Andrei Soldatov
   HOME

TheInfoList



Click Here for Items Related To - Andrei Soldatov
OR:
Andrei Soldatov on:   [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Amazon]

Andrei Alekseyevich Soldatov (russian: Андрей Алексеевич Солдатов, born 4 October 1975 in
Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
, Russia) is a Russian investigative journalist and Russian security services expert. Together with fellow journalist
Irina Borogan Irina Petrovna Borogan (russian: Ирина Петровна Бороган), born September 9, 1974 in Moscow, Russia, is a Russian investigative journalist. Journalism Irina Borogan started her journalistic career in 1996 as correspondent of Se ...
he is co-founder and editor of the
Agentura.Ru Agentura. Ru (Russian: Агентура.Ру) is a Russian web-site founded in 2000 as an online community of journalists who cover terrorism, and intelligence agencies. From 2000 to 2006 the web-site was supported by ISP Relcom and since 2006 Age ...
website.


Journalism

Andrei Soldatov graduated from the journalism department of Moscow State Social University, since renamed the
Russian State Social University Russian State Social University (RSSU; russian: link=no, Российский государственный социальный университет, abbreviated as РГСУ) was the first public university in the Russian Federation to offer ...
. In 1996, he started to work as correspondent of the
Segodnya ''Segodnya'' ( rus, Сегодня, p=sʲɪˈvodʲnʲə, t=Today, a=Ru-сегодня.ogg) was a Russian-language Ukrainian tabloid newspaper founded in 1997. While run from Kyiv, it was linked to Donbass political and business groups; its hold ...
newspaper. From 1998 to 1999, he was a staff writer for the Kompania journal. In September 2000, then in Izvestia, he opened the project
Agentura.Ru Agentura. Ru (Russian: Агентура.Ру) is a Russian web-site founded in 2000 as an online community of journalists who cover terrorism, and intelligence agencies. From 2000 to 2006 the web-site was supported by ISP Relcom and since 2006 Age ...
with
Irina Borogan Irina Petrovna Borogan (russian: Ирина Петровна Бороган), born September 9, 1974 in Moscow, Russia, is a Russian investigative journalist. Journalism Irina Borogan started her journalistic career in 1996 as correspondent of Se ...
and other colleagues. He has since become editor and Irina Borogan deputy editor of the Agentura.ru-project. From 2002 to 2004 he was also section chief of the Versiya weekly newspaper, during which time he covered the
Moscow theater hostage crisis The Moscow theater hostage crisis (also known as the 2002 Nord-Ost siege) was the seizure of the crowded Dubrovka Theater by Chechen terrorists on 23 October 2002, which involved 850 hostages and ended with Russian security services killing o ...
. In April 2004, Soldatov began appearing as a commentator on radio
Echo of Moscow Echo of Moscow (russian: links=no, Эхо Москвы, translit=Ekho Moskvy) was a 24/7 commercial Russian radio station based in Moscow. It broadcast in many Russian cities, some of the former Soviet republics (through partnerships with local ra ...
as a security expert. In July 2004, he joined the weekly
Moscow News ''The Moscow News'', which began publication in 1930, was Russia's oldest English-language newspaper. Many of its feature articles used to be translated from the Russian language ''Moskovskiye Novosti.'' History Soviet Union In 1930 ''The Mo ...
as the secret services observer. He covered the
Beslan siege The Beslan school siege (also referred to as the Beslan school hostage crisis or the Beslan massacre) was a terrorist attack that started on 1 September 2004, lasted three days, involved the imprisonment of more than 1,100 people as hostages ( ...
for Echo Moskvy and Moscow News. Since January 2006, he has worked for the newspaper ''
Novaya Gazeta ''Novaya Gazeta'' ( rus, Новая газета, t=New Gazette, p=ˈnovəjə ɡɐˈzʲetə) is an independent Russian newspaper known for its critical and investigative coverage of Russian political and social affairs. It is published in Mo ...
''. For ''Novaya Gazeta'' he has covered the
2006 Lebanon War The 2006 Lebanon War, also called the 2006 Israel–Hezbollah War and known in Lebanon as the July War ( ar, حرب تموز, ''Ḥarb Tammūz'') and in Israel as the Second Lebanon War ( he, מלחמת לבנון השנייה, ''Milhemet Leva ...
and tensions in West Bank and Gaza Strip in Palestine. Soldatov regularly appears as a commentator on terrorism and intelligence issues for
Vedomosti ''Vedomosti'' ( rus, Ведомости, p=ˈvʲedəməsʲtʲɪ, ) is a Russian language, Russian-language business journalism, business daily newspaper published in Moscow. History ''Vedomosti'' was founded in 1999 as a joint venture between ...
,
Radio Free Europe Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a United States government funded organization that broadcasts and reports news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Caucasus, and the Middle East where it says tha ...
and the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
. Since July 2008 he has been a columnist for ''
The Moscow Times ''The Moscow Times'' is an independent English-language and Russian-language online newspaper. It was in print in Russia from 1992 until 2017 and was distributed free of charge at places frequented by English-speaking tourists and expatriates s ...
''. Beginning in 2010 Soldatov has also written for
Foreign Policy A State (polity), state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterall ...
and
Foreign Affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership organization and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and ...
.


Pressure of the FSB

On 1 November 2002, FSB officers searched the premises of Versiya, reportedly regarding information published in an article by Soldatov on 27 May 2002. However, Andrei Soldatov has claimed that this operation against his newspaper was related to a forthcoming article on the storming of the Moscow theatre and freeing of the hostages there on 26 October. Soldatov has been interrogated four times by the Investigative Department of the FSB based in Lefortovo. In June 2008 Soldatov was questioned by the FSB in Lefortovo over the interview of the former SVR officer Sergei Tretyakov, who defected to the US in 2000.


Firing by Novaya Gazeta

On November 12, 2008, Soldatov's employer ''
Novaya Gazeta ''Novaya Gazeta'' ( rus, Новая газета, t=New Gazette, p=ˈnovəjə ɡɐˈzʲetə) is an independent Russian newspaper known for its critical and investigative coverage of Russian political and social affairs. It is published in Mo ...
'' fired him and Agentura.Ru colleague Irina Borogan. In a press release, Soldatov and Borogan said that ''Novaya Gazeta'' had ceased its collaboration with Agentura.Ru without explanation. ‘They even removed our banner from their website,' said Soldatov, noted by Maria Eismont in Index on Censorship on November 27).


Publishing activities

In December 2005, Andrei Soldatov published with Irina Borogan the book ''New patriot games. How secret services have been changing their skin 1991-2004''. In April 2008 Praeger published the ''PSI Handbook of Global Security and Intelligence: National Approaches: Volume 1 - The Americas and Asia; Volume 2 - Europe and the Middle East''. Soldatov is the author of the chapter on Russia's secret services. In September 2010 Andrei Soldatov and Irina Borogan's book '' The New Nobility: The Restoration of Russia's Security State and the Enduring Legacy of the KGB'' was published by
PublicAffairs PublicAffairs (or PublicAffairs Books) is an imprint of Perseus Books, an American book publishing company located in New York City and has been a part of the Hachette Book Group since 2016. PublicAffairs was launched in 1997 by Peter Osnos. ...
, a member of the
Perseus Books Group Perseus Books Group was an American publishing company founded in 1996 by investor Frank Pearl. Perseus acquired the trade publishing division of Addison-Wesley (including the Merloyd Lawrence imprint) in 1997. It was named Publisher of the Ye ...
. In August 2011 the Russian version of ''The New Nobility'' sat in seventh place on the best seller list of Knizhnoe Obozrenie. In early September it was in second place on the best seller list. On September 20 the authors were informed by Elena Evgrafova, a chief editor of Alpina Business Books/United Press, that on September 14, the General Director of the Chekhov Poligraphic Complex, German Kravchenko, received a letter from the Moscow department of the FSB in which the Head of the 2nd Directorate of the 6th Inter-regional Section A.I.Sergeev requested the identities of people who placed an order for ''The New Nobility''. In October 2011 the French version of ''The New Nobility'' came out, published by François Bourin editeur. In December 2011 the Estonian edition was published by
Tänapäev Tänapäev is an Estonian publishing house established in 1999 and headquartered in Tallinn. The main subjects it publishes are translated and original fiction, history, politics, biographies and children literature. In the year 2000, Tänap ...
. In January 2012 the book came out in Chinese, published by CITIC. In recent time he wrote about Kremlin's efforts to quell opposition after the wave of demonstration in 2011/2012. He also wrote about new developments in Russia in tougher control of social networks and in surveillance on the Internet. The
Boston Marathon bombing The Boston Marathon bombing was a domestic terrorist attack that took place during the annual Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013. Two terrorists, brothers Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Tamerlan Tsarnaev, planted two homemade pressure cooker bombs, w ...
gave him reason to divert attention to terrorist networks, covering Russia and the US.


Russia's Surveillance State Project

In October 2012
Agentura.Ru Agentura. Ru (Russian: Агентура.Ру) is a Russian web-site founded in 2000 as an online community of journalists who cover terrorism, and intelligence agencies. From 2000 to 2006 the web-site was supported by ISP Relcom and since 2006 Age ...
,
Privacy International Privacy International (PI) is a UK-based registered charity that defends and promotes the right to privacy across the world. First formed in 1990, registered as a non-profit company in 2002 and as a charity in 2012, PI is based in London. Its c ...
and
Citizen Lab The Citizen Lab is an interdisciplinary laboratory based at the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto, Canada. It was founded by Ronald Deibert in 2001. The laboratory studies information controls that impact the openness ...
launched the joint project entitled 'Russia's Surveillance State' with Andrei Soldatov as a head of the project. The aims of the project were to undertake research and investigation into surveillance practices in Russia, including the trade in and use of surveillance technologies, and to publicise research and investigative findings to improve national and international awareness of surveillance and secrecy practices in Russia. On October 6, 2013 ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' reported the research made by Andrei Soldatov and Irina Borogan over surveillance measures introduced by the Russian authorities at the
2014 Winter Olympics , ''Zharkie. Zimnie. Tvoi'') , nations = 88 , events = 98 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , athletes = 2,873 , opening = 7 February 2014 , closing = 23 February 2014 , opened_by = President Vladimir Putin , cauldron = , stadium = Fisht Olympic ...
, including extensive electronic eavesdropping and surveillance. The investigation was conducted in collaboration with
Citizen Lab The Citizen Lab is an interdisciplinary laboratory based at the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto, Canada. It was founded by Ronald Deibert in 2001. The laboratory studies information controls that impact the openness ...
and
Privacy International Privacy International (PI) is a UK-based registered charity that defends and promotes the right to privacy across the world. First formed in 1990, registered as a non-profit company in 2002 and as a charity in 2012, PI is based in London. Its c ...
. The publication of the research prompted three European parliamentarians to raise concerns about surveillance at the 2014 Winter Olympics.
Sophie in 't Veld Sophia Helena "Sophie" in 't Veld (born 13 September 1963) is a Dutch politician of the Democrats 66 party. She was elected as a Member of the European Parliament in 2004, and reelected in 2009, 2014 and 2019. She was her party's top candidate fo ...
, a Dutch member of the European parliament, and two other MEPs have tabled written questions in attempt to open a debate over Russian snooping. . On Jan. 22, 2014, Mr. Soldatov provided testimony on Russian surveillance practices before the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE Committee) of the European Parliament. On April 18, 2014
Edward Snowden Edward Joseph Snowden (born June 21, 1983) is an American and naturalized Russian former computer intelligence consultant who leaked highly classified information from the National Security Agency (NSA) in 2013, when he was an employee and su ...
wrote an op-ed in ''The Guardian'' defending his decision to question Putin, and remarked:
The investigative journalist Andrei Soldatov, perhaps the single most prominent critic of Russia's surveillance apparatus (and someone who has repeatedly criticised me in the past year), described my question as "extremely important for Russia". According to the Daily Beast, Soldatov said it could lift a de facto ban on public conversations about state eavesdropping.
In September 2015 Andrei Soldatov and Irina Borogan's book '' The Red Web: The Struggle Between Russia's Digital Dictators and the New Online Revolutionaries'' is published by
PublicAffairs PublicAffairs (or PublicAffairs Books) is an imprint of Perseus Books, an American book publishing company located in New York City and has been a part of the Hachette Book Group since 2016. PublicAffairs was launched in 1997 by Peter Osnos. ...
, a member of the
Perseus Books Group Perseus Books Group was an American publishing company founded in 1996 by investor Frank Pearl. Perseus acquired the trade publishing division of Addison-Wesley (including the Merloyd Lawrence imprint) in 1997. It was named Publisher of the Ye ...
. The book traces the origins of the Russian system of surveillance
SORM The System for Operative Investigative Activities (SORM; russian: Система оперативно-разыскных мероприятий) is the technical specification for lawful interception interfaces of telecommunications and telephone n ...
and tells the story of the Internet in Russia. In December 2015, in the British popular newspaper ''The Guardian'', Soldatov warned the world's biggest networks as
Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
,
Google Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...
and
Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
not to give in to Russian president Vladimir Putin's demand to host their servers in Russia. If these companies open their doors to Russia's security services, they will lose control over their information, and give the Kremlin and FSB access to the world's internet traffic, and users’ personal data.


Criminal case

On June 6, 2022, the
Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation (MVD; russian: Министерство внутренних дел (МВД), ''Ministerstvo vnutrennikh del'') is the interior ministry of Russia. The MVD is responsible for law enfor ...
put Andrei Soldatov on the wanted list. Soldatov wrote on his social networks that a criminal case was opened against him on March 17, and all of his accounts in Russian banks have now been seized. The Ministry does not specify under which article the journalist is wanted.


Books

* Andrei Soldatov (with Irina Borogan) ''New patriot games. How secret services have been changing their skin 1991-2004'', December 2005. * "PSI Handbook of Global Security and Intelligence: National Approaches: Volume 1 - The Americas and Asia; Volume 2 - Europe and the Middle East'', Praeger, April 2008. * Andrei Soldatov (with Irina Borogan) '' The New Nobility: The Restoration of Russia's Security State and the Enduring Legacy of the KGB'',
PublicAffairs PublicAffairs (or PublicAffairs Books) is an imprint of Perseus Books, an American book publishing company located in New York City and has been a part of the Hachette Book Group since 2016. PublicAffairs was launched in 1997 by Peter Osnos. ...
, September 2010. * Andrei Soldatov (with Irina Borogan) '' The Red Web: The Struggle Between Russia's Digital Dictators and the New Online Revolutionaries'', PublicAffairs, September 2015. * Andrei Soldatov (with Irina Borogan) '' The Compatriots: The Brutal and Chaotic History of Russia's Exiles, Émigrés, and Agents Abroad'', PublicAffairs, October 2019.


Articles


Both Sides Dropped the Ball on Tsarnaev, ''The Moscow Times''
23 April 2013 (background of
Boston Marathon bombing The Boston Marathon bombing was a domestic terrorist attack that took place during the annual Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013. Two terrorists, brothers Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Tamerlan Tsarnaev, planted two homemade pressure cooker bombs, w ...
on April 15, 2013).
Russia's Digital Underground
How the Kremlin is waging war on information freedom (with Irina Borogan), ''
Foreign Policy A State (polity), state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterall ...
'', 5 April 2013.
Vladimir Putin's Cyber Warriors
The Kremlin's Ham-handed Effort to Squelch Online Dissent, ''
Foreign Affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership organization and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and ...
'', December 9, 2011.
Rouble trouble hits Russian media
Index on Censorship Index on Censorship is an organization campaigning for freedom of expression, which produces a quarterly magazine of the same name from London. It is directed by the non-profit-making Writers and Scholars International, Ltd (WSI) in association w ...
, November 27, 2008.
Journalist Enjoying A Security Monopoly
''
The Moscow Times ''The Moscow Times'' is an independent English-language and Russian-language online newspaper. It was in print in Russia from 1992 until 2017 and was distributed free of charge at places frequented by English-speaking tourists and expatriates s ...
'', 18 June 2008.
Russian spies at Cold War level'
BBC News, 15 March 2007.

''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'', by Peter Finn, December 12, 2006.
Russian government sets sights on 'subversion'
''
The Christian Science Monitor ''The Christian Science Monitor'' (''CSM''), commonly known as ''The Monitor'', is a nonprofit news organization that publishes daily articles in electronic format as well as a weekly print edition. It was founded in 1908 as a daily newspaper ...
'', June 1, 2005.
A website That Came in From the Cold to Unveil Russian Secrets
''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', December 14, 2000.
Watching the watchers in Russia
FAS, December 14, 2000.


References


External links

*
Agentura.Ru website

Agentura.Ru English website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Soldatov, Andrei 1975 births 21st-century Russian journalists Living people Writers from Moscow The Moscow Times Russian activists against the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine Russian investigative journalists Russian publishers (people)