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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, 2025
Spain Uncovers Tons Of Chemicals Destined For Russia, RFE/RL Learns

A shipment of 13,000 tons of chemicals bound for Russia that Spain seized last year included a restricted solvent that plays a key role in weapons production for the Kremlin’s war machine, an RFE/RL investigation has found.
February 07, 2025
As DeepSeek Rises, Russia Falls Behind On AI

Russia's ambitions to become a world leader in artificial intelligence are being severely hampered by brain drain, technological isolation, and an increasingly restrictive domestic environment.
December 17, 2024
The Many Faces Of Europe Invasion, The Anonymous X Account Stoking Anti-Immigrant Narratives

An RFE/RL investigation reveals that an influential X account called Europe Invasion concocted fake personas to push xenophobic narratives and fuel anti-immigrant sentiment in the EU.
December 12, 2024
Inside A Secret, Expanding Russian Lab Site With A Bioweapons Legacy

Video footage released by the Russian military gives a rare glimpse inside a secretive facility near Moscow that Washington has linked to an alleged ongoing Kremlin program to develop biological weapons.
December 06, 2024
Romania's 'King Of TikTok' Tied To Alleged Scheme Boosting Far-Right Presidential Candidate

A mysterious programmer with a reputation for a lavish lifestyle has emerged as a central figure in the claims that far-right presidential candidate Calin Georgescu benefited from secretive influence campaigns, including from Russia.
November 13, 2024
How The Caspian Sea Became A Battlefield

The Russian military appears to be firing at Ukraine from the Caspian Sea, possibly adding environmental damage on the world's largest lake to the human and material cost of Moscow's full-scale invasion.
October 21, 2024
The UN Says Crimea Is Ukrainian. So Why Did Its Nuclear Agency Fund Russian Research There?

Records obtained by RFE/RL show that the UN’s watchdog for peaceful nuclear energy sponsored studies by Russian research institutes in Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula that Moscow seized in 2014, in what Kyiv calls a violation of its sovereignty.
October 02, 2024
U.S., U.K. Publicly Link Ex-FSB Officer To Notorious Russian Ransomware Group

U.S. and British authorities for the first time publicly linked an ex-Russian special forces officer to one of the world’s most notorious ransomware groups, adding further evidence of ties, formal and informal, between Russian intelligence agencies and criminal groups.
September 06, 2024
'You Wanted Turmoil. You Got It': How FSB Officers Chatted, And Plotted, To Sow Discord In The U.S.

Dozens of pages of chat logs introduced in U.S. court proceedings reveal Russian security service officers discussing their efforts to sow political discord in the United States, as well as exchanging banter about everything from tensions with their superiors over the invasion of Ukraine.
June 18, 2024
How A Serb Accused In High-Profile Italian Jailbreak Ended Up At Russia's North Pole Camp

How did an obscure Serbian businessman end up at the North Pole less than three weeks after allegedly helping spring a politically connected Russian businessman from Italian house arrest? As the saying goes, it's complicated.
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.

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