Konstantin Kilimnik

Konstantin Kilimnik is Russian-Ukrainian political consultant and suspected Russian intelligence operative. As an associate of Paul Manafort his activities have become a point of focus in the 2017 Special Counsel investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections. Kilimnik is believed by CNN and The New York Times to be "Person A" listed in court documents filed against Manafort and alleging Person A to either have ties to Russian intelligence agencies or to be a Russian intelligence operative. He is also believed to be Person A in court documents filed in the criminal indictment of Alex van der Zwaan. In 2017 Kilimnik denied any such intelligence ties.

Kilimnik was born in eastern Ukraine and studied at the Military Institute of the Ministry of Defense in Moscow, which trained interpreters for the Main Intelligence Directorate. He took Russian citizenship after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. He worked in Sweden as an interpreter for a Russian arms dealer. In Moscow, Kilmnik then worked for the International Republican Institute. He was dismissed after the Federal Security Service's chief gave a speech discussing internal private meetings at the Institute.

Kilimnik met Paul Manafort in 2005 and became an employee of Manafort's consulting firm. He lived and worked in Moscow and Kiev. Some reports say Kilimnik ran the Kiev office of Manafort's firm and was Manafort's right hand man in Kiev. They started working for Viktor Yanukovych after the 2004 Orange Revolution cost him the Presidency. With help from Manafort and Kilimnik, the Russian backed Yanukovych became President in 2010. Kilimnik then spent 90% of his time inside the Presidential administration. When Yanukovych fled the country, Manafort and Kilimnik went to work for the pro-Russia Ukrainian party Opposition Bloc which is backed by the same oligarchs who backed Yanukovych. At some point Opposition Bloc stopped paying Manafort's firm but even though the non-payment forced Manafort's firm to shut down their Kiev office, Kilimnik continued to advise the party while working to collect unpaid fees for Manafort's firm.

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