JX Fund – European Fund for Journalism in Exile

Since March 2022, The Moscow Times has had to operate in exile from Amsterdam. Like dozens of other exile media outlets, it endures impossible conditions and high security risks to be a beacon of hope. A visit to the newsroom.

Lilia Yapparova explores the crisis within Russia’s exiled opposition three years into the war, as internal divisions and the death of Alexey Navalny leave many anti-war Russians feeling disillusioned and unrepresented. She examines the movement’s fragmentation, the challenges faced by its leaders in exile, and the uncertain future of Russia’s pro-democracy forces.

Belarusian dictator Lukashenko declared himself the victor in the country’s latest so-called presidential elections on Jan. 26, in which no political opposition was allowed to take part. Exiled journalists, including Hanna Komar, Kseniya Halubovich, and Alina Rudina, shared their insights with the Kyiv Independent on the state of press freedom in Belarus following the election.

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has designated the independent media outlet Komi Daily as a “terrorist organization”. This marks the first time the FSB has applied such a label to a media outlet. The Supreme Court finalized the designation in late December, intensifying Russia’s suppression of dissenting voices, particularly the independent media critical of the Kremlin.

After stealing Belarus’s 2020 presidential election, Lukashenko forced many independent media organizations into exile. Among them was Nasha Niva, Belarus’s oldest newspaper and a protector of the country’s unique language and culture. Matt Hooper tells the story of Nasha Niva’s struggle to maintain Belarusian identity and journalistic integrity amid Lukashenka’s crackdown.

Since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in 2022, the Russian regime has targeted journalists on the frontlines with deliberate attacks, leading to numerous deaths and injuries among women reporters. This campaign of terror aims to suppress independent reporting and obscure the realities of the conflict.

This report challenges the claims that there is no civil society to speak of inside the Russian Federation and that most of its activists are now in exile. A significant number of independent and democratically oriented initiatives and organizations continue to operate throughout the country to address societal issues through civic engagement. These should be acknowledged.

FRF Think Tank presents a policy brief addressing the situation of Russian citizens seeking protection in the EU, set against the backdrop of a severely deteriorating human rights situation in Russia following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

A third of the victims of Russia’s “foreign agents” law are independent media, which makes them the primary target of this legislation — and highlights their systematic legal persecution. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has analysed the Ministry of Justice’s blacklists of “foreign agents” and “undesirable organisations” – which are used as tools of censorship – and condemns the stigmatisation of independent media as a fifth column.

The legal basis for combating independent media and media professionals in Russia emerged in the 2010s. In the 2020s, the state significantly expanded its options for repression. Media outlets and individuals were declared foreign agents and the number of cases against media professionals based on extremism paragraphs increased. This report provides an overview of the latest developments.

According to a survey of Russian media professionals in exile, most of them do not live in the EU but in other countries (Georgia, Armenia, Central Asia, Serbia, etc.) despite the high risks due to a lack of legal options and insufficient financial resources. On behalf of RSF, the Russian human rights organization Mass Media Defence Center has prepared an analysis of the situation of independent journalists from Russia in exile.

The death of Aleksei A. Navalny in a Russian prison has been a blow to an opposition movement in which he was the figurehead. But it has also raised hopes of a united front against President Vladimir V. Putin.

After three years of working in exile, the Belarusian media has entered another turbulent period. Not all media companies are likely to survive this phase unscathed. Are there solutions?

OWEP editor-in-chief Gemma Pörzgen travelled to Riga, which has become the most important refuge, as Russian journalists and editorial teams increasingly choose exile for independent reporting.

Amid Russia’s suppression, exiled independent journalists turn to NGOs for financial support. Facing challenges in adapting to a new sector, media-NGOs navigate fundraising and accountability.

An estimated 1,000 Russian journalists have gone into exile to escape the threat of prosecution in their home country. In Europe, many believe they are safe. But in April, the suspected poison attacks on two journalists and an opposition activist became known. One of them is Elena Kostyuchenko, a well-known Russian journalist with great resonance.

‘The million-dollar reporter’: Israeli cyber-arms company’s software was used to spy on Galina Timchenko, revealing the first confirmed case of a Pegasus attack against a Russian journalist.

Amid intensified pressure on Kremlin-critical media in Russia and Belarus, hundreds of journalists seek refuge abroad, fostering free journalism in the face of increased repression.