Andrey Vyacheslavovich Zakharov (; born in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

) is a Russian investigative journalist, special correspondent of

BBC News Russian BBC News Russian () – formerly BBC Russian Service () – is part of the BBC World Service's foreign language output, one of nearly 40 languages it provides. History The BBC's first Russian-language broadcast was a translation of a speech ...

, and four-time winner of the

Redkollegia ''Redkollegia'' () is an independent media award established by the Sreda Foundation headed by Boris Zimin to support free professional journalism in Russia. In 2015, after the Sreda Foundation was closed, charitable activities of Boris Zimin ar ...

journalism award.

Biography

Zakharov graduated from the

Saint Petersburg State University Saint Petersburg State University (SPBGU; ) is a public research university in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in Russia. Founded in 1724 by a decree of Peter the Great, the university from the be ...

in 2005 with a degree in history of arts. In 2010–2016 he worked as a correspondent at the . While working at Fontanka, Zakharov published an investigation into

Yevgeny Prigozhin Yevgeny Viktorovich Prigozhin (1 June 1961 – 23 August 2023) was a Russian mercenary leader and oligarch. He led the Wagner Group, a private military company, and was a close confidant of Russian president Vladimir Putin until launching a ...

troll factory ''Troll Factory'' () is a 2024 South Korean crime thriller film directed and written by Ahn Gooc-jin, and starring Son Suk-ku, Kim Sung-cheol, Kim Dong-hwi, and Hong Kyung. Based on the novel of the same Korean name by Chang Kang-myoung, a w ...

. In 2016, Zakharov moved to Moscow. In 2016–2018, he worked as a special correspondent for the RBK magazine, where he published an investigation on the

Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections The Russian government conducted Foreign electoral intervention, foreign electoral interference in the 2016 United States elections with the goals of sabotaging the Hillary Clinton 2016 presidential campaign, presidential campaign of Hillar ...

. In 2018–2022, Zakharov was a special correspondent for BBC News Russian. While working at

Proekt Proekt () is an independent Russian media outlet specialising in investigative journalism. In 2021, Proekt was relaunched as Agentstvo (), but restored its original name in 2022, while Agentstvo became a news website. History and activities S ...

in 2020–2021, Zakharov authored an article revealing

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

's alleged affair with Svetlana Krivonogikh. In October 2021, the

Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation The Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation () is a ministry of the Government of Russia responsible for the legal system and penal system. The Ministry of Justice is the federal authority for operating Russia's courts and correctional ...

included Zakharov into the list of

foreign agents A foreign agent is any person or entity actively carrying out the interests of a foreign principal while located in another host country, generally outside the protections offered to those working in their official capacity for a diplomatic missi ...

. Shortly after, he left Russia and moved to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Awards

Zakharov is a two-time winner (in 2014 and 2015) of the "Golden Pen" award. He is also a four-time winner (twice in 2017, in 2020, and 2022) of the Redkollegiya award.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zakharov, Andrey 1983 births Living people Journalists from Saint Petersburg People listed in Russia as media foreign agents Redkollegia award winners BBC people