Mikhail Zygar

Zygar was born in Moscow on 31 January 1981. He became known as a war correspondent of Kommersant, covering wars in Iraq and Lebanon, genocide in Darfur, and revolution in Kyrgyzstan. In May 2005, Zygar was the only international journalist to report from Uzbekistan's Andijan (Andijan massacre). After that, he investigated Russian arms supplies to Uzbekistan. In August 2005, he was beaten by unknown men in Moscow, allegedly Uzbek security agents.

Between 2009 and 2010, he worked as political editor and deputy editor-in-chief of Russky Newsweek.{{cite journal|author=Michael Rubin|author-link=Michael Rubin (historian)|title=Book review|journal=International Journal of Intelligence and CounterIntelligence|year=2018|volume=31

|issue=2|page=389|doi=10.1080/08850607.2018.1418556|s2cid=158957302 }}{{Cite news|title=Mikhail Zygar|newspaper=Journalism Festival|access-date=21 February 2017|url=http://www.journalismfestival.com/speaker/mikhail-zygar}}

File:Dmitry Medvedev with journalists 2013.jpg Dmitry Medvedev]]

In 2010, Zygar became the founding editor in chief of TV Rain, the first independent TV-channel in Russia in 10 years.{{Cite web|url=http://www.pushkinhouse.org/events/2016/10/31/mikhail-zygar-author-of-all-the-kremlins-men-in-conversation-with-dr-sam-greene|title=Mikhail Zygar author of 'All the Kremlin's Men' in conversation with Dr Sam Greene|website=Pushkin House|language=en-GB|access-date=21 February 2017}} TV Rain rose to prominence in 2011 with its coverage of the mass protests against Vladimir Putin.{{Cite web|title = Russia Cracks Down On Independent Media|url = http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/22/russias-independent-tv-mikhail-zygar-meager-studio_n_6361876.html|website = The Huffington Post|access-date = 25 January 2016}} Zygar organised live coverage of all the protest rallies, which were largely ignored by state-owned television. Vice News called Zygar and his team "the last journalists in Russia".{{Cite web|title = The Last Journalists in Russia {{!}} VICE News|url = https://news.vice.com/article/the-last-journalists-in-russia|website = VICE News|access-date = 25 January 2016}}

In 2012–2014, Zygar was among the group of 'leading Russian journalists' who had annual interviews with President of Russia (then Prime Minister) Dmitry Medvedev. According to an AP reporter, "Mikhail Zygar's questions were sharper than those of the others".{{Cite web|url = http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/22/russias-independent-tv-mikhail-zygar-meager-studio_n_6361876.html|title = Russia Cracks Down On Independent Media|website = The Huffington Post|access-date = 2 March 2016}}

In 2014, TV Rain became a target of politically motivated attacks.{{Cite web|url=http://www.ecoi.net/local_link/316126/454873_de.html|title=Russia's Dozhd TV Under Pressure|last=Liberty|first=Radio Free Europe/Radio|website=www.ecoi.net|date=7 December 2015|language=de|access-date=21 February 2017}} Its troubles began when the channel was aggressively covering the daily anti-government protests in Ukraine, which state-owned television dismissed as a neo-Nazi coup. In that year, nearly all cable networks dropped TV Rain{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/04/russian-news-channel-tv-rain|title=Russian news channel TV Rain may close after main carrier pulls plug|last1=Harding|first1=Luke|date=4 February 2014|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=14 February 2017|last2=agencies|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}} and since then the channel has been largely ignored. The channel cut its expenses in half, shed about 30 percent of its staff and reduced its monthly budget before being hit with an eviction notice. Simultaneously, TV Rain raised about $1 million in a crowd-funding campaign in March, proving that the demand for independent media in Russia is still there. The TV-channel started broadcasting from an ordinary flat in Moscow.{{Cite news|url=http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/12/22/world/politics-diplomacy-world/russian-indie-tv-facing-wrath-of-kremlin/|title=Russian indie TV facing wrath of Kremlin|date=22 December 2014|newspaper=The Japan Times Online|access-date=14 February 2017|language=en-US|issn=0447-5763}}

