British women who have accused Andrew Tate of rape, assault and coercive control have questioned why the self-professed misogynistic influencer has appeared in Russia as UK authorities continue to hold off on seeking his extradition.
Tate admires Vladimir Putin and amplifies Kremlin propaganda online. He arrived in the same week that Russian authorities welcomed US rightwing figures at an annual conference described as Russia’s answer to Davos.
Tate and his brother Tristan, who face criminal charges in Britain including rape, actual bodily harm and human trafficking as well as a civil case brought by four women, were met by a troupe of folk singers and dancers in Moscow.
A lawyer for the British women bringing the civil case said the failure of British authorities to extradite the brothers had produced the “extraordinary spectacle” of the Tates being handed a platform in Russia.
The two men have also been charged in Romania with human trafficking, rape and forming an organised criminal group, after their arrest in December 2022.
There is an extradition warrant out for them but the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has agreed that they will not be extradited to the UK until those criminal proceedings are settled.
This policy decision has been questioned by Matthew Jury, the women’s solicitor at McCue Jury & Partners, who said there was nothing to stop British authorities seeking to extradite the men.
“By failing to secure Andrew Tate’s extradition, the British authorities have failed British women seeking justice as well as Britain’s wider interests,” he said.
“That failure has now produced the extraordinary spectacle of Tate travelling to Russia – a state that has decriminalised some forms of domestic violence – to be handed a new platform from which to attack western values and amplify Putin’s propaganda to his millions of followers.
“For a government that repeatedly calls violence against women and girls a national emergency, and is consistently unable to confront Russia’s relentless attempts to undermine our values, communities and democracy, this is a profound national embarrassment.”
One of the women making the claim for damages said: “It is deeply upsetting that, once again, Andrew Tate is travelling all over the world in the face of an outstanding extradition warrant and despite the serious criminal charges against him. We reiterate our calls for the UK government finally to act and extradite Andrew Tate to the UK. Otherwise, their commitments to ending violence against women and girls risk being taken by victims and survivors as hollow platitudes which only add insult to injury.”
Andrew Tate has used his online presence to praise Putin, promote Kremlin disinformation and propaganda, align himself with Russian state-backed homophobia and echo Kremlin talking points about the war in Ukraine. In an interview with the US rightwing commentator Tucker Carlson, he thanked Putin for having “cured Covid” when Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The Tates were able to go to Russia after restrictions on their travel were lifted by authorities in Romania, who have reportedly been coming under pressure from the Trump administration on the case.
The brothers’ arrival in Russia coincided with Putin’s annual economic conference in St Petersburg. The participation there of the rightwing US commentator Candace Owens and the first appearance of a US government official since 2018 underlined the Kremlin’s eagerness to exploit ties with rightwing western political disrupters and the Trump administration itself.
Russian state media covered the pronouncements of Owens, who claimed that people in the US were growing tired of supporting Ukraine. A session at the forum on Russian-American cultural ties included Rodney Mims Cook Jr, a Trump appointee as chair of the Commission of Fine Arts. He has advised the president on projects including the expansion of the White House ballroom expansion and a proposed triumphal arch in Washington DC.
Contacted by the Guardian, Tate said: “We came to Russia because serious countries should be taken seriously. I want to meet people, see how the country works, understand how people live, and talk about it based on what I actually experienced. I am interested in how people live, how they do business, what they believe, what they worry about and what they think the future looks like. People in Russia and people in America do not have to agree on everything to benefit from contact, conversation and a clearer sense of how each other live. That is healthier than talking past one another from a distance.”
Andrew Ford, a solicitor for the Tates at Holborn Adams, said his client was currently subject to continuing proceedings in Romania. “As acknowledged by the UK, these domestic proceedings must be fully concluded before any potential extradition can be executed. Mr Tate has made it very clear that he will voluntarily travel to the UK to clear his name once Romanian proceedings are concluded. This is not a matter of discretion or delay, but a requirement of due process and respect for the Romanian legal system.”
A spokesperson for the UK Home Office said it remained fully committed to ensuring violence against women and girls was treated as an emergency.
They would neither confirm nor deny that an extradition request had been made or received, adding: “Given the ongoing Romanian investigation, it would be inappropriate to comment further.”