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Proekt


Proekt (Russian: Проект, lit. 'Project') is an independent media outlet specializing in in-depth and data research focused on , political power structures, security services, and elite networks within .
Established in 2020 by a team of journalists including Roman Badanin, it has conducted notable investigations into the health and advisory circles of President , the internal operations of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov's regime, and the allocation of defense contracts to oligarchs amid Russia's military activities.
In response to its reporting on alleged among officials close to the , Russian authorities raided the homes of Proekt journalists in June 2021.
On July 15, 2021, Russia's Prosecutor General designated Proekt an "undesirable organization," asserting that its activities posed a threat to and constitutional order—the first such label applied to a media outlet—which banned its operations domestically and imposed criminal penalties for dissemination or cooperation.
Proekt subsequently closed its Russian legal entity, relocated abroad, labeled several staff as foreign agents, and persists in publishing via blocked websites, VPNs, and international platforms, retaining a substantial domestic readership despite .

Founding and Leadership

Origins and Roman Badanin

Roman Badanin, a journalist with two decades of experience in prominent media outlets, held key editorial roles including first deputy and digital at the independent television channel Dozhd (Rain), where he led investigative efforts amid growing governmental pressures on critical reporting. His tenure at Dozhd ended around 2017 as he departed for advanced study abroad, reflecting a broader pattern of constraints on independent journalism in , including regulatory scrutiny and advertiser withdrawals that undermined financial viability for outlets pursuing exposés. During his 2017–2018 John S. Knight Fellowship at , Badanin developed the concept for Proekt, drawing from his frontline experience in investigative teams to prioritize sustained, resource-intensive reporting on power structures unhindered by commercial dependencies. He modeled the outlet on the U.S. nonprofit , adopting a donor-funded structure to circumvent advertiser boycotts—a tactic frequently deployed by authorities against critical media—and ensure without state affiliations or corporate influences. This shift addressed causal vulnerabilities in traditional models, where economic leverage had repeatedly stifled in-depth probes into elite , as evidenced by prior closures or dilutions of investigative units in outlets. Badanin's motivations stemmed from a to causal accountability in , recognizing that episodic reporting yielded limited impact against entrenched networks; Proekt's origins thus emphasized building a dedicated platform for systemic analyses, informed by his observations of how fragmented teams at outlets like Dozhd struggled under resource strains and personal risks to journalists and their families. He maintained no ties to state entities, a stance later validated by the outlet's targeting as undesirable by authorities, underscoring its autonomy. In 2022, Badanin returned to Stanford as a JSK International Fellow, refining strategies for exile-based operations, though the foundational vision predated these disruptions.

Initial Establishment in 2020

Proekt was initially established as a Moscow-based outlet in early 2020, amid escalating state repression against journalistic and opposition activities in , including the August 20 poisoning of with the nerve agent during a domestic flight. This incident, which drew international condemnation and underscored the Kremlin's intolerance for dissent, occurred shortly after the outlet's preparatory phase, positioning Proekt as part of a shrinking ecosystem of uncensored investigative reporting. The organization adopted a lean operational structure, utilizing Telegram channels for rapid dissemination and for video content to reach audiences blocked from mainstream platforms. Funding at derived primarily from private donations by readers and supporters, eschewing large-scale foreign grants to maintain operational amid heightened scrutiny of external influences. The core team comprised a of seasoned journalists, many former colleagues from outlets like and , enabling agile production without extensive infrastructure. This setup facilitated the outlet's emphasis on and , avoiding dependence on insider leaks vulnerable to state interference. Key early outputs included detailed mappings of asset networks, exemplified by a February 2020 investigation disclosing that approximately 45% of land plots in Moscow's affluent Rublevka suburb were tied to high-ranking officials, siloviki, and their proxies through shell companies and relatives. Such reports leveraged publicly available registries and geospatial to undeclared wealth accumulation. The proekt.media website formally launched on June 17, 2020, providing a centralized hub for long-form articles while reinforcing the outlet's commitment to verifiable, evidence-based exposés.

Journalistic Focus and Methods

Core Themes of Investigations

Proekt's investigations predominantly examine elite-level , revealing recurrent patterns of asset concealment through offshore entities and the enrichment of officials' relatives via opaque financial channels. These exposés depict a system where public resources are funneled to insiders, prioritizing loyalty networks over competence in awarding contracts and positions, thereby perpetuating inefficiency in state institutions. Another core theme involves the intersection of state structures with corrupt enterprises, including instances where personnel from agencies like the and undertake clandestine commercial operations that prioritize private interests over official mandates. Such revelations challenge the narrative of undivided allegiance within services, exposing potential conflicts where institutional roles facilitate personal or crony enrichment. These patterns contribute to wider societal consequences, including diminished public confidence in and quantifiable economic drains from manipulated processes, where inflates costs and diverts funds from productive uses, exacerbating resource scarcity and institutional decay.

