The History of MEDUZA. Russian Independent Pirate Media Ship

source: MEDUZA.io

On March 10, 2014, the portal Lente.ru published an interview with Andrei Tarasenko about Ukrainian nationalism, the “Right Sector” movement, and its leader Dmytro Yarosh. The article was written by Ilya Azar. Given the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian conflict, Russia’s Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology, and Mass Media (Roskomnadzor) was not pleased and decided to shut down the portal. Two days later, on March 12, the layoffs began. Of 84 employees, 39 lost their jobs, including Azar and editor-in-chief Galina Timchenko.

But the fired journalists did not give up. Twenty of them, led by Timchenko, created a new news outlet: MEDUZA.

For political, economic, and logistical reasons, the project’s main office was established in Riga, Latvia. The core group of “founding fathers” included, in addition to Timchenko: journalist Ivan Kolpakov and publisher Ilya Krasilshchik.


To launch the portal, money was needed. Two Russian businessmen offered help. But when Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Boris Zimin laid out their governance and decision-making rules, the journalists pulled out. That wasn’t the journalism they envisioned. Instead, they created their own investor consortium. Friends and acquaintances pitched in, and the journalists used their severance pay. They joked that Alexander Mamut, owner of Lenta, had indirectly sponsored independent media.

Meduza.io - A Pirate Ship on a Mission to Reclaim Stolen Media

The startup capital was €2,800, and in June 2014, Timchenko, as sole owner, registered Medusa Project SIA in Latvia. In July, it was registered with Riga’s tax office, and recruitment began in August via Latvian job sites.

Everything had to comply with Latvian law, but the team sought journalists fluent in Russian and English with deep understanding of Russian socio-political and economic realities and a general awareness of global political and economic systems. Journalists were not required to relocate to Riga.

As a result, a 10-person editorial team was created in Riga, alongside a correspondent team in Russia (mainly in Moscow) and a commercial team (ads, tech, etc.). On October 20, 2014, Meduza welcomed its first readers. Just before the launch of the website, the mobile version was rolled out. (Even if the Russian government blocks the site, it can`t block the mobile version, the authors stressed). At the same time, Meduza created accounts on Twitter, Telegram, Instagram, and Facebook.

The Meduza.io website was divided into five main sections:

• Новости (news)
• Темы (taboo topics)
• Картотека (opinions and commentary)
• Статьи (articles)
• Шапито (entertainment)

The site used a yellow-white-black color scheme, had a custom logo, and distinctive fonts.

Meduza’s journalists didn’t want to recreate Lenta, which had a 15-year history and deep financial reserves. As Ivan Kolpakov told The Calvert Journal: Meduza is a pirate ship - a small, mobile media organization. A platform for high-quality journalism - both news and longform. This project was born to reclaim media stolen by the state.

The portal`s mission remains clear:

• deliver the freshest news from across Russia
• provide reliable and accurate information
• ensure access to trustworthy sources
• avoid algorithms and bots
• treat internal and external content equally
• take full responsibility for all content
• serve a Russian audience while operating under EU law (Latvia is an EU member)

Dodging Internet Blocks. First Stop: Kazakhstan

From the start, Timchenko emphasized that although politics would appear on the portal, the focus would be on society, culture, and national events. But in modern Russia, it’s hard to avoid politics. As Russians say: even if you’re not interested in politics, politics is interested in you.


A code of ethics was also published, stating that journalists would:

• act consciously and responsibly
• listen to the unheard
• ensure reporting does not worsen the conditions of those already in distress
• analyze claims with the highest care
• strive for international work standards
• respect the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
• not support any political party, social movement, business, or government agency

Despite initial financial constraints, the editorial team pledged self-sufficiency. They took no payments from those featured in stories, refused perks like free transport or lodging, and did not reward sources.

