{{short description|Russian phrase for compromising information}} {{for|the 2022 film|Kompromat (film){{!}}''Kompromat'' (film)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2017}} {{Infobox Russian term | russian = компромат | rusr = kompromat | native pronunciation = {{IPA|ru|kəmprɐˈmat|}} | literal meaning = compromising material }} '''Kompromat''' ({{lang-ru|компромат|p=kəmprɐˈmat|a=Ru-компрома́т.ogg}}; short for {{lang|ru|компрометирующий материал}}, variously translated as "compromising material", "discrediting material", or "incriminating material") is damaging information about a person or a group, commonly a politician, businessperson, or other public figure, which may be used for negative campaigning or smear campaigning to discredit the person or group. It can also be used for blackmail purposes, often to exert influence over a person rather than for monetary gain, and extortion. The dissemination of kompromat is a key tactic in "dark PR" or "black PR" campaigns.<ref name="Aris2023">{{Cite web |last=Aris |first=Ben |date=2023-12-13 |title=The fake media shakedown |url=https://www.intellinews.com/the-fake-media-shakedown-302619/ |access-date=2026-01-31 |website=bne IntelliNews |language=en}}</ref> Kompromat may be acquired from security agencies or intelligence agencies, or outright forged, and then publicized, e.g., via a public relations official.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hoffman |first=David |author-link=David M. Hoffman |title=The Oligarchs: Wealth and Power in the New Russia |publisher=PublicAffairs |location=New York City |year=2003 |page=272 |isbn=1-586-48202-5|title-link=The Oligarchs}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Koltsova |first=Olessia |title=News Media and Power in Russia |series=BASEES/Routledge series on Russian and East European Studies |publisher=Routledge |year=2006 |page=108 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RykxGY1KmFYC&pg=PA108 |isbn=0-415-34515-4}}</ref>
== Etymology == The term ''kompromat'' is a portmanteau of the Russian phrase for "compromising material" ({{lang-ru|компрометирующий материал|komprometiruyushchiy material}}). The term originates from 1930s Stalin era secret police (NKVD) jargon. Although its roots lie in early Soviet security practices, the word entered widespread public use in Russia only in the late 1980s and 1990s amidst the emergence of independent media and private business.<ref name="Ledeneva">{{cite book|last1=Ledeneva|first1=Alena V.|author-link = Alena V. Ledeneva|title=How Russia Really Works: The Informal Practices That Shaped Post-Soviet Politics and Business|date=30 September 2013|publisher=Cornell University Press |isbn=978-0-8014-7005-9 |pages=288 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bf7PAQAAQBAJ|access-date=12 January 2017}}</ref> According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the first known use in English was in 1990.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Definition of KOMPROMAT |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/kompromat |access-date=2026-02-05 |website=Merriam Webster |language=en}}</ref>
It refers to disparaging information that can be collected, stored, traded, or used strategically across all domains: political, electoral, legal, professional, judicial, media, and business. The information may be truthful, fictional, or a mix of both, including presenting information out of context.<ref name="Oates2017">{{Cite journal |last=Oates |first=Sarah |date=2017 |title=Kompromat Goes Global?: Assessing a Russian Media Tool in the United States |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26564946 |journal=Slavic Review |volume=76 |issue=S1 |pages=S57–S65 |issn=0037-6779}}</ref>
== Use in Soviet Union and Russia == Use of kompromat has been common in the politics of Russia<ref>{{Cite book |last1=White |first1=Stephen |author-link1=Stephen White (political scientist) |last2=McAllister |first2=Ian |author-link2=Ian McAllister (political scientist) |year=2006 |contribution=Politics and the Media in Post-Communist Russia |editor-last=Voltmer |editor-first=Katrin |title=Mass Media and Political Communication in New Democracies |series=Routledge/ECPR studies in European political science |publisher=Routledge |location=Abingdon-on-Thames |pages=225–226 |contribution-url=http://polsc.anu.edu.au/staff/mcallister/pubs/Russiamedia.pdf | access-date=2018-09-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060819190823/http://polsc.anu.edu.au/staff/mcallister/pubs/Russiamedia.pdf |archive-date=2006-08-19 |isbn=0-415-33779-8 }}</ref> and other post-Soviet states.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wheatley |first=Jonathan |title=Georgia from National Awakening to Rose Revolution: Delayed Transition in the Former Soviet Union |publisher=Ashgate Publishing |year=2005 |pages=104–105 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=80T4YjHFxycC&pg=PA105 |isbn=0-754-64503-7}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Milan |first=Lielich |date=2013-09-10 |title=Operation Smear Campaign |url=https://ukrainianweek.com/operation-smear-campaign/ |access-date=2026-02-05 |website=The Ukrainian Week |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Choy|first1=James P.|title=Kompromat: A theory of blackmail as a system of governance|journal=Journal of Development Economics|volume=147|year=2020|article-number=102535|issn=0304-3878|doi=10.1016/j.jdeveco.2020.102535|s2cid=225375805}}</ref>