Data-Driven and In-Depth Approach

Proekt's investigative emphasizes empirical verification through publicly accessible , prioritizing open registries, corporate disclosures, and government databases to establish factual chains of . Investigations draw on structured public datasets, such as court records and tenders, to quantify patterns like repression cases or contract allocations, enabling reproducible analyses over speculative interpretations. The process involves extended timelines, often spanning months, where teams compile raw data, perform calculations, and integrate cross-referenced sources before drafting. Post-editing, data-heavy materials undergo external expert review, with texts, datasets, computations, and hyperlinks submitted for independent validation to detect errors or biases. This layered extends to confronting findings with official rebuttals, documenting discrepancies where contradict state narratives. While this approach yields robust, transparent outputs, it faces inherent constraints in authoritarian contexts, including barriers to classified documents and reliance on corroborated leaks or defector testimonies for non-public domains. Proekt mitigates these by triangulating available , such as aligning open-source financial trails with indirect indicators, though full causality in opaque systems remains inferential absent direct access.

Notable Investigations

Pre-2021 Exposés on Corruption

Proekt initiated its corruption exposés in 2020 with a series targeting systemic and asset accumulation within Russia's prosecutorial system. The investigations revealed how family clans dominated key positions, with promotions correlating to unexplained wealth gains, including luxury properties and offshore accounts held by relatives of senior prosecutors. These reports drew on analysis and cross-referenced public records with international leaks, such as elements from the , to document patterns of enrichment tied to official roles. In summer 2020, Proekt distributed the initial installments via Telegram channels to evade emerging online restrictions, bypassing traditional website access issues. One key release in July detailed the "prosecutorial clans," highlighting cases where prosecutors' families controlled regional offices and amassed assets valued in millions of dollars, often through opaque deals and ties. The Telegram posts amassed over 1 million views collectively, prompting online discussions and shares across social platforms, though official responses remained limited to denials without independent verification. These early works emphasized causal links between institutional power and personal gain, using quantitative metrics like salary-to-asset ratios exceeding 100:1 in documented instances, underscoring failures in oversight. Proekt's methodology involved and leaked datasets, avoiding unsubstantiated allegations while prioritizing empirical patterns over anecdotal claims. The exposés contributed to Proekt's recognition, including the Free Media Awards in August 2020 for advancing transparency on , amid a landscape where state-aligned sources dismissed such reporting as biased without counter-evidence.

Post-2021 Works from Exile

In the years following its forced relocation abroad after the raids and designation as an "undesirable organization," Proekt shifted toward multimedia investigations, producing documentaries and expanding English-language content to circumvent and engage international audiences. This adaptation included leveraging platforms like , where the channel grew to over 1 million subscribers by mid-2023, enabling broader dissemination of data-driven reports on regime-linked . A prominent example is the November 28, 2023, documentary "His War," directed by Proekt journalist Andrey Zakharov as the second installment in a series on Putin's . The 50-minute reconstructs the 2014 annexation of and escalation in using declassified communications, witness accounts from insiders, and timelines of military preparations, positing these as evidence of premeditated aggression rather than reactive defense. In May 2025, Proekt released a follow-up investigative on the KGB's Leningrad branch networks, tracing operations from the 1980s that involved systematic , including rapes and , to build loyalty among recruits. The report links these tactics—detailed through archival records, victim testimonies, and personnel overlaps—to Putin-era security structures, highlighting continuity in repressive methods employed by figures close to the Russian leadership. These exile-era works sustained Proekt's emphasis on verifiable datasets, such as financial trails and leaked directives, to document wartime resource mismanagement and elite circumvention of , though access to primary Russian sources became more reliant on external leaks and networks.

Government Actions and Legal Challenges

Raids and Immediate Repressions in 2021

On June 29, 2021, Russian police conducted searches at the apartments of Proekt's Roman Badanin and Maria Zholobova early in the morning, followed by a search of deputy editor Mikhail Rubin's apartment and his parents' home later that evening. These actions occurred on the same day Proekt published an investigative report alleging involving Interior Minister , including undeclared property holdings linked to his family. During the raids, officers seized laptops, documents, and other equipment from the residences, framing the operations as part of a criminal probe into slander against a public official. was briefly detained and interrogated for several hours before release without formal charges, while Badanin and Zholobova were questioned at their homes. No arrests followed immediately, but the swift timing—mere hours after the article's release—signaled targeted intimidation against the outlet's exposés. Amnesty International described the searches as a "shameless attack on media freedom," highlighting the pattern of using libel pretexts to suppress independent journalism without substantive legal basis. The events preceded Proekt's formal designation as an "undesirable organization" by two weeks, underscoring an escalation in acute repressive measures against the outlet's staff.