One day after launch, Meduza.io was blocked in Kazakhstan. Once again, the issue was an article by Ilya Azar - this time, on the idea of creating a “Ust-Kamenogorsk People’s Republic” in eastern Kazakhstan. Uzbekistan followed suit soon after, but the portal’s tech team knew how to bypass blocks, ensuring Meduza reached its audience.

Within three months, Meduza had 1.5 million readers. Within a year, that number grew to 3 million, and by October 2016, the site had 5 million monthly users. It gained fans wherever Russians cared about their country’s fate. Outside of Russia, the top audiences were in the U.S. and Ukraine.

Meduza in English and a New Editor-in-Chief

In February 2015, the English-language version launched. The first editor-in-chief was Konstantin Benyumov, who soon handed the reins to Kevin Rothrock, formerly an editor at The Moscow Times and RuNet Echo at Global Voices. In March, an English-language newsletter, Evening Medusa, began summarizing daily news for subscribers. In April 2022, it was replaced by a new project: Signal.

For the next year, Meduza covered the annexation of Crimea by Russia - coverage the Kremlin disliked. Staying true to its principles, it reported both sides. It had a correspondent on-site and supplemented reports with blogger content and verified emails. This approach was also used in February 2015 after the assassination of opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, during the October Belarus presidential elections, and in reporting the downing of a Russian Su-24 bomber by Turkey on November 24, 2015.

Global news came from agencies or translations from outlets like The Guardian, The New Yorker, or The Wall Street Journal.

Once Meduza found its place online, Galina Timchenko passed editorial leadership to a younger colleague. She became the project’s general director. These changes were needed to balance and separate powers in the organization, Timchenko said, and wearing two hats at once just isn’t right.


In January 2016, Ivan Kolpakov became editor-in-chief, with Alexander Polivanov as his deputy. One of the first stories he covered was the historic meeting between Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill of Moscow on February 12, 2016, in Cuba. The event culminated in a joint Catholic-Orthodox declaration.

In September, Meduza covered the parliamentary elections, and in December, the Tu-154 crash in the Black Sea that killed 92 people - most of them members of the Alexandrov Choir.

Meduza Investigations with BuzzFeed: "Russia Is More Than Putin and Hackers"

That same month saw an expansion of Meduza’s projects. Journalists brought ideas that Lenta had never implemented. One such project was ATLS, launched on September 28: a free iOS and Android app guiding users through cities and countries, publishing reports, and supporting individual tourism. It was the first of many planned initiatives.

In 2017, Meduza signed a partnership with American news site BuzzFeed News. Ivan Kolpakov and Miriam Elder shook hands in August. Elder, head of BuzzFeed’s international reporting, said: Interest in Russia hasn’t been this high since the Cold War. Informally, the teams had already collaborated. Several joint projects had been completed. Elder praised Meduza’s investigative journalism on Russian cyber capabilities, and Kolpakov appeared on Ben Smith’s podcast.

The partnership is editorial. Resources will focus on joint investigations. BuzzFeed pays for stories it commissions from Meduza. Both sides share stories, and Meduza may occasionally translate selected BuzzFeed articles for free, reported NiemanLab on August 29, 2017.

Kolpakov summed up the deal: This is a totally new and exciting market. And it would be great if we could show that Russia has high-quality journalism, and that Russia isn’t just Putin and hackers, but also a whole range of things that are terrifying, fascinating, and funny.

In August 2017, Meduza reached over 7.5 million users. At the same time, its app had 700,000 downloads and over 2 million social media followers. By 2018, the team produced more original content and reduced third-party publications. The editorial team welcomed this success but…

The Meduza Scandal: A Morality Crisis in the Newsroom

In October 2018, Meduza was shaken by scandal. Editor-in-chief Ivan Kolpakov was accused of sexual harassment. The complaint came from the wife of a staff member. The incident happened during an anniversary party where alcohol flowed freely. The scandal erupted especially because, in October 2017, Meduza had published guidelines on “what to do if your boss comes on to you,” and in March 2018, it had demanded the resignation of State Duma deputy Leonid Slutsky after several female reporters accused him of harassment.

