It was around dinnertime one evening in February 2022 when Michael Schwirtz sent a message to a group of reporters and editors that jolted the newsroom. Vladimir Putin had given the order. Russia would invade Ukraine early the following morning, beginning with airstrikes on key Ukrainian cities. Michael’s tip proved accurate down to the hour. It was the kind of scoop that came to define Michael’s reporting during the war in Ukraine.
Michael is now bringing his skill, experience and expertise to London for a new role: global intelligence correspondent.
In Ukraine, Michael began reporting from the frontlines shortly after the Russians invaded. He followed a Ukrainian man armed only with a shotgun and large hunting knife as he walked toward Russian forces vowing to defend his country, and spent weeks reporting on life in the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv while it was under siege. His reporting, including a detailed account of the siege of the Azovstal steel plant, was part of a package that won the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting.
“Mike is a relentless digger into the murky and often sinister world of intelligence operations, and sabotage plots, not to mention a seasoned war correspondent,” said Bill Brink, who oversaw our Ukraine and Russia coverage. “He combines that with an eye for detail and narrative storytelling.”
Before the war, Michael, a fluent Russian speaker, had spent years investigating Russian intelligence operations around the world. His work detailing the activities of a shadowy group of operatives within Russia’s military intelligence service known as Unit 29155 was part of a collection of stories that won the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting.
Please join us in congratulating him.
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