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Sergei Dobrynin

Sergei Dobrynin is one of the leading investigative journalists in Russia. He has been instrumental in the production of dozens of in-depth reports, exposing corruption among Russia's political elite and revealing the murky operations behind Kremlin-led secret services. He joined RFE/RL in 2012.

Also by Sergei Dobrynin

February 14, 2024
Russian Forces Getting More Access To Starlink Satellite Internet, Threatening Ukraine's Military Communications

Russian troops in Ukraine increasingly have access to Starlink, the private satellite Internet network owned by Elon Musk that Ukraine's military relies on heavily for battlefield communications.
December 29, 2023
That Time Putin Visited A St. Petersburg Strip Club As Russia Waged War In Chechnya

Russian celebrities are scrambling to apologize for attending an “Almost Naked” party as the Kremlin’s war on Ukraine grinds on. A quarter-century ago, Vladimir Putin visited a St. Petersburg strip club as Russian forces fought a bloody campaign in Chechnya.
December 07, 2023
With Wagner In Disarray, Russian Diplomat With Spy Links Surfaces In Central African Republic

An RFE/RL investigation found that a former Russian envoy to the EU whom European diplomats say works for Russian intelligence is coordinating between Wagner forces and local police in the Central African Republic following the mysterious death of Kremlin-connected warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin.
October 06, 2023
'Escalatory And Deeply Damaging': What Putin's Claim Of A Missile Test Means For Nonproliferation

Even before President Vladimir Putin claimed that Russia had successfully tested a nuclear-powered cruise missile and signaled it might pull out of a test-ban treaty, researchers had watched closely as Russia built up infrastructure on the remote Novaya Zemlya islands, where decades of nuclear testing took place.
June 16, 2023
Trench Selfies: Tracking A Russian Military Unit By Frontline Social Media Photos

Earlier this spring, a Russian unit schooled at a Chechen military training academy deployed to southern Ukraine as Russia’s military girded for an anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive. Judging by their revealing social media posts, they didn’t get much training in “OPSEC” -- operational security.
May 23, 2023
Who's Who Among Russia's Mercenary Companies

The Wagner Group is by far the most notorious Russian mercenary company, its soldiers having played visible roles in conflict, chaos, and commerce from Africa to Ukraine, where they have led Russia's long, bloody push to take Bakhmut. But Wagner is not Russia's only private military company.
April 28, 2023
How A German Gas Giant's Investments May Be Fueling Russia's Military, Including In Ukraine

The findings, by RFE/RL and the British anti-corruption group Global Witness, raise new questions about Wintershall’s continued investments and business dealings in Russia.
March 13, 2023
Exclusive: Expelled Russian Diplomats With Spy Links Resurface In Serbia

While many European states have shown the door to hundreds of Russian diplomats, not only have they found a new home in Serbia, but the country has taken in alleged Russian spies, an RFE/RL investigation reveals.
February 26, 2023
'It Could Be Worse': Weapons Expert Comments On Putin's Suspension Of New START Nuclear Arms Treaty

RFE/RL spoke with Pavel Podvig, a senior researcher in the Weapons of Mass Destruction program of the UN's Institute for Disarmament Research, about Russia's decision to suspend participation in the New START nuclear arms accord and how it affects global security.
April 11, 2022
In Russia's War On Ukraine, Effective Satellites Are Few And Far Between

Russia has long been saddled with a small and inadequate fleet of communications and surveillance satellites that in many cases rely on outdated technology or on imported parts that are harder to come by as a result of Western sanctions.
March 23, 2022
'A Very Big Secret': Boat Crews Link Alleged Putin Superyacht To Russian Tycoons' Other Vessels

A leaked crew list for a yacht Kremlin critics allege is Vladimir Putin's shows connections to other superyachts owned by Kremlin-connected oligarchs, as well as a Russian company that has benefited from state contracts.
March 19, 2022
Communication Breakdown: How Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine Bogged Down

Serious, and seemingly predictable, obstacles to secure communications and data sharing among branches of the Russian military appear to have hampered its invasion plans from the first days of the war in Ukraine.
January 17, 2022
The Search For The Russian Assets Of The Kazakh President's Family

Despite the opacity of both the Kazakh and Russian governments, an investigation by RFE/RL's Russian Service and Current Time has uncovered evidence of the Russian business dealings of Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev's son and former wife.
November 11, 2021
Exclusive: The Monk, The Billionaire's Daughter, And The City Of Peter

The story of how a former monk at a famous Russian monastery became the owner of a major construction company -- and the apparent son-in-law of a Kremlin-connected billionaire oligarch -- is a mystery. RFE/RL tried to sort it out.
September 03, 2021
A Villa In Turkey, An Exclusive Private School. All On A Russian Lawmaker's Salary.

Exclusive findings by RFE/RL’s Russian Service add more details to nationalist Duma lawmaker Leonid Slutsky’s lifestyle, one that appears out-of-sync with his official income declarations.
May 27, 2021
Exclusive: Meet The Murky Russian Network Behind An Anti-Pfizer Disinformation Drive In Europe

French social media influencers were offered money to post content criticizing Western COVID vaccines such as Pfizer's. The Russian company behind the efforts has links to a network of murky entities -- and a Moscow-based businesswoman active in pro-Kremlin political circles.
February 03, 2021
Russian Firm That Created Secure Systems For Government Also Worked On 'Putin's Palace'

A corporate annual report from 2012, located and examined by RFE/RL, shows that a company that has installed high-level communications and security systems for the Kremlin and other top Russian government facilities was also involved in the "Putin's Palace" project on the Black Sea coast.
December 11, 2019
In Lavish Wedding Photos, Clues To An Alleged Russian Cyberthief's FSB Family Ties

Maksim Yakubets is wanted by the United States and Britain, which allege he's behind one of the largest cybertheft rings in history. There's virtually no chance that Russia will ever extradite him -- all the more so since his father-in-law is an ex-special forces officer with the FSB.
October 14, 2019
Russian Wedding Photos Highlight Novichok Suspect's Security Ties

The suspects in the 2018 poisoning of a Russian spy in England claimed they were simple nutritional-supplements salesmen. But one of them was an important guest at the wedding of a secretive Russian military official's daughter, an open-source investigation shows.
September 03, 2019
Angry Villagers, Beached Pontoons, Irradiated Flotsam: More Clues To Mysterious Russian Explosion

Weeks after a mysterious explosion at a Russian naval test range on the White Sea, new photographs of pontoons used during the incident offer fleeting details of what exactly may have transpired on August 8.

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