Russian investigative journalist Roman Dobrokhotov, the founder and editor-in-chief of The Insider, has been named the 2026 laureate of the Freedom and Future of the Press Award (Preis für die Freiheit und Zukunft der Medien), presented annually by the Medienstiftung der Sparkasse Leipzig. The award is given to journalists and organizations that have made a significant contribution to the defense of freedom of speech and independent journalism.
The foundation called Dobrokhotov “one of Russia’s most prominent independent journalists,” noting that his biography reflects “how Russia has evolved over the past decades from a relatively liberal society into an authoritarian one, where critical voices are threatened, silenced, or driven into exile.”
The foundation’s executive director, Stefan Seeger, stressed that even in Europe, Russians working to expose the Kremlin’s crimes “remain under threat from Vladimir Putin's long arm and his criminal intelligence services, just as Dobrokhotov does.”
The jury highlighted The Insider’s investigations into Russia’s July 2014 shootdown of flight MH17 over the Donbas, the activities of the Fancy Bear hacking group, the assassination attempts on Sergei Skripal and Alexei Navalny, the murder of Zelimkhan Khangoshvili in Berlin’s Tiergarten, and the escape of fugitive former Wirecard executive Jan Marsalek from Austria to Russia. The foundation emphasized that these reports were produced “under the most difficult circumstances.”
