Mikhail Zygar

Journalist and writer Mikhail Zygar was the founding editor-in-chief of Russia’s only anti-Putin news TV channel Dozhd (also known as TV Rain). Under Zygar’s leadership, Dozhd provided an alternative to Kremlin-controlled federal TV channels by focusing on news content and giving a platform to opposition voices. He is also a member of the supervisory board of Meduza, the Russian- and English-language global news website, now based in Riga and Berlin.

Zygar is the author of several books, including All the Kremlin’s Men: Inside the Court of Vladimir Putin – the history of Putin’s Russia, based on interviews with Russian politicians from Putin’s inner circle. Named by Time as one of the nine books that can “help you understand Russia right now”, it was a number one bestseller in Russia and has been translated into over 20 languages. His 2017 title The Empire Must Die: The Brief Flowering and Brutal Demise of Russian Civil Society, 1900-1918 was a Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Book of the Year.