Historically, kompromat techniques included altered photographs, planted drugs, grainy videos of liaisons with prostitutes hired by the KGB, and a wide range of other primitive entrapment techniques.<ref name="NYT">{{cite news |last1=Higgins |first1=Andrew |title=Foes of Russia Say Child Pornography Is Planted to Ruin Them |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/09/world/europe/vladimir-putin-russia-fake-news-hacking-cybersecurity.html |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=2017-01-11 |date=2016-12-09 }}</ref> More contemporary forms of kompromat appear as a form of cybercrime.<ref name="NYT"/> A consistent aspect of kompromat is that the compromising information is often sexual in nature.<ref name="TIME">{{cite magazine |last1=Waxman|first1=Olivia B.|title=Document Claims Russia Has Donald Trump 'Kompromat.' What Is That?|url=https://time.com/4632111/kompromat-history-donald-trump/ |magazine=Time |location=New York |access-date=2017-01-12 |date=2017-01-12 }}</ref>
The use of kompromat is part of the political culture in Russia, with many members of the business and political elite collecting and storing potentially compromising material on their political opponents.<ref name="NS">{{cite magazine |last1=Maher |first1=Richard |title=What is 'kompromat' and how does it work? |url=http://www.newstatesman.com/world/north-america/2017/01/what-kompromat-and-how-does-it-work |magazine=New Statesman |issn= 1364-7431 |location=London |publisher=GlobalData |access-date=12 January 2017|date=12 January 2017 |quote=Kompromat has become a part of the political culture in Russia. Nearly everyone within Russia's business and political elite has at one time or another collected and stored potentially compromising material on their political opponents for future use. Kompromat can be real or fabricated, and generally involves drugs, prostitutes, sexual escapades, sleazy business deals, illicit financial schemes, or embezzlement.}}</ref> A person or organization collecting kompromat may not target specific individuals, instead collecting a range of information that could be useful later.<ref name="PRI">{{cite web |last=Woolf |first=Christopher |title=Moscow's long history of gathering 'kompromat' |url=https://theworld.org/stories/2017/01/11/moscow-s-long-history-kompromat |publisher=Public Radio International |location=Minneapolis |access-date=12 January 2017 |date=11 January 2017 |quote='Kompromat,' says David Filipov, 'means "compromising material" that can be used down the road as leverage over somebody. [...] 'This was something former KGB officers were telling us here,' adds Filipov, 'they're not necessarily targeting you. You show up and they say, let's just see what this guy does. So they'll record you, they'll do surveillance, see what you're up to. Some stuff gets in a file and maybe they can use it, maybe they can't use it.}}</ref> Compromising videos may be produced long in advance of when leverage over people is needed.<ref name="Atlantic">{{cite magazine |last1=Ioffe |first1=Julia |title=How Blackmail Works in Russia |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2017/01/kompromat-trump-dossier/512891/ |magazine=The Atlantic |location=Washington, D.C. |access-date=11 January 2017|date=11 January 2017}}</ref>
Especially when promoted or supported by public figures or news media, kompromat is a form of disinformation, creating confusion and reducing public trust in institutions.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Taub |first=Amanda |date=2017-01-16 |title=‘Kompromat’ and the Danger of Doubt and Confusion in a Democracy |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/15/world/europe/kompromat-donald-trump-russia-democracy.html |access-date=2026-02-05 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref name="NPR">{{cite episode |title=A Russian Word Americans Need To Know: 'Kompromat' |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2017/01/11/509305088/a-russian-word-americans-need-to-know-kompromat |series=All Things Considered |last=Myre |first=Greg |author-link=Greg Myre |network=National Public Radio |date=2017-01-11 |quote=In other recent cases, Russian operatives have been suspected or accused of placing child pornography on the personal computers of individuals they were attempting to discredit. Russian Vladimir Bukovsky, 73, a longtime critic of Soviet and Russian leaders, now lives in Britain, where he faces charges related to child pornography. But the case was delayed while investigators checked to see whether the images on Bukovsky's computer were placed there by an outside party, ''The New York Times'' reported last month, citing other similar cases. |access-date=2019-01-29 |location=Washington D.C.}}</ref><ref name="Oates2017" />
