On episode 51 of the show we are joined by Simeon Boikov, a Sydney-born activist and videoblogger dubbed the ‘Aussie Cossack’ in his country for his unabashedly pro-Moscow stance. He had been granted Russian citizenship in September 2023, in a decree signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Boikov has been drawing the ire of Australian media for years, with critics blasting him as a “Russian propagandist”. In January 2023, the New South Wales Police reported that an arrest warrant had been issued in Boikov’s name, after he failed to show up for a court appointment. The case involved a scuffle between him and a elderly man during a pro-Ukrainian rally at Sydney’s Town Hall in December 2022. He was charged with assault occasioning bodily harm after the incident, with his passport revoked on the eve of a planned flight to Moscow. Boikov took shelter at the Russian consulate in Sydney, claiming to be a victim of political persecution. An Australian magistrate convicted Boikov in absentia in February 2023. Presently he remains in the Russian consulate.