Proekt (), also known as Agentstvo (), is an independent
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
media outlet specialising in
investigative journalism
Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years res ...
.
History and activities
Since 2001, has worked for ''
Gazeta.Ru'', ''
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...
'',
Interfax
Interfax (russian: Интерфакс) is a Russian news agency. The agency is owned by Interfax News Agency joint-stock company and is headquartered in Moscow.
History
As the first non-governmental channel of political and economic informati ...
,
RBK and
Dozhd
TV Rain ( rus, Дождь, Dozhd, p=ˈdoʂtʲ, a=Ru-дождь (doʂtʲ).ogg; stylized ДОДЬ) is an independent Russian television channel. It was launched in 2010 in Russia, and since 2022 was based in Latvia. It focuses on news, discussion ...
as editor-in-chief. In 2017, he left to study journalism at
Stanford University in
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...
. In 2018, after graduating from his studies and returning to
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...
, he decided to engage in investigative journalism in the format of an online media, which he had previously done. The project involved his colleagues at Dozhd (Maria Zholobova and Mikhail Rubin), as well as RBK. As of July 2018, ''Proekt'' had 10 employees and its initial budget was 500,000
dollars
Dollar is the name of more than 20 Currency, currencies. They include the Australian dollar, Brunei dollar, Canadian dollar, Hong Kong dollar, Jamaican dollar, Liberian dollar, Namibian dollar, New Taiwan dollar, New Zealand dollar, Singapore d ...
.
''Proekt'' specializes in investigative journalism. The website of the media publishes text versions of the investigations, on the
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...
channel the media uploads short documentaries and podcasts. Proekt also posts materials on
Telegram
Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas ...
,
VKontakte
VK (short for its original name ''VKontakte''; russian: ВКонтакте, meaning ''InContact'') is a Russian online social media and social networking service based in Saint Petersburg. VK is available in multiple languages but it is predomin ...
,
Instagram
Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...
,
Yandex.Zen,
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
and
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin ...
. Proekt exists at the expense of donations from its readers and sponsors.
Since 2019, after publications about the Russian
paramilitary organisation
Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...
, the journalists of the Project have been monitored by the Russian authorities.
In 2020, after ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' newspaper won International Reporting Prize, ''Proekt'' said that at least two articles in the winning entry repeated findings of Proekt's articles published a few months before without citing the source.
On June 28, 2021, ''Proekt'' announced that they would publish an investigation into the property of the relatives of
Russian Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev
General of the police Vladimir Alexandrovich Kolokoltsev (russian: Влади́мир Алекса́ндрович Колоко́льцев; born 11 May 1961 in Nizhniy Lomov in Penza Oblast) is a Russian politician and police officer who was ...
. The next day, Moscow police raided apartments of Roman Badanin, deputy editor in chief Mikhail Rubin and co-founder of ''Proekt'' Maria Zholobova; the police also seized journalistic equipment. Officially, the searches were connected with a 2017 journalistic investigation about Putin's friend, businessman and crime boss . Natalia Zviagina, director of the Russian office of
Amnesty International, said the raid is a "part of a systematic cleansing of any critical voices exposing the malpractices of those in power in the country".
On July 15, 2021, Russian authorities banned ''Proekt'' and labeled five of its journalists as "
foreign agents". ''Proekt'' became the first news outlet that has been labeled as "
undesirable organisation" in Russia. Badanin called the authorities' decision the best recognition. The head of ''
Meduza
''Meduza'' ( rus, Медуза, t=jellyfish) is a Russian- and English-language independent news website, headquartered in Riga. It was founded in 2014 by a group of former employees of the then-independent '' Lenta.ru'' news website. Free mo ...
''
's investigation department, , said that the reason for the ban was ''Proekt''
's investigations into the top officials of the
Kremlin
The Kremlin ( rus, Московский Кремль, r=Moskovskiy Kreml', p=ˈmɐˈskofskʲɪj krʲemlʲ, t=Moscow Kremlin) is a fortified complex in the center of Moscow founded by the Rurik dynasty. It is the best known of the kremlins (Ru ...
. Russian journalist
Andrey Kolesnikov said that the persecution of ''Proekt'' is a signal to the rest of the media: "See what we can and behave yourself."
Notable investigations
The first investigations were devoted to different topics. Later, the publication began to post materials about secret connections and business activities of Russian officials and parties, corruption schemes of the highest echelons of the Russian government and big business, and the pressure and influence of the Russian government on the media and social networks. Investigations were released about people living in the
Rublyovka
Rublevka or Rublyovka (russian: Рублёвка) is the unofficial name of a prestigious residential area in the western suburbs of Moscow, Russia, located along Rublyovo-Uspenskoye Highway, Podushkinskoe, 1st Uspenskoe and 2nd Uspenskoe highways ...
prestigious residential area, the ties between Russian energy company
Rosneft
PJSC Rosneft Oil Company ( stylized as ROSNEFT) is a Russian integrated energy company headquartered in Moscow. Rosneft specializes in the exploration, extraction, production, refining, transport, and sale of petroleum, natural gas, and petrol ...
and Amaffi, the income of the head of
Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov
Ramzan Akhmadovich Kadyrov ce, КъадаргӀеран Ахьмат-кӏант Рамзан, translit= (born 5 October 1976) is a Russian politician who currently serves as the Head of the Chechen Republic. He was formerly affiliated to the ...
and Russian official
Adam Delimkhanov
Adam Sultanovich Delimkhanov (russian: Адам Султанович Делимханов; born 25 September 1969) is a Russian politician of Chechen ethnicity, who has been member of the Russian State Duma since 2007. He is a member of the Un ...
, as well as a special project "Iron Masks" () dedicated to
Russian president
The president of the Russian Federation ( rus, Президент Российской Федерации, Prezident Rossiyskoy Federatsii) is the head of state of the Russian Federation. The president leads the executive branch of the federal ...
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime m ...
and his friends.
On 1 April 2022, Proekt published an investigation in which it found that Putin is often accompanied by a doctor specialising in thyroid cancer. The Kremlin's spokesman,
Dmitry Peskov
Dmitry Sergeyevich Peskov ( rus, Дмитрий Сергеевич Песков, p=pʲɪˈskof; born 17 October 1967) is a Russian diplomat and the press secretary for Russian President Vladimir Putin.[Redkollegia
''Redkollegia'' () is an independent media award established by the '' Sreda Foundation'' headed by to support free professional journalism in Russia. The prize is awarded monthly to several authors.
The organizers of the award believe that in ...]
'' award.
In November 2019, journalists of Proekt received "Journalism as a Profession" award in the category "Interview with Pictures" for an article "The Man Behind the Kremlin’s Control of the Russian Media".
In February 2020, Proekt's article "Highway to nowhere." () received ''Redkollegia'' award.
In July 2020, Proekt's article "Brothers Ltd. How a Representative of a Top Chechen Leader ‘Solved’ Russian Business Disputes — And Walked Away With Millions" received ''Redkollegia'' award.
In August 2020, Proekt received the
Free Media Awards for "its investigative research on corruption and abuse of power" from the German
ZEIT-Stiftung
The charitable foundation ''Zeit-Stiftung Ebelin und Gerd Bucerius'' (house style: ZEIT-Stiftung) is registered in Hamburg. Its aim is to fund projects in research and scholarship, arts and culture, as well as education and training. It was fo ...
and the Norwegian
Fritt Ord.
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Internet in Russian language
Internet properties established in 2018
Russian news websites
Russian-language websites
Free Media Awards winners
Bilingual newspapers
Redkollegia award winners
Undesirable organizations in Russia
English-language websites