Designation as Undesirable and Foreign Agent Status

On July 15, 2021, Russia's Prosecutor General's Office designated Project Media Inc., the U.S.-based publisher of the investigative outlet Proekt, as an "undesirable organization," marking the first such classification applied to a media entity. This status, enacted under a 2015 law targeting foreign entities deemed threats to , prohibits any operations, funding, or distribution of Proekt's materials within , with participation punishable by fines up to 500,000 rubles (approximately $6,800 at the time) or imprisonment. The official rationale cited Proekt's activities as undermining 's constitutional order, sovereignty, and defense capabilities through alleged dissemination of information harmful to state interests. Concurrently, Russia's labeled Proekt's editor-in-chief Roman Badanin and several staff members, including journalists Maria Zholobova, Elizaveta Surnacheva, and Mikhail Rubinov, as "s" in July 2021. This designation, rooted in laws expanded since 2012 to encompass individuals receiving foreign funding or engaging in political activities, mandates explicit labeling of all publications with the "" tag, quarterly financial disclosures, and detailed activity reports, with non-compliance leading to repeated fines—as evidenced by Badanin's 30,000-ruble penalty in November 2023 for disclosure violations. Authorities justified these labels by pointing to Proekt's overseas registration, foreign grants, and collaborations, framing them as evidence of influence operations advancing Western interests against Russian policy. The combined designations empirically compelled an immediate of Proekt's domestic activities, establishing a legal precedent for curtailing under pretexts and amplifying scrutiny on outlets with international ties. While state justifications emphasize causal threats from foreign-directed narratives, independent analyses from organizations like the attribute the measures to efforts suppressing corruption exposés targeting elites, without verified public evidence of direct security risks. In June 2023, the extended "foreign agent" status to Proekt Media as an entity, further entrenching these restrictions.

Operations, Funding, and Sustainability

Relocation and Continued Activities

Following the designation of Proekt as an undesirable organization on July 15, 2021, founder and editor-in-chief Roman Badanin, who had departed earlier that month during a family trip to Africa, coordinated the evacuation of his team to evade arrests and further repression. By late 2021, the outlet had established operations abroad, with staff relocating to nearby countries and later formalizing a base in to sustain journalistic activities. Badanin launched Agentstvo—a successor entity playing on the "" label imposed on Proekt journalists—as a new platform in summer 2021, enabling the team to resume investigations from exile without interruption. Proekt maintained output continuity through digital channels, amassing over 300 videos on its YouTube channel by 2024, which garnered millions of views despite website blocks in Russia. The content shifted emphasis toward Russian diaspora audiences, leveraging platforms like YouTube to bypass domestic restrictions and reach expatriates. English-language translations of key investigations appeared on the outlet's site starting in 2020, broadening accessibility for international viewers while preserving the core focus on Russian affairs. Operational adaptations emphasized resilience, including reliance on secure and selective partnerships with global journalistic networks to source data without ceding editorial control. This structure allowed Proekt to produce ongoing exposés, such as those on Kremlin-linked figures, from dispersed locations, demonstrating the outlet's capacity to function transnationally amid heightened security risks.

Financial Sources and Allegations of Foreign Influence

Proekt's primary funding has derived from campaigns and individual donations solicited through its website, where supporters are encouraged to provide monthly contributions to sustain investigative reporting. This model, initiated prior to its 2021 designation as an , emphasized public backing to maintain independence from state or corporate patrons, with appeals framed as essential for producing high-profile exposés on . Following raids and legal pressures in June 2021, which targeted journalists' homes amid preparations for a report on Interior Minister , domestic became untenable due to risks of prosecution for donors under anti-undesirable laws, prompting a shift toward international individual contributions post-relocation. Russian authorities have alleged foreign over Proekt, citing its funding sources as evidence of external orchestration aimed at destabilizing the , leading to its July 15, 2021, listing as an "undesirable organization" and the June 2, 2023, designation of Proekt Media itself as a "" by the . The status mandates quarterly reporting of any foreign-derived funds and imposes labeling requirements on publications, with violations punishable by fines or imprisonment; proponents of the law argue it counters entities "under foreign ," though critics, including , contend it serves to silence dissent without substantiating direct control. No publicly available evidence confirms direct ties to U.S. or EU governmental agencies such as the CIA, with designations relying on the presumption of from abroad-sourced donations rather than documented grants or operational directives. Proekt has not released detailed public financial reports disclosing donor identities or grant specifics, limiting assessments to its general appeals for ; this opacity raises questions about potential undisclosed influences on story selection, particularly as increased reliance on Western-aligned donors sympathetic to narratives critical of the . Founder Roman Badanin has described the outlet as modeled on nonprofit investigative models like , prioritizing data-driven reporting over donor agendas, yet the alignment of its exposés—focusing exclusively on regime-linked corruption—with narratives promoted by Western governments invites scrutiny for implicit biases, absent empirical proof of editorial interference. Russian and officials have amplified claims of U.S.-EU backing without providing verifiable financial trails, framing Proekt's work as part of broader , though independent analyses find no causal link between funding and content fabrication.