There were no witnesses, and Kolpakov himself said he couldn’t recall the incident. Still, he admitted fault (he apologized to the woman and her husband) and submitted his resignation. On November 6, the board, citing lack of evidence and witnesses, rejected his resignation and issued only a reprimand. His colleagues also stood by him. However, the Meduza affair exploded in the media. Pro-Kremlin outlets led the charge, but on social media, debate was fierce: fire him, weak punishment, nothing happened, hypocrites.


Meduza’s editorial team let its audience judge the situation. On November 9, Ivan Kolpakov officially resigned. He explained: it’s the only way to end the crisis engulfing the platform and to minimize damage to its reputation.

The board accepted his decision. Tatiana Ershova became the new editor-in-chief, while Kolpakov transitioned to another department, staying with Meduza to focus on strategic planning, the podcast studio, and product development.

This event divided Meduza’s tight-knit community. The rising tension led to the departure of several people, including publisher Ilya Krasilshchik and his wife Ekaterina Krongauz, who led the games section. To prevent future issues, an Independent Supervisory Board was established on June 14, 2019. Its purpose: to evaluate editorial and leadership performance, monitor compliance with editorial guidelines and corporate standards, approve editorial strategy, assist in developing business plans, and more. The board was also tasked with reviewing and approving Meduza’s code of ethics. Members included Anders Alexanderson (executive VP at Stockholm School of Economics in Riga), Kirill Artemenko (CEO of Bumaga), Elizaveta Osetinskaya (founder of The Bell), and writer-journalist Mikhail Zygar.

Meanwhile, on March 11, 2019, Kolpakov returned as editor-in-chief. Meduza’s CEO Galina Timchenko announced the decision on the portal at 1:09 PM. The statement read:

Every department head at Meduza supports Ivan Kolpakov’s return, especially Tatiana Ershova, deputy editor-in-chief Dmitry Tomilov, and Sultan Suleymanov. Meduza’s editorial staff has full confidence in his professional skills. Ivan also has the backing of the new Meduza board of directors, which will formally meet at the end of March 2019, when the board will approve Meduza’s roadmap for the coming year and the staff code of conduct… I deeply regret what happened. I understand that conflict resolution should be institutional. That’s why we’ve developed rules and procedures. I’m confident we can avoid similar incidents in the future. Maybe we’re learning slower than we should - but we can and will learn from our mistakes.

By March, Kolpakov had returned “with his shield,” and by June, he was defending the portal’s name - and a colleague’s.

Targeted by the Kremlin and The Naked Pravda

On June 6 in Moscow, investigative journalist Ivan Golunov was arrested on charges of drug possession. Reporters Without Borders defended him, accusing Putin’s regime of fabricating the charges. It wasn’t the first time Russian authorities had used such tactics. Golunov had already received threats. Meduza publicly reported on his beating, denial of ambulance access, blocked lawyer visits, and refusal to conduct standard drug tests.

The case stirred public outrage beyond journalism circles. Many unrelated to the media organized campaigns to support Golunov - some were arrested. A protest was planned for June 12, but on June 11, the charges were dropped, the journalist was released, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs launched an internal investigation. On May 28, 2021, five former police officers were sentenced to years in prison for evidence tampering.

On November 27, 2019, Meduza launched its English-language podcast The Naked Pravda, which highlights how Meduza’s best journalism intersects with broader research and real-world experience in Russia. The podcast’s producer, editor, and audio engineer is Kevin Rothrock, with Alexander Sadikov as executive producer. The first episode focused on women’s rights and sexual harassment.