Opposition research is conducted in the U.S. to find compromising material on political opponents so that such material may be released to weaken those opponents. Some contend that kompromat differs from opposition research, in that such information is used to exert influence over people rather than simply to win elections.<ref>{{cite news |last=Tucker |first=Joshua |title=Everything you need to know about the Russian art of 'kompromat' |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2017/01/12/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-russian-art-of-kompromat/ |url-access=limited |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=12 January 2017 |date=12 January 2017 |issn=0190-8286}}</ref> Nevertheless, compromising material uncovered by opposition research need not be used in only legal or ethical ways. It can be used to exert influence over Western leaders just as surely as it can be used to exert influence over Russian leaders.<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/swamp-chronicles/a-theory-of-trump-kompromat|title=A Theory of Trump Kompromat|last=Davidson|first=Adam|magazine=The New Yorker|date=2018-07-19|access-date=2019-08-01|language=en|issn=0028-792X}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-05-23 |title=Settlements prompt review of New Mexico's settlement system |url=https://apnews.com/2263d995e4fa49d7acc917c604ea2ec5 |access-date=2019-08-01 |website=AP News}}</ref>
== Notable cases == In the 1950s, British civil servant John Vassall was a victim of a gay honey trap operation, producing kompromat which was used to blackmail him, since homosexuality was illegal in Britain at the time.<ref name="CNN">{{cite news |last1=Jones |first1=Bryony |last2=Mackintosh |first2=Eliza |title=What is Kompromat?|url=http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/11/politics/what-is-kompromat/|website=CNN|access-date=12 January 2017|date=12 January 2017}}</ref> During a 1957 visit to Moscow, American journalist Joseph Alsop also fell victim to a gay honey trap operation conducted by the KGB.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Higgins |first1=Andrew |last2=Kramer |first2=Andrew |title=Sexual blackmail, Russia style: a history of 'kompromat' |url=http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/sexual-blackmail-russia-style-a-history-of-kompromat-1.2934451 |newspaper=The Irish Times |location=Dublin |access-date=12 January 2017|date=12 January 2017}}</ref>
In 1997, Valentin Kovalyov was removed as the Russian Minister of Justice after photographs of him with prostitutes in a sauna controlled by the Solntsevskaya Bratva crime organization were published in a newspaper.<ref name="Ledeneva"/>
In 1999, a video was broadcast showing a man resembling Yury Skuratov in bed with two women, which later led to his dismissal as Prosecutor General of Russia. It was released after he began looking into charges of corruption by President Boris Yeltsin and his associates.<ref name="WSJ">{{cite news |last1=Hodge |first1=Nathan |last2=Grove |first2=Thomas |title=Trump Dossier Spotlights Russian History of 'Kompromat' |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-dossier-spotlights-russian-history-of-kompromat-1484171169 |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal |location=New York |access-date=2017-01-11 |date=2017-01-11 }}</ref>
In April 2010, politician Ilya Yashin, comedian Victor Shenderovich, and several other opposition figures (including Eduard Limonov and Alexander Belov) were involved in a sex scandal with a woman nicknamed "Katya Mumu", who was claimed to have acted as a Kremlin honey trap to discredit opposition figures.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Osborn |first1=Andrew |title=Amateur model known as 'Katya' revealed as Russian honey trap bait |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/7639592/Amateur-model-known-as-Katya-revealed-as-Russian-honeytrap-bait.html |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |date= 2010-04-28 |access-date=2017-01-11 }}</ref> The video of Shenderovich was released only two days before the wedding of his daughter.<ref name="Atlantic"/>
