The family hiding in the bush after leaking Russian secrets

Lives Less Ordinary

BBC

Society & Culture, Documentary, Personal Journals

4.6 • 814 Ratings

🗓️ 21 July 2024

⏱️ 41 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Nick Stride said too much about his former boss, one of Putin’s closest allies.

Nick Stride, a builder from the UK, feared for his family’s safety after discovering alleged financial corruption while building First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov’s 140-million-dollar mansion in Moscow. Worried that his every movement was being watched, he hatched a plan to get out and put as much distance as possible between his loved ones and his former boss. They chose Australia. Nick then passed the secret accounting documents he’d taken to an investigative reporter, but by the time it came to publish, Nick and his family’s claim for political asylum in Australia was rejected. Seeing no way out, the family went on the run, hiding out amongst the snakes and crocodiles of the country’s unforgiving Dampier peninsula, every morning expecting a truck to pull up and tear his family apart.

The book about his odyssey is called Run For Your Life, by Sue Williams.

Get in touch: [email protected] or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784

Presenter: Asya Fouks Producer: Edgar Maddicott

Transcript

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0:00.0	You are about to listen to a BBC podcast and I'd like to tell you a bit about what goes into making one.
0:06.5	I'm Sadata Sese, an assistant commissioner of podcasts for BBC Sounds.
0:11.1	I pull a lot of levers to support a diverse range of podcasts on all sorts of subjects,
0:16.0	relationships, identity, comedy, even one that mixes poetry, music and inner city life.
0:22.4	So one day I'll be helping host develop their ideas, the next fact-checking, a feature,
0:28.3	and the next looking at how a podcast connects with its audience.
0:32.2	And maybe that's you.
0:33.6	So if you like this podcast, check out some others on BBC Sounds.
0:39.4	He called me up. He goes, it's going to go live.
0:42.9	If I was you, I'd find a hole as far away as possible and hide in it for a while.
0:49.3	I remember every single morning, I'd wake up and look at the gate and think someone could be coming
0:56.0	through that gate any time now. It's either going to be a white land cruiser or a black
1:00.4	land cruiser. It could be the Russians. It could be Australian immigration. But either or,
1:04.6	they're coming to tear my family apart.
1:07.7	How far would you go to protect your family if you felt their lives were in danger?
1:13.6	This man, Nick's ride from the UK, went further than he could ever have imagined.
1:20.6	He and his young family would end up hiding out in the remote bush of northwestern Australia, barely surviving.
1:31.4	They dodge snakes and crocodiles and learn how to hunt for food,
1:37.0	all after exposing the secrets of one of President Vladimir Putin's closest allies and Russia's most powerful men.
1:48.1	This is lives less ordinary. This is lives Less Ordinary.
1:51.5	From the BBC World Service, I'm Osia Fuchs.
1:59.5	Good day.
	...

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