From Moscow Correspondent to 'Betrayal': the Crucial Milestones of Luke Harding
By Elena Rostova
The 2016 US presidential election pulled Harding directly into transatlantic counterintelligence reporting. When allegations surfaced of covert Kremlin interference in American politics, Harding utilized his sources across Eastern Europe, Washington, and London to investigate how Russian military intelligence and commercial troll farms operated.
His 2017 book Collusion addressed whether Russian operatives coordinated with the Trump presidential campaign, rapidly climbing the New York Times bestseller list. In reviews published by The Guardian, critics noted how the book captured an extraordinary historical moment, unpacking cyber breaches, offshore money flows, and the controversial Steele dossier. Harding treated these events not as isolated American political scandals, but as standard Kremlin intelligence operations deployed on an international scale.
Harding expanded this thesis in 2020 with Shadow State: Putin's Poisonous Path to Victory. The book detailed how Moscow utilized state-sponsored cyber warfare, clandestine funding, and targeted nerve agents like Novichok, used against Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury in 2018. Harding highlighted how hybrid warfare had transitioned from theoretical security doctrine into active, destructive policy across Western capitals.
Elena Rostova holds a Master's degree in Public Health Journalism. She covers groundbreaking medical research, holistic wellness trends, mental health awareness, and nutritional science.