Pandemic, Navalny, and the Czech Spy Affair

In January 2020, Meduza planned to open an office in Moscow. Tatiana Lysova was appointed to head it and also became first deputy editor-in-chief. Unfortunately, plans changed due to COVID-19. Though the office was eventually opened, the virus delayed its debut. As everywhere else, people in Russia began falling ill. The pandemic, vaccines, and lockdowns dominated media headlines - and Meduza was no exception. Its website, newsletters, and podcasts reported on the crisis, especially as official government statements were full of falsehoods. Because the suspiciously low number of infections in Russia raised doubts about the reliability of official statistics, Meduza turned to several health experts to understand the challenges they faced, read a March 20 statement.


Alongside the virus, Alexei Navalny’s poisoning, anti-corruption work, imprisonment, and penal colony stay were hot topics. Coverage also included the Belarus elections and the Putin-Lukashenko dynamic. Meduza didn’t overlook the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict or the Prague-Moscow scandal involving revelations of a Russian spy operation in the Czech Republic.

At the end of 2020, a new project launched: Meduza Originals. Films and reports were posted on the outlet’s YouTube channel. Debut programs included Tell Gordeeva and Radio Dolin. According to Medialogy, Meduza ranked 10th among the most quoted outlets in 2020 and first in hyperlink references among digital media.

On January 23, 2021, two Meduza editors - sociologist Konstantin Gaaze and special correspondent Andrey Pertsev - introduced a new podcast, Political Podcast. The idea came ahead of the upcoming State Duma elections. Both men discussed current political issues and news on What Happened, the news podcast by Vladislav Gorin. Meduza’s audience enjoyed the discussions, and upon realizing that no podcast in Russia focused on political news, they decided to fill that niche. On April 10, the YouTube version of the political conversations premiered.

Attack by the Ministry of Justice: MEDUZA Declared a Foreign Agent

The idea proved successful and quickly gained a loyal audience. Unfortunately, the journalists had to leave YouTube, because just as it seemed that everyone had grown used to Meduza’s critical coverage of the government and the country’s most powerful figure, an unexpected attack came.

On April 23, 2021, the Russian Ministry of Justice declared the independent news portal Meduza a foreign agent, claiming that its media restrictions were incompatible with international and human rights obligations.

Anyone or any institution labeled a foreign agent becomes instantly invisible in Russia. Cooperation, support, or contact is banned, under threat of imprisonment or other state reprisals. The government also gains control over their finances, and all products must display a warning label identifying them as a foreign agent. Others on this blacklist include:

• Voice of America
• Krym Realii portal
• Radio Liberty, based in Prague

The blacklist of Russia’s opponents was created in 2017. By 2021, it included 14 organizations and 5 individuals. The Open Media service reported, citing a government source, that Meduza’s designation was retaliation for Latvian authorities’ decision to block the Russian-language RT portal and channels owned by the Rossiya Segodnya MIA holding in March. Meduza, after all, falls under Latvian law.


On April 24, the EU`s foreign affairs spokesperson Peter Stano issued a public statement: We reject the Russian authorities’ decision to list the independent media outlet Meduza as a “foreign agent.” The EU has long stated that the so-called “foreign agent” law contributes to systematic violations of fundamental freedoms and suppresses civil society, independent media, and political opposition rights in Russia.

At first, Meduza’s journalists reacted with humor: Hello everyone! We’re Russia’s newest “foreign agent”! We reject this nomination because our chances of success are slim…

But the laughter quickly faded. The portal, free to readers and funded by ads and donations - mainly from Russian citizens - lost support overnight. Though many backed Meduza’s stance, fear of Putin’s regime outweighed loyalty. Only a few remained.

Drastic measures followed:

• offices in Riga and Moscow were closed
• the author team was reduced
• salaries were cut by 30-50%
• an appeal for help was made to readers

On April 30 at 16:42, an editorial note titled Save Meduza was published. It read: Russian authorities are trying to kill Meduza. The Ministry of Justice labeled us a “foreign agent,” scaring away our advertisers. This means we’re running out of money. We always believed we could build a free news outlet supported by ad revenue. That model matters in a country where demand for reliable news is high and the supply of independent journalism is critically low. We made it. It took six years - and the Russian government crushed our business in a day. We’ve slashed our budget to survive. But Meduza won’t last long. Our future now depends on you. For the first time, we ask you - our readers - for help. Help us save Meduza. We won’t survive without you.

