contend that kompromat differs from opposition research, in that such information is used to exert influence over people rather than to simply win elections.[18] Nevertheless, compromising material uncovered by opposition research need not be used in only legal or ethical ways. It can be used to exert influence over Western leaders just as surely as it can be used to exert influence over Russian leaders.[19][20]

Notable cases

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In the 1950s, British civil servant John Vassall was a victim of a gay honey trap operation, producing kompromat which could be used against him since homosexuality was illegal in Britain at the time.[21] During a 1957 visit to Moscow, American journalist Joseph Alsop also fell victim to a gay honey trap operation conducted by the KGB.[22]

In 1997, Valentin Kovalyov was removed as the Russian Minister of Justice after photographs of him with prostitutes in a sauna controlled by the Solntsevskaya Bratva crime organization were published in a newspaper.[5] In 1999, a video aired with a man resembling Yury Skuratov in bed with two women that later would lead to his dismissal as Prosecutor General of Russia. It was released after he began looking into charges of corruption by President Boris Yeltsin and his associates.[23]

In April 2010, politician Ilya Yashin and comedian Victor Shenderovich were involved in a sex scandal with a woman claimed to have acted as a Kremlin honey trap to discredit opposition figures.[24] The video was released only two days before the wedding of Shenderovich's daughter.[15]

In cases of kompromat during the early 21st century, Russian operatives have been suspected or accused of placing child pornography on the personal computers of individuals they were attempting to discredit.[11][17] In 2015, the UK's Crown Prosecution Service announced that it would prosecute Vladimir Bukovsky for "prohibited images" found on his computer;[25] however, the case against Bukovsky was put on hold as investigators tried to determine whether the pornographic images were planted.[11] Bukovsky died in October 2019.[26]

Ahead of the 2016 Russian legislative election, a sex tape of Mikhail Kasyanov emerged on NTV.[23][17]

During the 2016 U.S. presidential election, U.S. intelligence agencies investigated possibly compromising personal and financial information on President-elect Donald Trump, based on an opposition research report known as the Steele dossier, leading to allegations that he and members of his administration might be vulnerable to manipulation by the Russian government.[27][28]

British Labour Party MP Chris Bryant, an ex-chair of the all-party parliamentary group for Russia, who claims that the Russian government orchestrated a homophobic campaign to remove him from this position, has claimed that the Russian government has acquired kompromat on high-profile Conservative Party MPs. This includes Boris Johnson, Liam Fox, Alan Duncan, and David Davis.[29]

Following a 2016 phone call between incoming-U.S. National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak, Flynn allegedly lied to the White House on the extent of those contacts, placing him in a position vulnerable to blackmail. According to congressional testimony delivered by former Acting U.S. Attorney General Sally Yates, the Department of Justice believed that "General Flynn was compromised," and placed Flynn in "a situation where the national-security adviser essentially could be blackmailed by the Russians".[30][31]

Websites

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In 1999, Sergey Gorshkov created Kompromat.ru, a blog about scandals involving Russian politicians.[32] He posted some of the material proactively, including links to legitimate news stories, and accepted payments in exchange for posting other unverified material; the website was both controversial and recognized as an independent publication.[32] Kompromat.ru was purchased by a private investor in 2009.[33] In 2005, human rights activist Vladimir Pribylovsky created Anticompromat.org, an opposition politics website that compiled information about Russian politicians, including from news reports.[34][35]

