Investigation Reveals Identities of Anonymous Hosts Behind 'Russians with Attitude' Podcast, Popular Among Right-Wing Audiences in the U.S.

The podcast 'Russians With Attitude' (abbreviated as 'RWA') was launched in 2020 and quickly garnered popularity among the English-speaking right-wing audience, predominantly in the United States. The project produces content on various topics related to Russia, including history and politics, consistently presenting events through the lens of ultra-nationalist views. The hosts of the podcast, known only by the names 'Kirill' and 'Mykola', had remained anonymous, avoiding camera appearances and the disclosure of personal information that could reveal their true identities.

Kyiv Independent successfully uncovered the identities of the anonymous creators of 'RWA'. It was discovered that they are two ultra-nationalist Russian bloggers, one of whom has spent most of his life in Germany. They had previously openly raised funds for Russian soldiers who invaded Ukraine but later deleted these posts from their channels.

The investigation is corroborated by research from the independent group TUA Research, which gathered information about the two men behind 'RWA', including social media posts and network connections, and shared its findings with Kyiv Independent. The Kyiv-based independent media resource independently verified this information and utilized it to create this investigation.

In their podcast, 'Kirill' and his co-host 'Mykola' advocate for the annexation of parts of Ukraine by Russia, promote the idea of 'forced, hostile Ukrainian identity', and call for a ban on the Ukrainian language. 'I would simply ban it. It’s just rude. I don’t know, it goes against basic human dignity. This language is an insult,' Kirill stated in one of the episodes of 'RWA' in 2024, attempting to pronounce the name of a Ukrainian city.

On the fourth anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, 'RWA' published a provocative text asserting that 'the enemy deserves destruction'. Their comments closely resonate with Russian propaganda narratives that justify what they call a 'special military operation', a euphemism used by the Kremlin to downplay the invasion and obscure its objectives. Russian authorities have punished individuals who publicly referred to it as a war.

'RWA' disseminates its episodes on major Western platforms, including YouTube, Patreon, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Gumroad, and Boosty. Although YouTube removed the channel in 2025 for violating community guidelines, the podcast continued to thrive on Patreon, where it had approximately 5,600 subscribers, of which around 1,100 were paying, with many episodes available through paid access.

According to their official Patreon page, the podcast offered membership tiers starting at €5.50 per month. Based on the number of subscribers, this indicates that 'Kirill' and 'Mykola' were earning at least €6,000 per month from Patreon.

On the platform X, the 'RWA' account boasts over 422,000 subscribers, where the podcast's messages appear to be tailored for an American audience. The podcast's profile states that it 'targets the global American monoculture', and in a May 2025 post, the account noted that the United States constitutes the largest share of their audience, accounting for 27.6% of subscribers.

'RWA' maintains ongoing collaboration with Kostin Alamarieu, known online as 'Bronze Age Pervert', a prominent figure in right-wing intellectual circles in the U.S., who has followers among misogynistic influencers. Other episodes featured Donbas Devushka, a former U.S. Navy sergeant who ran a pro-Russian account on X and allegedly shared leaks of classified documents regarding the war in Ukraine; the late American pro-Russian blogger Gonzalo Lira; Alexander Dugin, the chief ideologue justifying Russia's invasion of Ukraine and widely regarded as 'Putin's brain'; and Sasha Meets Russia, a foreign influencer funded by Russia to promote a softer image of the Kremlin abroad.