Catherine Belton

{{Infobox writer

| name = Catherine Belton

| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|MBE}}

| occupation = Writer

| language = English

| genre = Politics

| notable_works = Putin's People: How the KGB Took Back Russia and Then Took On the West

}}

Catherine Elizabeth Belton {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|MBE}} (born 1973) is a British journalist and writer. From 2007 to 2013, she was the Moscow correspondent for the Financial Times. In Putin's People: How the KGB Took Back Russia and Then Took On the West, published in 2020, Belton explored the rise of Russian president Vladimir Putin. It was named book of the year by The Economist, the Financial Times, the New Statesman and The Telegraph. It is also the subject of five separate lawsuits brought by Russian billionaires and Rosneft.

Belton lives in London and reports on Russia for The Washington Post.

Early life

Belton graduated from Durham University (Van Mildert College) in 1996 with a degree in Modern Languages.{{cite web |title=King's New Year Honours 2023 |url=https://www.durham.ac.uk/news-events/latest-news/2023/01/kings-new-year-honours-2023/ |website=Durham University |access-date=13 March 2023 |language=en-gb |date=9 January 2023}}

Career

From 2007 to 2013, Belton worked at the Financial Times as the newspaper's Moscow correspondent, having previously written about Russian current affairs for both The Moscow Times and Business Week. She was also in 2016 the legal correspondent. In 2009, the British Press Awards shortlisted Belton for the Business journalist of the year award.{{cite web |title=Catherine Belton |url=https://us.macmillan.com/author/catherinebelton |website=US Macmillan |access-date=23 May 2021}}

Belton was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2023 New Year Honours for services to journalism.{{London Gazette|issue=63918|supp=y|page=N17|date=31 December 2022}}

=''Putin's People''=

Published in April 2020 by William Collins in the UK, and in June by Macmillan, Putin's People: How the KGB Took Back Russia and Then Took On the West is an account of Russian president Vladimir Putin's rise to power, and the Kremlin's influence on the West.{{cite web |title=Putin's People {{!}} Catherine Belton {{!}} Macmillan |url=https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374238711 |website=US Macmillan |access-date=23 May 2021}}

Luke Harding (author of Shadow State: Murder, Mayhem and Russia's Remaking of the West), writing for The Guardian, described the book as "the most remarkable account so far of Putin's rise from a KGB operative to deadly agent provocateur in the hated west... This is a superb book. Its only flaw is a heavy reliance on well-placed anonymous sources."{{cite news |last1=Harding |first1=Luke |date=12 April 2020 |title=Putin's People by Catherine Belton review – relentless and convincing |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/apr/12/putins-people-by-catherine-belton-review-relentless-and-convincing |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |access-date=23 May 2021}}

The Economist named Putin's People as one of its books of the year in the category of politics and current affairs, saying "this [book] is the closest yet to a definitive account. It draws on extensive interviews and archival sleuthing to tell a vivid story of cynicism and violence."{{cite news |date=3 December 2020 |title=Our books of the year |url=https://www.economist.com/books-and-arts/2020/12/03/our-books-of-the-year |work=The Economist |access-date=23 May 2021 |url-access=subscription}} The Financial Times also chose it as one of its best books of 2020.{{cite news |date=17 November 2020 |title=Best books of 2020: Politics |url=https://www.ft.com/content/2b65a6fa-515b-4dc3-91ec-332fbb27b9db |work=Financial Times |access-date=23 May 2021 |url-access=subscription}}

In March 2021, Roman Abramovich filed a lawsuit in London against Belton and her publisher, HarperCollins, for defamation. Harbottle & Lewis represented Abramovich over the matter.{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-chelsea-abramovich-book/russia-tycoon-sues-publisher-and-reuters-reporter-over-putin-book-idUSKBN2BF1XV |title=Russia tycoon sues publisher and Reuters reporter over Putin book |work=Reuters |date=23 March 2021 |access-date=12 June 2021}} Belton, on the account of three former Abramovich associates, alleges that Abramovich acquired Chelsea Football Club in 2003 under Putin's instructions.{{cite news |date=23 March 2021 |title=Russian Billionaire Abramovich Sues Author Catherine Belton for Defamation |url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2021/03/23/russian-billionaire-abramovich-sues-author-catherine-belton-for-defamation-a73330 |work=The Moscow Times |language=en |access-date=23 May 2021}}{{cite news |last1=Ahmed |first1=Murad |date=22 March 2021 |title=Roman Abramovich sues HarperCollins over Chelsea acquisition claims |url=https://www.ft.com/content/b79f2c82-6974-4fd7-8899-266025b7436b |work=Financial Times |access-date=23 May 2021 |url-access=subscription}} The libel suit was settled with minor amendments. Although the book carried a denial from him, future editions will explain Abramovich's motivations in more detail.{{cite news |last1=Cheng |first1=Amy |title=Publisher apologizes to billionaire for claim in book on Putin and oligarchs |work=The Washington Post |date=24 December 2021}}

Further lawsuits have been brought against HarperCollins by Mikhail Fridman, Petr Aven; and against both the author and publisher by Shalva Chigirinsky, and Rosneft.{{cite news |last1=Shubber |first1=Khadim |last2=Foy |first2=Henry |last3=Seddon |first3=Max |date=1 May 2021 |title=Russian billionaires file lawsuits over book on Putin's rise |url=https://www.ft.com/content/a355a200-4b90-4d73-b193-b73650ab8b77 |work=Financial Times |access-date=23 May 2021 |url-access=subscription}} HarperCollins have stated they will "robustly defend" the actions. Nick Cohen in The Observer described the litigation as "a pile-on from Russian billionaires on a scale this country has never witnessed" adding "London’s lawyers are hard at work. Carter-Ruck, CMS, Harbottle & Lewis and Taylor Wessing have a billionaire apiece in a kind of socialism of the litigious."{{cite news |last1=Cohen |first1=Nick |author-link=Nick Cohen |date=8 May 2021 |title=Are our courts a playground for bullies? Just ask Catherine Belton |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/may/08/are-our-courts-a-playground-for-bullies-just-ask-catherine-belton |work=The Observer |language=en |access-date=23 May 2021}}