Natalie M Smith visited Crimea, Moscow and St. Petersburg, Russia, as a delegate of the Center for Citizen Initiatives in May 2017. She has a Ph.D. in Russian literature and linguistics from the University of Texas at Austin and has traveled in the Russian Federation since 1995. CCI, the largest citizen diplomacy organization between the two nations, determined this year to carry out a first-ever “information-gathering” delegation of American citizen investigators who would travel to major Russian cities to learn what is happening in Russia – since many allegations are made in US mainstream media and few know whether it is truth or misinformation.

Natalie M Smith visited Crimea, Moscow and St. Petersburg, Russia, as a delegate of the Center for Citizen Initiatives in May 2017. She has a Ph.D. in Russian literature and linguistics from the University of Texas at Austin and has traveled in the Russian Federation since 1995. CCI, the largest citizen diplomacy organization between the two nations, determined this year to carry out a first-ever “information-gathering” delegation of American citizen investigators who would travel to major Russian cities to learn what is happening in Russia – since many allegations are made in US mainstream media and few know whether it is truth or misinformation.