The Absolute Soviet Man. A Portrait of Konstantin Kilimnik, Russian patriot and Paul Manafort’s buddy

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Konstantin Kilimnik, a mysterious character in the case of Moscow’s interference in the American elections, lives quietly in Russia. The Project has found that Kilimnik worked with Paul Manafort not only in Ukraine but also in Kyrgyzstan. There they worked for Russia’s foreign policy interests, and reportedly part of this work was paid by the company of billionaire Oleg Deripaska, who is on the US sanctions list.

“What do I do if I were a real Russian spy? I would not be here [in Ukraine]. I would be in Russia,” said Konstantin Kilimnik, sitting in a Kiev cafe in February 2017. He was then a 46-year-old Russian political strategist, who just happened to be at the center of the scandal surrounding Moscow’s alleged interference in the US presidential elections.

This was the only interview with Kilimnik. He agreed to meet the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reporter, but promised to «kill him» if he took even one photo. Shortly after that meeting in the cafe, US prosecutors from Robert Mueller’s team accused Kilimnik of trying to influence the jury in Manafort’s case. Then Kilimnik disappeared.

A year and a half later, in August 2018, The Project found Kilimnik in Russia, in an elite guarded neighborhood north-west of Moscow, just outside the Moscow Ring Road. Houses like his cost about a two millions dollars.
Konstantin Kilimnik’s house near Moscow

He lives there with his wife and still avoids publicity (the former owner of the house told The Project that he had never seen Kilimnik and had been negotiating all sales details with his wife). When The Project’s correspondent called Kilimnik the first time, he at first denied being Kilimnik. But later, calling back from another number, he did not deny his identity. Asked about his work with Paul Manafort, Kilimnik replied, «I’m not interested in discussing this issue.»

Does Kilimnik’s move to Russia mean that he’s a Russian spy, as he himself once said? The Project discovered previously unknown facts about Kilimnik’s career that indicate he was always much more connected with Russian state interests than it appeared.

A Spy

“Only after his dismissal did everyone realize that he has obvious spying skills. He did not take a single group photo, despite opening many events as acting director. He gave very short introductory remarks and left the podium. He did not appear in any informal party photos,” says a former colleague of Kilimnik, who worked closely with him at the International Republican Institute (the IRI is an American NGO whose declared goal is «the development of democracy» in the world. Now its activity is prohibited in Russia).

It really is so: almost no photos of Kilimnik exist. Western media could find only two fuzzy pictures on his wife’s page in the Russian social network Odnoklassniki. Then a photo from 2006, in which Kilimnik is pictured together with Manafort, was obtained by the AP.

Two more rare photographs are part of the evidence in the Paul Manafort case. These were from an official photo shoot, including meetings between Kilimnik and Viktor Yanukovich, the former president of Ukraine. However, in both official photos, Kilimnik turns his back to the camera.

Today, The Project for the first time publishes a large photo of this Russian figure in the Manafort case.