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In February 2020, far-right activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (‘Tommy Robinson’) travelled to Moscow and St Petersburg, giving interviews to Kremlin-backed broadcaster RT and meeting figures linked to Russian nationalist movements. Since then, questions have long swirled about his Russian connections and the sources of his funding amid mounting legal debts.
Byline Times can now reveal that years before that trip to Russia, Robinson was hired as a “goodwill ambassador” for an unregistered charity fronting a secretive Russian propaganda network that worked directly for President Vladimir Putin’s administration, and has ties to a sanctioned Russian state-linked oil giant.
The unregistered charity – the MMBF Trust – is part of a network centred around the London Post.
At first glance, the London Post resembles a local news website covering UK gambling regulations and London restaurant reviews. It has featured articles about Borough Market’s grocery ordering service, and good spots for ramen.
But sources who spoke to Byline Times described it as part of what intelligence analysts call a ‘black PR’ operation: coordinated disinformation campaigns designed to manipulate public opinion while concealing their true sponsors.
Robinson’s appointment to the unregistered charity was first reported by anti-extremism organisation Hope Not Hate in 2017.
Last year, Press Gazette revealed that the London Post – which had announced the appointment – had surprising Russia links.
Byline Times can now reveal further details about the suspected funding behind the website, including cryptocurrency payment trails to Russian ‘black PR’ agents, and ties to major Russian state enterprises.
The site’s Russian backers operate through a company called Moscow Media Group.
Its subsidiary, MMG Brainstorming, has publicly advertised its work for Putin’s presidential office, the State Duma, the Federation Council, and various Russian Government ministries and agencies.
Moscow Media Group also has ties to a wide range of Russian state-backed energy and infrastructure enterprises, including to the sanctioned Russian oil company Gazprom Neft.
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The Unregistered Charity
The public face behind the London Post is a Zimbabwean-English film producer named Matthew C Martino (also known as Mathetes Chihwai).
Martino runs a UK-based entity called the Matthew Martino Benevolent Fund (MMBF Trust), the website of which states that it is a charity supporting filmmakers and others who wish to study or work in the performing arts.
However, the organisation neither registered with the UK’s Charity Commission nor provided any notable support to filmmakers.
In 2017, the MMBF Trust made waves on social media when the London Post announced Tommy Robinson as its new goodwill ambassador.
Robinson, the co-founder of the English Defence League, is a convicted fraudster whose disinformation helped fuel the 2024 Southport riots which involved unprecedented racist violence.
According to the London Post‘s announcement, Robinson was hired by the MMBF Trust to help oversee a £100,000 arts grant programme that would launch in February 2018.
The nature of the work Robinson undertook for the MMBF Trust is unclear. But the charity appears to have been a front to provide legitimacy to a Russian-backed propaganda operation.
The 2Trom Network
The London Post is part of a media consortium of ostensibly British news organisations, operating under an entity called 2Trom News Group.
Although incorporated in the UK in November 2018, it appears to have been first set-up in Gibraltar. Other publications in the 2Trom network include websites such as Brit Daily, Northern News UK, and the Hertfordshire Herald.
There is little public information available about 2Trom News Group’s shareholders: a Russian, Viktor Tokarev, who is also a director; and Brit Lewis Drazen, a Witham-based company executive.
The most visible person linked to 2Trom is one of its directors, Matthew Martino – who hired Tommy Robinson as an ambassador for the MMBF Trust.
Archived versions of the London Post website confirm that the MMBF Trust had initially supported the website.
Little more can be gleaned about Martino himself, other than that he owned a seemingly related company – MMBF Limited – which he renamed in 2019. He is also listed as a property developer on a US real estate platform.
So who, or what, is behind the 2Trom network?
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The Kremlin Connection
According to 2Trom’s website, another owner of the company behind the London Post alongside Martino is the Moscow Media Group (MMG).
Though at first glance, the nature of the MMG’s origins is opaque, a d