In the Kremlin, “It’s everyone against everyone … that’s why everyone is afraid of being reported by journalists.”
That is what Roman Badanin, editor of Proekt, a Russian research firm, told Fox News. He notes that despite the light that has been shed on corruption at the highest levels in Russia, the situation has not changed on the surface.
The alleged worst offenders do not go to jail, nor do they eat humble pie, nor do they convince skeptics that they are clean. But Badanin, his colleagues and a few other agile armies of intrepid and dedicated independent journalists intend to continue destroying the fortress.
The corruption videos elegantly produced by opposition leader Alexei Navalny inspired some of this new generation of journalists and created healthy competition for others. His job was not easy.
“I am nervous about my family’s physical and digital security,” said Badanin. He added that his website has been hacked and he is being followed. “We are preparing an article about some of the Kremlin employees and we know that [Russian President Vladimir Putin] is extremely nervous. “
After decades of communist rule, there is no real legacy of investigative reporting in Russia. There was a wild, and sometimes reckless, period of press freedom in Russia in the 1990s, shortly after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Russian journalists invented themselves. Now, strangely, Badanin says, it’s a bit like being back in the USSR.
“In terms of organizational and judicial structure, I call it ‘samizdat’ again,” says Badanin, referring to the days of clandestine (self) publication that prevailed in Soviet times. There were no large public or private channels or newspapers, making controversial and controversial reports. Badanin has a team of 12 people. “We are niche media. In terms of funding, unfortunately, Russian media legislation is more than draconian. That is why we have to hide some information about the sources of our funding.”
Enrollment in crowdfunding recently helped. Proekt strives to be relevant and exclusive.
The practice of “probiv” in Russian is the purchase of all kinds of personal data on the web and would have helped the Bellingcat investigation unit to identify Navalny’s alleged August 2020 poisoners.
“It is one of the options created because of total corruption in Russia and the situation where the Russian authorities do not cooperate with journalists in cases of great social importance,” said Badanin. “I don’t think the so-called ‘probiv’ is a crucial part of this revival of Russian investigative journalism. The crucial part is that we have a lot to investigate!”
The Badanin Proekt made a big impact when he published a story about an alleged Putin lover who went from being a janitor to a millionaire.
“Our estimate of your wealth is somewhere around $ 115 million in assets and equity in companies and equity,” he said. And, in what Badanin called “aha moment,” he said, “we started to verify who exactly gave him these deals. We understand that they were deals created by friends of Putin, who just gave her”.
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Examining social media accounts, Badanin found that the woman had a daughter, who was very similar to Putin and quickly gained almost 100,000 followers on Instagram. She said she was thrilled with the increase in her shares after the Proekt article that “revealed” her.
“Suddenly, she is a public person. She regularly participates in Clubhouse sessions. After our article, she was regularly asked if she was Putin’s daughter and she never said no. She never said yes, but she never said no.”
Badanin said his interest in Putin’s personal life does not stem from a desire to provide gossip to readers, but as a means of researching Putin’s assets. He said he believed they were abundant and widely spread among friends and family.
He reported extensively on Yevgeny Prigozhin, often referred to as the “chef of Putin” due to his considerable catering contracts with the Kremlin. He said he is the owner of troll farms and a mercenary unit deployed to fight on behalf of Russia in eastern Ukraine and Syria, to name a few points, he is being indicted in the U.S. for alleged involvement in meddling in the 2016 presidential elections.
When asked about his hottest topic lately, Badanin identified the FSB, the successor to the KGB. He said the agency has been of interest not only to him, but to most investigative independent journalists today.
“Because of the role in Navalny’s poisoning, because of the role in the current political situation in Russia, because the FSB is the most influential group in ‘siloviki'”, referring to politicians who came from the security of military services.
Badanin said the FSB has been fighting the most “liberal” parts – and he said “liberal” while gesturing quotes – of the Russian establishment. He added that he saw this struggle symbolized by the proposal to return the statue of Félix Dzerzhinsky, the founder of the Soviet secret police, to the square in front of the FSB headquarters. It was demolished from Lubyanka when the Soviet Union fell apart.
Muscovites are invited to vote in a referendum this week on whether or not to bring Dzerzhinsky back. The spiritual father of the KGB, a man more associated with the “Red Terror”, has spent his years in a park of ancient statues in the capital.
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There is a big discussion going on about it now in Russia.
“It is a very dangerous sign,” said Badanin. “That’s scary.”