Help came, and Meduza continues to operate. Since August 2021, the editorial team has been hidden on the website for safety. Only the English version’s contact info remains.

Although the portal was blocked in Russia on March 4, 2022, many users access it using VPNs. Authorities also attempted to block its social media channels - an effort that backfired. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Meduza’s audience has grown significantly. It continues operating, though some projects now run independently. This includes Meduza Originals and its Russian-language podcasts. We don’t want podcast creators to take risks because of our new status, read a statement. The studio now operates as Speech Technology and collaborates with Meduza.

The portal has taken a clear stance against the war in Ukraine. Since February 2022, it has published daily war coverage. A special section, WAR, is dedicated to the topic. For safety, all Meduza journalists have left Russia, but they continue reporting on the country and the Kremlin. In 2022, the following reporters were added to the foreign agents list:

• Vladislav Gorin
• Lilia Yaparova
• Shura Burtin
• Anastasia Chumakova
• Aleksei Kovalev
• Damir Nigmatullin
• Svetlana Reiter

All these journalists also won the Redaktsiya Award for professional journalism, established in 2016 by the Boris Zimin Sreda Foundation. Meduza leads in total wins, with 32 awards since its founding.

Make the Kremlin Sad

Chumakova, Kovalev, Nigmatullin, and Yaparova received the award in April for their investigation Project Astra, which exposed Russian military actions in the village of Bohdanivka, in Ukraine’s Brovary district (April 18, 2022 article). The team uncovered at least three murders and two rapes. Yaparova was again honored in May for her March 16 article on Kyiv’s defense preparations.


Both the Russian and English versions of the site remain active under the slogan: Make the Kremlin sad (Spraw, by Kreml był smutny). The content is divided into five main sections:

• Новости (news)
• Война (war)
• Сториз (current topics)
• Разбор (analysis and opinions)
• Шапито (entertainment)

The last section is currently suspended… because there’s no room for jokes when there’s a catastrophe in Ukraine - and in Russia, too.

Since September 2022, Meduza has published a new newsletter, The Beet. It focuses on Central and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia. With original reporting and deep analysis, The Beet covers society, politics, and culture in these often-overlooked regions. We don’t focus on Moscow, “the West,” or breaking news. We dig deeper, elevate local perspectives, and tell compelling stories that might otherwise go unheard, reads the product description.

Despite the challenges, Meduza’s journalists are not giving up. From the start - and still today - they declare: We value our independence and strive to be a reliable, trusted source of objective, verified, and impartial information about Russia and the former Soviet Union, as well as a provider of deep insight into one of the world’s most enigmatic regions.

MEDUZA.io Timeline

• 2014, June - Meduza Project SIA registered in Riga
• 2014, October 20 - Meduza website launches
• 2014, October 21 - portal blocked in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan
• 2015, February - English-language site goes live
• 2015, March - “Evening Medusa” English newsletter begins
• 2016, September 28 - “Atlas” project launched
• 2017, August - partnership signed with BuzzFeed News
• 2018 - Meduza shifts to primarily original content
• 2018, October - newsroom sexual harassment scandal
• 2019, June 6 - Ivan Golunov arrested in Moscow on false drug charges
• 2019, June 14 - Independent Supervisory Board created
• 2019, November 27 - English podcast “The Naked Pravda” launches
• 2020, December - “Meduza Originals” debuts on YouTube
• 2021, January 23 - “Political Podcast” launches
• 2021, April 23 - Meduza labeled a “foreign agent” by Russia
• 2022, March 4 - site blocked in Russia
• 2022, April - “Evening Medusa” replaced by “Signal”
• 2022, April 18 - “Project Astra” investigation published
• 2022, September - “The Beet” newsletter launches

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