In cases of kompromat during the early 21st century, Russian operatives have been suspected or accused of placing child pornography on the personal computers of individuals they were attempting to discredit.<ref name="NYT" /><ref name="NPR" /> In 2015, the UK's Crown Prosecution Service announced that it would prosecute Vladimir Bukovsky for "prohibited images" found on his computer.<ref>{{cite web |title=Vladimir Bukovsky to be prosecuted over indecent images of children |url=http://www.cps.gov.uk/news/latest_news/vladimir_bukovsky_to_be_prosecuted_over_indecent_images_of_children/ |publisher=Crown Prosecution Service |access-date=2017-01-11 |date=2015-04-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161118121119/http://www.cps.gov.uk/news/latest_news/vladimir_bukovsky_to_be_prosecuted_over_indecent_images_of_children/ |archive-date=18 November 2016 }}</ref> Bukovsky pleaded not guilty and claimed the images were planted as part of a smear campaign by Russian security services. Although a British expert testified that there was no evidence the images had been planted, the trial was indefinitely suspended in 2018 due to Bukovsky's severe ill health.<ref name="NYT" /> Bukovsky died in October 2019.<ref>Higgins, Andrew. "[https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/28/world/europe/Vladimir-Bukovsky-dead.html Vladimir Bukovsky, Revered Soviet Dissident and Putin Critic, Dies at 76]." ''The New York Times'', 28 October 2019. Retrieved 14 August 2020</ref>
Ahead of the 2016 Russian legislative election, a secretly recorded sex tape of opposition leader Mikhail Kasyanov and activist Natalya Pelevina was broadcast on the state-controlled television network NTV.<ref name="WSJ"/><ref name="NPR"/>
During the 2016 U.S. presidential election, U.S. intelligence agencies investigated possibly compromising personal and financial information on President-elect Donald Trump, based on an opposition research report known as the Steele dossier, leading to allegations that he and members of his administration might be vulnerable to manipulation by the Russian government.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Nelson |first1=Eliot |last2=Young |first2=Jeffrey |title=Kompromat? More Like KomproMAGA! |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/huffpost-hill-kompromat-more-like-kompromaga_us_5875640fe4b05b7a465c3854 |access-date=2017-01-11|website=The Huffington Post |publisher=Oath |date=2017-01-10 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Trump says Russian 'kompromat' claims are fake |url=https://www.ft.com/content/2584ebdc-d796-11e6-944b-e7eb37a6aa8e |newspaper=Financial Times |location=London |publisher=Nikkei |date=2017-01-11 |access-date=2017-01-11 }}</ref>
British Labour Party MP Chris Bryant, an ex-chair of the all-party parliamentary group for Russia who stated that the Russian government orchestrated a homophobic campaign to remove him from this position, has alleged that the Russian government acquired kompromat on high-profile Conservative Party MPs, including Boris Johnson, Liam Fox, Alan Duncan, and David Davis. These claims have not been substantiated by the publication of any such material.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Townsend |first1=Mark |last2=Smith |first2=David |title=Senior British politicians 'targeted by Kremlin' for smear campaigns |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/14/russia-blackmail-chris-bryant-donald-trump-boris-johnson-liam-fox |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London |date=2017-01-14 |access-date=2018-09-16 }}</ref>
Following a 2016 phone call between incoming U.S. National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak, Flynn allegedly lied to the White House on the extent of those contacts, placing him in a position vulnerable to blackmail. According to congressional testimony delivered by former Acting U.S. Attorney General Sally Yates, the Department of Justice believed that "General Flynn was compromised," and placed Flynn in "a situation where the national-security adviser essentially could be blackmailed by the Russians".<ref name="Wright 2017">{{cite web | last=Wright | first=Austin | title=Sally Yates: 'We believed that Gen. Flynn was compromised' |website=Politico | date=2017-05-08 | url=https://www.politico.com/story/2017/05/08/sally-yates-testimony-michael-flynn-238043 |publisher=Capitol News Company |location=Arlington |access-date=2018-02-24}}</ref><ref name="The New Yorker 2017">{{cite magazine |last1=Lizza|first1=Ryan|title=Michael Flynn's Questionable Conduct, and Trump's | magazine=The New Yorker |date=2017-05-09 |url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/ryan-lizza/michael-flynns-questionable-conduct-and-trumps | access-date=2018-02-24 }}</ref>
