Russians With Attitude Podcast hosts unmasked in new investigation
The anonymous voices behind the geopolitical podcast Russians With Attitude Podcast may not be anonymous anymore.
On April 6, 2026, the Kyiv Independent published an extensive investigation claiming to reveal the real identities of the two hosts behind Russians With Attitude (RWA), a podcast that's built a massive following since launching around 2020. Despite their growing influence, the men behind the microphones had remained anonymous, known only by their podcast names "Kirill" and "Nikolay." They never appeared on camera and avoided sharing personal details that could reveal who they actually are.
That anonymity may now be over. The Kyiv Independent describes them as two ultranationalist Russian bloggers, one of whom has lived most of his life in Germany, who once openly fundraised for Russian soldiers invading Ukraine but later scrubbed those posts from their channels.
The investigation's findings are backed by research from the independent OSINT and digital forensics group TUA Research, which compiled background research on the two men including social media posts and network links. TUA Research shared its findings with the Kyiv Independent, which independently verified the information and used it to build out the full investigation.
What RWA actually says on the show
The Kyiv Independent's report goes beyond just naming names. It highlights the kind of rhetoric the podcast regularly pushes. On the show, "Kirill" and "Nikolay" have called for parts of Ukraine to be annexed by Russia, promoted the idea of a "forced, hostile Ukrainian identity," and advocated for banning the Ukrainian language entirely.
In one 2024 episode, "Kirill" went as far as to say he would "just ban it," calling the Ukrainian language "rude" and "an insult."
On the fourth anniversary of Russia's full scale invasion of Ukraine, the RWA account posted a text declaring that "the enemy deserves to be annihilated."
The investigation frames RWA as a project dedicated to exporting Russian war rhetoric to Western audiences, packaging ultranationalist talking points in fluent English for consumption by far right circles in the U.S. and beyond.
What the podcast creators say
Within hours of the report dropping, the official @RWApodcast account on X fired back with a statement that didn't confirm or deny the identities but went hard on the people behind the leak.
They called the people circulating the information "malicious actors" and claimed the materials contain "outright falsehoods and fabrications." They also alleged that their families have been threatened and suggested the actors behind the unmasking may have ties to Ukrainian or European intelligence agencies.
The investigation directly led to the RWA podcast being pulled from Patreon after the platform was shown evidence of the hosts' activities. Their Patreon had been active until late March 2026.
Their X account are now restricted, with their posts set to protected, meaning only approved followers can see their content. The hosts urged their audience to report the circulating materials wherever they appear online.
Despite the platform removals and the X restriction, RWA is still very much operational. The show has migrated its paid content to Boosty, a Russian friendly alternative to Patreon, and Gumroad. Recent episodes are business as usual with Ukraine war situation reports covering Kursk, Kurakhovo, and Toretsk, plus segments on Syria, Middle East developments, Russian domestic politics, and their signature deep dive history content. Their first "RWA News" episode of 2026 clocked in at over two hours.
Their Telegram channel is also still running with around 38,000 subscribers.