In December 2015, Zygar announced he would be leaving the post of chief editor.{{Cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/news/books-and-arts/21707179-how-russia-ruled-cluster-bomb|title=Cluster bomb|date=17 September 2016|newspaper=The Economist|access-date=14 February 2017|issn=0013-0613}} He told Kommersant that he intends to engage in his own multimedia project "1917. Free History". "I’m five and a half years running the channel, every Executive needs to expire once a period, that’s right, I gotta do something," added Zygar.{{Cite web|url = http://en.news-4-u.ru/chief-editor-of-rain-is-leaving-the-post.html|archive-url = https://archive.today/20161019003637/http://en.news-4-u.ru/chief-editor-of-rain-is-leaving-the-post.html|url-status = dead|archive-date = 19 October 2016|title = Chief editor of "Rain" is leaving the post|website = en.news-4-u.ru|access-date = 2 March 2016}} But according to other independent media, Zygar's resignation could be caused by political pressure. Chief editor of Echo of Moscow radio Alexei Venediktov claimed that some high-ranking statesmen, including Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, were infuriated by the book and they demanded TV Rain's owner Natalya Sindeyeva to get rid of Zygar.{{Cite web|url = http://en.news-4-u.ru/chief-editor-of-rain-is-leaving-the-post.html|archive-url = https://archive.today/20161019003637/http://en.news-4-u.ru/chief-editor-of-rain-is-leaving-the-post.html|url-status = dead|archive-date = 19 October 2016|title = Chief editor of "Rain" is leaving the post|website = en.news-4-u.ru|access-date = 2 March 2016}}

In 2018, Zygar has joined the Information and Democracy Commission, which has been created at the initiative of Reporters Without Borders with the intention to "mobilize all those who are committed to defending a free and pluralistic public space, which is essential for democracy".{{Cite web|url=https://rsf.org/en/news/rsf-launch-groundbreaking-global-information-and-democracy-commission-70-years-after-un-general|title=RSF to launch groundbreaking global Information and Democracy Commission, 70 years after the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights {{!}} Reporters without borders|website=RSF|date=9 September 2018|language=fr-FR|access-date=19 November 2018}}

On 24 February 2022, the day Russia's invasion of Ukraine began, Zygar launched an online petition on Facebook condemning the war.{{Cite news|url=https://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/ukraine-krieg-bundesregierung-streitet-ueber-umgang-mit-gefluechteten-oppositionellen-aus-russland-a-d6e05dfa-67c7-4e5f-bd92-a220dcddb593|title=Russische Oppositionelle in Deutschland {{!}} Der Spiegel|newspaper=Der Spiegel|date=13 May 2022 |language=de|access-date=16 August 2022 |last1=Hebel |first1=Christina |last2=Reimann |first2=Anna |last3=Schult |first3=Christoph }} On the third day of the war, he left Russia and now lives in Berlin.

Zygar writes a weekly column on Russia and the war for Der Spiegel,{{Cite web|url=https://www.spiegel.de/impressum/autor-b8e248dc-ee71-457a-8285-299feb8e8ec0|title=Der Spiegel-Mikhail Zygar {{!}} Der Spiegel|website=spiegel.de|language=de|access-date=16 August 2022}} and a column for The New York Times.{{Cite news |last=Zygar |first=Mikhail |date=2022-03-10 |title=Opinion {{!}} How Vladimir Putin Lost Interest in the Present |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/10/opinion/putin-russia-ukraine.html |access-date=2023-02-14 |issn=0362-4331}}

Since April 2022, Zygar has been making a series of interviews on YouTube with "the brightest minds of humanity",{{Cite web |title=ЗЫГАРЬ - YouTube |url=https://www.youtube.com/@zygaro |access-date=2023-02-14 |website=www.youtube.com}} including Francis Fukuyama, Robert Sapolsky, Yuval Noah Harari, Steven Pinker, Anne Applebaum, Ralph Fiennes, John Malkovich, Timothy Snyder, Karl Schlögel, Massimo Pigliucci, William Taubman, Fareed Zakaria, Aleksander Kwaśniewski and Mikhail Gorbachev.

He organized the only interview of Russian independent media with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy after the start of the war.

