Magnitsky Awards
Presenter’s Bio

Kyle has been a leader of the Magnitsky movement since its inception in 2009 when he learned that Sergei Magnitsky was being subjected to increasingly torturous conditions in Russian jails. Following Magnitsky’s murder, Kyle led congressional efforts on behalf of US Senators Ben Cardin, Roger Wicker, and others to develop, enact, and implement the Magnitsky Act of 2012 and the subsequent Global Magnitsky Act. For this, Kyle received death threats from Russia, was sanctioned by the Kremlin, and, in 2018, was one of the 11 US officials that Vladimir Putin asked then-US President Donald Trump for permission to interrogate.

For 25 years, Kyle has worked as a foreign affairs professional in Washington, DC. He is one of the US government’s leading experts on Ukraine, Russia, international human rights, and sanctions law. Kyle has worked in the non-profit sector and for both chambers of Congress, serving Democratic and Republican congressional leaders.

Currently, Kyle serves as the top staffer representing the Senate leadership of the US Helsinki Commission, an independent government agency that promotes human rights and security across the 57 States that comprise the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Since Russia’s genocidal invasion of Ukraine in 2022, at his direction, the Commission has focused almost exclusively on helping Ukraine to defend itself and restore its territorial integrity—and to countering Russia’s malign efforts across Europe.

Kyle is a graduate of the University of Maine and the US Naval War College. He speaks fluent Russian. He and his wife live in suburban Washington, DC with their eight children.

Kyle is a regular at the Magnitsky Awards and, in 2022, presented an Outstanding Contribution to the Global Magnitsky Justice Movement Award to His Excellency Jan Lipavský, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic.