Roman Badanin

Roman Badanin (X) is the founder and editor-in-chief of the investigative outlet Proekt. In 2021, Proekt became the first Russian media to be labeled an “undesirable” organization by the Kremlin, criminalizing their work in Russia. Proekt had exposed secret financial ties between Russian officials, including Putin, and powerful business interests, earning multiple awards. Prior to founding Proekt, Badanin was deputy editor-in-chief at Gazeta.Ru, editor-in-chief at Forbes Digital (Russia), RBC news agency, and editor of Dozhd (TV Rain), Russia’s only independent TV channel. Badanin is now in exile in California, and was a JSK Senior International Fellow at Stanford University. His writing has been featured in the Washington Post multiple times, CNN, the Journal of Democracy, and the San Francisco Chronicle, among others.