Exclusive: Johnson made special request for Independent owner and a Russian dignitary to bypass ‘airport-style’ checks
Boris Johnson made a special request for Evgeny Lebedev and a Kremlin-linked Russian dignitary to bypass security checks when he met them as London mayor in 2015, the Guardian has learned.
Johnson’s friendship with Lebedev has come under scrutiny in recent weeks, including the prime minister’s decision to award the Russian-born media owner a peerage in spite of concerns raised by the intelligence and security services.
