Financing is a critical yet overlooked element of Russian sabotage in Europe, shaping how operations unfold and where they can be disrupted.

In this latest STR episode, host Kinga Redłowska is joined by CFS Director Tom Keatinge and CFS Senior Associate Fellow Matthew Redhead to review the team's recent report on how Russian sabotage campaigns are funded, and why this important angle has been overlooked by authorities.

From low-cost 'disposal agents' to social media recruitment and crypto transfers, the discussion exposes both the vulnerabilities sabotage networks rely on and the leverage points where disruption is possible. Understanding the money trail, they argue, is essential to staying one step ahead.

Over two billion pounds from the sale of Chelsea FC languishes frozen in a UK bank account. Why is that, and what happens next?

Nick Purewal, news and sports journalist, and author of 'Sanctioned: The Inside Story of the Sale of Chelsea FC' joins host Tom Keatinge to explore the sanctioning of Roman Abramovich by the UK following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and the consequences for one of England's biggest football clubs and two decades of investment in south west London.

Differences in opinion - and legal drafting - mean that despite rising rhetoric from the UK government, the net proceeds of the sale remain frozen and in limbo in a UK bank account.

In a new book, author Anton Moiseienko argues that designing the right incentives will determine the future success of financial crime fighting.

In this latest episode of the STR podcast, host Tom Keatinge is joined by former CFS colleague Anton Moiseienko, who is now a Senior Lecturer and Research Director at the Australian National University Law School in Canberra. They discuss Anton's new book, 'Doing Business with Criminals: Between Exclusion and Surveillance'.

It is a book that provides an important assessment of the history of financial crime fighting and the policies and laws that govern our actions today; and questions whether we have created the right incentives to ensure all involved are pulling in the same direction, presenting a compelling argument of how the system needs to change.