in february, borodin made this report.der attack from the americans. borodin interviewed this woman, yelena, widow of stanislav matveev, a russian mercenary killed in that attack on february 7th. the footage has been widely shown in russia, but newsnight has established it's fake, from a computer game. the images were wrong, but the attack did happen. in syria now a handful of weeks ago the russians met their match, a couple of hundred russians were killed. the grieving widow was all too real and this audio tape of matveev‘s commander appears authentic too. he survived the attack. the cost in blood of russia's military adventures in syria is not something the kremlin wants publicised. the russian mercenaries killed in syria worked for an outfit called wagner, reportedly controlled by this man, yevgeny prigozhin, known as putin's cook. he's a former gangster turned billionaire. he's on the us sanction list for running a troll farm, accused of interfering in the american presidential election. borodin‘s reporting on russians

>> reporter: borodin's friend, slava bashkov, showed me where it happened.hortly before the alleged accident he said borodin called him to say that armed men in masks turned up at his place. hours later he was dead. that happens occasionally to russian journalists who ask too many questions. but try as it might, the kremlin can't keep wagner's work a secret. dogged russian journalists revealed the names and faces of dozens of fighters who died in syria. two of them were captured by isis. others were caught on camera arriving at a russian airport carrying duty-free bags from syria. there's even a rap video celebrating wagner's front line victories. ♪ the man behind wagner is believed to be the man standing next to putin. evgeni prigozhin. >> he's a funder of wagner, he bankrolls the organization but he doesn't have extensive military experience so he doesn't have experience on the ground. >> he use the to be a hot dog salesman. now he's known as putin's chef. >> he has a massive catering business that makes a lot of money thanks to very lucrative contracts he

tonight borodin is dead having fallen from his fifth floor. friends and colleagues don't believe it was a suicide and human rights observers don't believe it was accidental. >> yet again, a russian journalist who is covering topics the kremlin doesn't want investigated has died. >> reporter: just sanctioned by the u.s. treasury department. a billionaire who once had close ties to paul manafort. trump's campaign manager who was indicted as part of robert mueller's russia investigation. part of it involves a self-proclaimed russian seductress. today she spoke out from jail in thailand where she's being held for prostitution. >> i'm waiting for him to come rescue me. >> reporter: maksim borodin has broken a story in syria. men linked to an oligarch who spo supports putin. >> a handful of week ags the russians met their match. >> reporter: exposure of those mercenaries may have gotten him killed. >> kremlin doesn't like for its own citizens or for others around the world to know how it uses proxies to prosecute its aims. it doesn't want this to be

maxim borodin mysteriously fell from his balcony and died a day after camouflage secretive forces reportedlyrted his building. police are ruling the death a suicide or accident. police clashing with communist students in athens, greece, tonight near a statue of president harry truman. the students were try to put on the statue as part of a antiwar protest directed at the coalition air strikes on syria. communist organizers frequently target that statue with bombs and vandalism. hundreds of thousands of catalan separatists rallying in barcelona to demand the release of high-profile leaders. the demonstration was organized by two pro-independence groups. nine separatists in prison awaiting trial for last year's breakaway bid by the northeastern spanish region. despite this bit of a possible trade were ever threatened tariffs, luxury private jet sellers say they are optimistic about future relations between beijing and washington. the aviation companies going ahead with the trade show in shanghai today, displaying 32 jets and helicopters designed for corporate elite and government buyers. polit

maxim borodin was 32 years old. authorities say there is nothing suspicious about his death. yet critics say only one day before his fatal fall, he called a friend to say there was a gunman on his balcony and other masked men lurking in the stairwell near his apapartment. in new york city, a federal judge has rejected president trump's efforts to have the first access to the documents seized by the fbi from the home, office, and hotel room of his longtime personal lawyer michael cohen, who is being investigated for possible bank and wire fraud. during the hearing, cohen's lawyers also revealed that fox news host and trump supporter sean hannity had been a secret client of cohen. cohen has only had three clients in recent years -- trump, hannity, and longtime republican donor elliott broidy, who recently resigned as deputy finance chair of the republican national committee over revelations he paid $1.6 million to a former playboy model to keep quiet about their affair, which resulted in her having an abortion. adult film star stephanie clifford, also known as stormy daniels, a

maxim borodin was 32 years old. authorities say there is nothing suspicious about his death. yet critics say only one day before his fatal fall, he called a friend to say there was a gunman on his balcony and other masked men lurking in the stairwell near his apartment. in new york city, a federal judge has rejected president trump's efforts to have the first access to the documents seized by the fbi from the home, office, and hotel room of his longtime personal lawyer michael cohen, who is being investigated for possible bank and wire fraud. during the hearing, cohen's lawyers also revealed that fox news host and trump supporter sean hannity had been a secret client of cohen. cohen has only had three clients in recent years -- trump, hannity, and longtime republican donor elliott broidy, who recently resigned as deputy finance chair of the republican national committee over revelations he paid $1.6 million to a former playboy model to keep quiet about their affair, which resulted in her having an abortion. adult film star stephanie clifford, also known as stormy daniels, als