Reception, Impact, and Criticisms

Awards and International Recognition

In June 2024, Roman Badanin, founder and editor-in-chief of Proekt, along with colleagues Katya Arenina and Boris Dubakh, received the European Press Prize in the category for their multimedia series "Lapdogs of War: A Guide to Russia's Mercenary Armies," which examined the operations and leadership of Russian private military companies involved in conflicts abroad. This accolade, awarded by the European Press Prize foundation, recognized the project's depth in documenting entities like the and their ties to figures, produced despite Proekt's exile status following Russian government crackdowns. In July 2022, Badanin was awarded the Prize for the Freedom and Future of the Media by the Media Foundation of Sparkasse Leipzig, honoring his leadership in sustaining independent investigative reporting on corruption and power structures in Russia amid increasing repression. The prize, valued at €10,000, highlighted Proekt's role as a "beacon of independent journalism" for Russia, with the foundation citing Badanin's work in exposing elite networks despite personal risks including raids and legal designations. Badanin held the John S. Knight Senior International Fellowship at during the 2021–2022 academic year, where he developed strategies for producing and distributing long-form investigations from abroad after Proekt's 2021 shutdown in . This fellowship, hosted by Stanford's Center on , and the , provided resources to maintain Proekt's operations in exile, focusing on alternative platforms for content on Russian governance and elite corruption. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) publicly noted Proekt's designation as an "undesirable organization" in July 2021 as a severe escalation against investigative media, positioning it as the first outlet to face this sanction and emphasizing its contributions to press freedom under duress. Similarly, described the June 2021 police raids on Proekt journalists' homes—conducted shortly after a report on alleged corruption ties to insiders—as a "shameless attack on media freedom," calling for protection of their right to report without reprisal. These endorsements from international watchdogs amplified Proekt's profile, facilitating continued global collaboration and funding amid operational challenges.

Domestic and Official Critiques

Russian state authorities have accused Proekt of disseminating fabricated information about government activities and the , as stated by the Justice Ministry in its rationale for designating the outlet a in June 2023. This designation followed Proekt's earlier labeling as an "undesirable organization" in July 2021, with officials arguing that its operations constituted a to Russia's constitutional order and , implying ulterior motives beyond factual reporting. State media outlets have echoed these concerns, questioning Proekt's due to its reliance on foreign and anonymous leaks, which critics portray as unverifiable and selectively curated to amplify negative narratives. For instance, has highlighted doubts about Proekt's neutrality, probing whether it qualifies as an independent media entity amid its coverage aligning with opposition figures. Officials and pro-government commentators contend that Proekt overemphasizes alleged elite while omitting contextual factors, such as economic pressures from Western sanctions that may necessitate adaptive financial strategies for institutional survival, rather than portraying them as illicit evasion. Proekt's investigative methods, often drawing from leaked documents and data, have faced rebuttals from targeted officials who deny ownership of reported assets or business ties, with no subsequent criminal convictions stemming from its exposés to validate the claims. Critics, including Kremlin-aligned analysts, link Proekt to broader opposition networks akin to those of Alexei Navalny's , arguing that its focus on high-level scandals serves political destabilization rather than objective journalism, evidenced by the absence of balanced reporting on state anti-corruption efforts. Such perspectives frame Proekt's work as biased toward Western geopolitical interests, prioritizing over empirical verification.

Broader Influence and Verifiable Outcomes

Despite designation as an undesirable organization in July 2021, Proekt's content remains accessible within Russia primarily through VPN circumvention tools, sustaining engagement among and urban audiences who prioritize reporting on . This reach extends significantly to the Russian exile community, where Proekt shapes discourse on regime and repression, with pre-exile data indicating 80-85% of traffic derived from platforms targeting younger demographics aged 30-45. Verifiable outcomes attributable to Proekt's exposés include targeted countermeasures, such as formal complaints from officials prompting the outlet's , rather than substantive domestic reforms or asset divestitures. No documented policy shifts or resignations among exposed figures have materialized inside , attributable to institutional controls insulating power structures from investigative pressure. Internationally, Proekt's documentation of oligarch ties to defense contracts has informed analyses of dynamics, though causal links to sanctions remain indirect. In the long term, Proekt exemplifies the fragmentation of Russia's media ecosystem, relocating operations abroad and fostering a parallel, donor-dependent sphere for truth-seeking that amplifies between state narratives and exile perspectives, with audience metrics obscured by but evidenced by sustained targeting of its staff as perceived threats. This dynamic underscores limited net domestic influence amid pervasive , prioritizing informational resilience over immediate causal policy effects.

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