== Websites == In 1999, Sergey Gorshkov created Kompromat.ru, a blog about scandals involving Russian politicians.<ref name="Wired2008">{{Cite news |last=Levine |first=Yasha |date=July 21, 2008 |title=Blogger Gorshkov Will Dish Dirt on Russian Politicians — for a Price |url=https://www.wired.com/2008/07/mf-russianblogger/ |access-date=2026-02-05 |work=Wired |language=en-US |issn=1059-1028}}</ref> He posted some of the material proactively, including links to legitimate news stories, and accepted payments in exchange for posting other unverified material; the website was both controversial and recognized as an independent publication.<ref name="Wired2008" /> Kompromat.ru was purchased by a private investor in 2009.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Golitsyna |first=Anastasia |date=2010-07-08 |title=Mysterious Investor Buys Compromat.ru |url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/archive/mysterious-investor-buys-compromatru |access-date=2026-02-05 |website=The Moscow Times |language=en}}</ref> In 2005, human rights activist Vladimir Pribylovsky created Anticompromat.org, an opposition politics website that compiled information about Russian politicians, including from news reports.<ref>{{cite news |date=March 29, 2007 |title=По требованию представителей неизвестного госоргана закрыт сайт «Антикомпромат.ру» |script-title=ru:По требованию представителей неизвестного госоргана закрыт сайт "Антикомпромат.ру" |url=http://www.polit.ru/news/2007/03/29/anticomp.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091019124349/http://www.polit.ru/news/2007/03/29/anticomp.html |archive-date=2009-10-19 |work=Polit.ru |language=ru}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Razumovskaya |first=Olga |date=2011-01-21 |title=Russia's Own WikiLeaks Takes Off |url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/archive/russias-own-wikileaks-takes-off |access-date=2026-02-05 |website=The Moscow Times |language=en}}</ref>
In the 2020s, anonymous fake news websites emerged that secretly take payments to publish negative information—often targeting political or business competitors in post-Soviet countries. These sites also demand blackmail payments from targets in exchange for removing the articles.<ref name="Aris2023" /><ref name="Lyamets2023">{{Cite web |last=Lyamets |first=Serhiy |date=2023-02-13 |title=Google in aid of... Scammers |url=https://ukranews.com/en/news/914900-google-in-aid-of-scammers |access-date=2026-01-31 |website=Ukrainian News Agency |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Pontallier |first=Alice |date=2025-05-30 |title=Kazakhstan/Ukraine • ERG's succession war, part 2: behind the Black PR campaign, a well-honed network |url=https://www.intelligenceonline.com/asia-pacific/2025/05/30/erg-s-succession-war-part-2--behind-the-black-pr-campaign-a-well-honed-network,110459281-art |access-date=2026-02-04 |website=Intelligence Online |language=en}}</ref> Some of the URLs include keywords such as "kompromat", "ruscrime", and "antikor".<ref name="Aris2023" /><ref name="IntellOnline2025">{{Cite web |last=Pontallier |first=Alice |date=2025-05-29 |title=Kazakhstan • ERG's succession war, part 1: a new Black PR campaign onslaught |url=https://www.intelligenceonline.com/asia-pacific/2025/05/29/erg-s-succession-war-part-1-a-new-black-pr-campaign-onslaught,110458810-art |access-date=2026-02-04 |website=Intelligence Online |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Lyamets2023" /> The negative information may be true, false, or a mix of both.<ref name="Lyamets2023" /> These websites may also publish brief factual articles based on news agency reports, and create fake journalist names or copy the names of real journalists, to make the website look legitimate.<ref name="Aris2023" /><ref name="KyivPost2020">{{Cite web |last=Myroniuk |first=Anna |date=2020-08-03 |title=How a fake site leaked real documents in major Ukrainian court case - Aug. 03, 2020 |url=https://archive.kyivpost.com/ukraine-politics/how-a-fake-site-leaked-real-documents-in-major-ukrainian-court-case.html |access-date=2026-02-04 |website=Kyiv Post}}</ref> The websites use search engine optimization techniques to come up in web search results for a target's name.<ref name="Aris2023" /><ref name="KyivPost2020" /><ref name="IntellOnline2025" />
== See also == * Active measures * Character assassination * Cyberwarfare * Defamation * False evidence * Ibiza affair * Jeffrey Epstein § Alleged connections to intelligence agencies
== References == {{Reflist}}
Category:Public relations Category:Politics of Russia Category:Political controversies in Russia Category:Politics of Ukraine Category:Political controversies in Ukraine Category:Election campaigning Category:Blackmail Category:Surveillance Category:Defamation