Kompromat

Kompromat
Russian	компрома́т
Romanization	kompromat
Literal meaning	compromising materials

In Russia politics, Kompromat (Russian: компромат; IPA: [kəmprɐˈmat], short for компрометирующий материал, literally "compromising material") is compromising materials about a politician or other public figure used to create negative publicity, for blackmail, or for ensuring loyalty. Kompromat can be acquired from various security services, or outright forged, and then publicized by use of a public relations official. Widespread use of kompromat has been one of the characteristic features of politics in Russia and other post-Soviet states.

There is no single-word English equivalent for kompromat. The literal translation of the word is "compromising material", which refers to discrediting information that can be collected, stored, traded, or used strategically across all domains: political, electoral, legal, professional, judicial, media, or business. The origins of the term trace back to 1930s secret police jargon.

In the 1950s, British civil servant John Vassall was a victim of a gay honey trap operation, which would be used as a form of kompromat against him since there were no existing LGBT rights in the United Kingdom at the time. During a 1957 visit to Moscow, American journalist Joseph Alsop also fell victim to a gay honey trap operation conducted by the KGB.

In 1997, Valentin Kovalev was removed as the Russian Minister of Justice after photos of him in a sauna with prostitutes controlled by Solntsevskaya Bratva were published in a newspaper. In an interview with another newspaper, Kovalev said, "Kompromat is vile. Once it starts, it knows no limits. Kompromat is always effective in Russia". In 1999, a video aired with a man resembling Yury Skuratov in bed with two women, which would later lead to his dismissal as Prosecutor General of Russia, which was released after he began looking into charges of corruption by President Boris Yeltsin and his associates.

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