Russian State TV Employee Caught Impersonating BBC Reporter to Film Russian Opposition Figures in Europe

A Russian propagandist media employee posed as a BBC journalist to film Russian opposition figures in Europe.

Journalists discovered that Ayrat Shiryaev, an employee of the Ren-TV production company, was impersonating a correspondent using the alias "Mark Nazarov." Shiryaev forged an email address and press card, but made a telling mistake by misspelling the word "valid," writing it with a "W" instead of a "V," as reported by the BBC.

"Mark Nazarov" tried to gain accreditation for an event with Tatyana Lazareva  and her supporters in Düsseldorf. One of the event organizers, Yuriy Nikitin, became suspicious and contacted the BBC. The BBC requested that "Mark Nazarov" be allowed to attend so they could meet him at the event.

However, instead of Shiryaev, freelance journalists—independent reporters hired for specific tasks—showed up at the meeting with Lazareva. Through them, BBC journalists reached Shiryaev by phone, but he continued to lie about working for the BBC. He reportedly offered money in exchange for video footage of the event.

"Don’t ask stupid questions if you don’t want stupid answers. I’m not interested in explaining, especially to people like you. Change your stance, come to Moscow, and maybe I’ll tell you how my photo ended up on a BBC press card. For now, I suggest you fade into the sunset and stop interfering with my work," Shiryaev wrote in a Telegram message in response to the BBC's inquiry, while also accusing the BBC of lying.