It has never been easy to operate as an independent journalist in Vladimir Putin’s Russia. But following the country’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, journalists face even greater challenges and threats.

That’s clear with the recent arrest warrant issued for Roman Anin, a former ICFJ Knight Award winner and one of Russia’s leading investigative journalists, as well as the arrest and sham trial of Evan Gershkovich, The Wall Street Journal reporter held in Russia since 2023 on false charges of espionage.

In this increasingly hostile environment, the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) has evolved its longstanding program for independent Russian journalists, shifting to support those forced to flee their country and helping them to continue their work in exile.  

“Russian media in exile face financial uncertainty born out of higher cost of living, lack of access to Russia’s advertisement market, and dwindling subscription revenue,” ICFJ Program Director Sher Khashimov said. “We’re working to help them navigate these challenges, so they can continue to break through mis- and disinformation and deliver independent coverage to Russian audiences.”

Operating in Exile

In early July, 12 media professionals representing nine independent Russian outlets met in Riga, Latvia, for a week-long training on financial sustainability, revenue diversification, and business strategy – a new element of the program. The journalists, who are operating in exile all over Europe, trained at the Stockholm School of Economics chapter in Latvia and exchanged experiences and lessons with each other.

After the training, an outlet with a most realistic proposal for its revenue diversification will receive a small grant aimed at improving its financial sustainability in the long-term.

“With the crackdown on independent press after the invasion of Ukraine, we all lost access to Russia’s ad market and are hard pressed now to reimagine our business models,” said a training participant who wished to remain anonymous. “This training by ICFJ and SSE is a critically important opportunity for us to meet with our colleagues and learn from each other’s experiences. It was a significant shake-up of our work routine and a huge amount of information that already has helped us generate new ideas.”

Since 2012, the program has supported 110 independent journalists. Participants in past cohorts have gone on U.S. study tours, as well as received small reporting grants.

Marina Sedneva was one of 10 independent Russian journalists in 2023 who spent a week in Washington, DC, meeting with local newsrooms before going on two-week newsroom assignments across the U.S. The experience helped her news outlet, 7x7, develop better systems for working together as a dispersed team. 

“At 7x7, we’re building up internal working protocols that we knew were important but didn’t get to until I spent time at The Colorado Sun,” Sedneva said. “Thanks to the ICFJ training in the U.S., I am rebuilding the relationships in my team and how we work with freelancers and regular contributors, as well as internally.”

Several of the journalists from the 2023 cohort ended up publishing articles about the importance of press freedom and lessons learned from working alongside American journalists while on their newsroom assignments, including Sedneva.

Reporting on the War

After the trip, the program alumni were given access to small reporting grants to follow stories that their outlets would usually not have the resources to report.

“My reporting is about LGBTQ folks who are facing growing systemic hostility in Russia during the war in Ukraine and who, despite repressions, continue to live and love,” said Mary, a freelance independent journalist based in Russia who asked not to use her full name due to safety concerns.

Mary, who spent three weeks in the U.S. on a newsroom assignment, received a small reporting grant from ICFJ that is helping to widen the geographic scope of her reporting. Her story was published by Le Monde as part of their series on government repression of LGBTQ rights around the world.  

Sedneva’s team at 7x7 is currently working on a story about the impact the invasion of Ukraine has had on religion in Russia.

“We are reporting on how the war in Ukraine has divided religions and churches in Russia into those who support the war and those who, despite repressions and discrimination, are staying true to their ideals,” said Sedneva. “A few arrests of anti-war priests around Russia were covered in the news but our story will be the first attempt to give the big picture.”

With the success of the July financial sustainability training in Latvia and with the growing need for such training among the Russian media in exile, ICFJ plans to continue working with the U.S. Embassy Moscow on expanding the program and adopting it to the ever-changing needs of Russia’s independent journalists.