In the 2020s, there are anonymous fake news websites that secretly take payments to publish negative information, for example from people looking to damage political or business competitors in former Soviet Union countries, while also requesting blackmail payments from targets who request removal of articles.[1][36][37] Some of the URLs include keywords such as "kompromat", "ruscrime", and "antikor".[1][38][36] The negative information may be true, false, or a mix of both.[36] These websites may also publish brief factual articles based on news agency reports, and create fake journalist names or copy the names of real journalists, to make the website look legitimate.[1][39] The websites use search engine optimization techniques to come up in web search results for a target's name.[1][39][38]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Aris, Ben (13 December 2023). "The fake media shakedown". bne IntelliNews. Retrieved 31 January 2026.
  2. ^ Hoffman, David (2003). The Oligarchs: Wealth and Power in the New Russia. New York City: PublicAffairs. p. 272. ISBN 1-586-48202-5.
  3. ^ Koltsova, Olessia (2006). News Media and Power in Russia. BASEES/Routledge series on Russian and East European Studies. Routledge. p. 108. ISBN 0-415-34515-4.
  4. ^ a b Oates, Sarah (2017). "Kompromat Goes Global?: Assessing a Russian Media Tool in the United States". Slavic Review. 76 (S1): S57–S65. ISSN 0037-6779.
  5. ^ a b Ledeneva, Alena V. (30 September 2013). How Russia Really Works: The Informal Practices That Shaped Post-Soviet Politics and Business. Cornell University Press. p. 288. ISBN 978-0-8014-7005-9. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  6. ^ "Definition of KOMPROMAT". Merriam Webster. Retrieved 5 February 2026.
  7. ^ White, Stephen; McAllister, Ian (2006). "Politics and the Media in Post-Communist Russia" (PDF). In Voltmer, Katrin (ed.). Mass Media and Political Communication in New Democracies. Routledge/ECPR studies in European political science. Abingdon-on-Thames: Routledge. pp. 225–226. ISBN 0-415-33779-8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 August 2006. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  8. ^ Wheatley, Jonathan (2005). Georgia from National Awakening to Rose Revolution: Delayed Transition in the Former Soviet Union. Ashgate Publishing. pp. 104–105. ISBN 0-754-64503-7.
  9. ^ Milan, Lielich (10 September 2013). "Operation Smear Campaign". The Ukrainian Week. Retrieved 5 February 2026.
  10. ^ Choy, James P. (2020). "Kompromat: A theory of blackmail as a system of governance". Journal of Development Economics. 147 102535. doi:10.1016/j.jdeveco.2020.102535. ISSN 0304-3878. S2CID 225375805.
  11. ^ a b c d Higgins, Andrew (9 December 2016). "Foes of Russia Say Child Pornography Is Planted to Ruin Them". The New York Times. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
  12. ^ Waxman, Olivia B. (12 January 2017). "Document Claims Russia Has Donald Trump 'Kompromat.' What Is That?". Time. New York. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  13. ^ Maher, Richard (12 January 2017). "What is 'kompromat' and how does it work?". New Statesman. London: GlobalData. ISSN 1364-7431. Retrieved 12 January 2017. Kompromat has become a part of the political culture in Russia. Nearly everyone within Russia's business and political elite has at one time or another collected and stored potentially compromising material on their political opponents for future use. Kompromat can be real or fabricated, and generally involves drugs, prostitutes, sexual escapades, sleazy business deals, illicit financial schemes, or embezzlement.
  14. ^ Woolf, Christopher (11 January 2017). "Moscow's long history of gathering 'kompromat'". Minneapolis: Public Radio International. Retrieved 12 January 2017. 'Kompromat,' says David Filipov, 'means "compromising material" that can be used down the road as leverage over somebody. [...] 'This was something former KGB officers were telling us here,' adds Filipov, 'they're not necessarily targeting you. You show up and they say, let's just see what this guy does. So they'll record you, they'll do surveillance, see what you're up to. Some stuff gets in a file and maybe they can use it, maybe they can't use it.
  15. ^ a b Ioffe, Julia (11 January 2017). "How Blackmail Works in Russia". The Atlantic. Washington, D.C. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
  16. ^ Taub, Amanda (16 January 2017). "'Kompromat' and the Danger of Doubt and Confusion in a Democracy". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 5 February 2026.
  17. ^ a b c Myre, Greg (11 January 2017). "A Russian Word Americans Need To Know: 'Kompromat'". All Things Considered. Washington D.C. National Public Radio. Retrieved 29 January 2019. In other recent cases, Russian operatives have been suspected or accused of placing child pornography on the personal computers of individuals they were attempting to discredit. Russian Vladimir Bukovsky, 73, a longtime critic of Soviet and Russian leaders, now lives in Britain, where he faces charges related to child pornography. But the case was delayed while investigators checked to see whether the images on Bukovsky's computer were placed there by an outside party, The New York Times reported last month, citing other similar cases.
  18. ^ Tucker, Joshua (12 January 2017). "Everything you need to know about the Russian art of 'kompromat'". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  19. ^ Davidson, Adam (19 July 2018). "A Theory of Trump Kompromat". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  20. ^ "Settlements prompt review of New Mexico's settlement system". AP News. 23 May 2019. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  21. ^ Jones, Bryony; Mackintosh, Eliza (12 January 2017). "What is Kompromat?". CNN. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  22. ^ Higgins, Andrew; Kramer, Andrew (12 January 2017). "Sexual blackmail, Russia style: a history of 'kompromat'". The Irish Times. Dublin. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  23. ^ a b Hodge, Nathan; Grove, Thomas (11 January 2017). "Trump Dossier Spotlights Russian History of 'Kompromat'". The Wall Street Journal. New York. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
  24. ^ Osborn, Andrew (28 April 2010). "Amateur model known as 'Katya' revealed as Russian honey trap bait". Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
  25. ^ "Vladimir Bukovsky to be prosecuted over indecent images of children". Crown Prosecution Service. 27 April 2015. Archived from the original on 18 November 2016. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
  26. ^ Higgins, Andrew. "Vladimir Bukovsky, Revered Soviet Dissident and Putin Critic, Dies at 76." New York Times, 28 October 2019. Retrieved 14 August 2020
  27. ^ Nelson, Eliot; Young, Jeffrey (10 January 2017). "Kompromat? More Like KomproMAGA!". The Huffington Post. Oath. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
  28. ^ "Trump says Russian 'kompromat' claims are fake". Financial Times. London: Nikkei. 11 January 2017. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
  29. ^ Townsend, Mark; Smith, David (14 January 2017). "Senior British politicians 'targeted by Kremlin' for smear campaigns". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  30. ^ Wright, Austin (8 May 2017). "Sally Yates: 'We believed that Gen. Flynn was compromised'". Politico. Arlington: Capitol News Company. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  31. ^ Lizza, Ryan (9 May 2017). "Michael Flynn's Questionable Conduct, and Trump's". The New Yorker. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  32. ^ a b Levine, Yasha (21 July 2008). "Blogger Gorshkov Will Dish Dirt on Russian Politicians — for a Price". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 5 February 2026.
  33. ^ Golitsyna, Anastasia (8 July 2010). "Mysterious Investor Buys Compromat.ru". The Moscow Times. Retrieved 5 February 2026.
  34. ^ "По требованию представителей неизвестного госоргана закрыт сайт «Антикомпромат.ру»" По требованию представителей неизвестного госоргана закрыт сайт "Антикомпромат.ру". Polit.ru (in Russian). 29 March 2007. Archived from the original on 19 October 2009.
  35. ^ Razumovskaya, Olga (21 January 2011). "Russia's Own WikiLeaks Takes Off". The Moscow Times. Retrieved 5 February 2026.
  36. ^ a b c Lyamets, Serhiy (13 February 2023). "Google in aid of... Scammers". Ukrainian News Agency. Retrieved 31 January 2026.
  37. ^ Pontallier, Alice (30 May 2025). "Kazakhstan/Ukraine • ERG's succession war, part 2: behind the Black PR campaign, a well-honed network". Intelligence Online. Retrieved 4 February 2026.
  38. ^ a b Pontallier, Alice (29 May 2025). "Kazakhstan • ERG's succession war, part 1: a new Black PR campaign onslaught". Intelligence Online. Retrieved 4 February 2026.
  39. ^ a b Myroniuk, Anna (3 August 2020). "How a fake site leaked real documents in major Ukrainian court case - Aug. 03, 2020". Kyiv Post. Retrieved 4 February 2026.