On 25 October 2022, Zygar came out and announced his marriage to Russian actor Jean-Michel Scherbak in Portugal.{{Cite web|language=ru|url=https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/5633491|title=Михаил Зыгарь заключил брак с актером Жаном-Мишелем Щербаком|website=www.kommersant.ru|date=2022-10-25|access-date=2022-10-25}}

In 2014, CPJ announced that Zygar was to receive the International Press Freedom Award.{{Cite web|title = Mikhail Zygar, Russia - Awards - Committee to Protect Journalists|url = https://cpj.org/awards/2014/mikhail-zygar-russia.php|website = cpj.org|access-date = 25 January 2016}} He was the seventh Russian to be honored (after Tatyana Mitkova in 1991, Yevgeny Kiselyov in 1995, Yelena Masyuk in 1997, Musa Muradov in 2003, Dmitry Muratov in 2007 and Nadira Isayeva in 2010).{{Cite web|title = Putin Is Losing the Battle to Restrain Online Media|url = http://europe.newsweek.com/putin-losing-battle-restrain-online-media-298556?rm=eu|website = Newsweek|date = 12 January 2015|access-date = 25 January 2016}}

War in Myth (2007). A collection of Zygar's essays about his work in hotspots like Iraq, Lebanon, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, etc.

Gazprom. New Russian Weapon (2008), together with Valery Panyushkin. An investigation of the most mighty Russian state-owned corporations.

All the Kremlin's Men{{Cite book|title=All the Kremlin's Men: Inside the Court of Vladimir Putin|last=Zygar|first=Mikhail|date=6 September 2016|publisher=PublicAffairs|isbn=9781610397391|location=S.l.|language=English}} (2015). The book became the most important Russian non-fiction about the metamorphoses of Putin and his inner circle. The book was the #1 [https://web.archive.org/web/20160303024927/http://www.alpinabook.ru/catalog/Policy/2422458/ bestseller] in Russia for 4 months. In it, Zygar traces Vladimir Putin's ascent to become the most powerful Russian president in decades, and illustrates the grip that extreme paranoia has on Moscow's power elite.{{Cite web|url = http://www.dw.com/en/the-metamorphosis-of-vladimir-putin/a-18764962|title = The metamorphosis of Vladimir Putin {{!}} Europe {{!}} DW.COM {{!}} 06.10.2015|last = (www.dw.com)|first = Deutsche Welle|website = DW.COM|access-date = 2 March 2016}} It took Zygar seven years to write, interviewing current and former associates of the Russian president. In his book, Zygar battles against the idealization of Putin as a savvy and ingenious puppet-master; both the demonic version put forth by the West, and the idolizing version propagated by Russia's official state media. Zygar is far from adopting the insulted tone of the Russian establishment in his assessment. He is more interested in tracing Russian leadership's slide into the aggressive worldview that has eventually led to the war in Eastern Ukraine and military intervention in Syria.{{Cite web|url = http://www.dw.com/en/the-metamorphosis-of-vladimir-putin/a-18764962|title = The metamorphosis of Vladimir Putin {{!}} Europe {{!}} DW.COM {{!}} 06.10.2015|last = (www.dw.com)|first = Deutsche Welle|website = DW.COM|access-date = 2 March 2016}}

The book became a huge event in Ukraine. It claims that annexation of Crimea was planned by the Kremlin in December 2013.{{Cite web|url = http://www.unian.info/politics/1188776-russian-journalist-kremlins-plan-on-crimeas-annexation-born-in-2013.html|title = Russian journalist: Kremlin's plan on Crimea's annexation born in 2013|website = www.unian.info|access-date = 2 March 2016}}

Nobel prize winner Svetlana Alexievich praised the book saying that "This is the first consistent description of everything that has happened over the last 20 years that I have read. It is a very serious study and an opportunity to learn from first hand reports".{{Cite web|url = http://www.dursthoff.de/book.php?PHPSESSID=1379e0081aa70b24804816cf760d3c65&m=3&aid=85&bid=181|title = literary agency galina dursthoff|website = www.dursthoff.de|access-date = 2 March 2016}} John Kampfner of The Guardian called the book "one of the most compelling"{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/oct/03/all-kremlins-men-mikhail-zygar-review-inside-court-vladimir-putin|title=All the Kremlin's Men: Inside the Court of Vladimir Putin – review|last=Kampfner|first=John|date=3 October 2016|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=14 February 2017|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}} accounts written about Vladimir Putin. The Sydney Morning Herald reviewed the book as a "fascinating, in-depth and authoritative study of Russian politics".{{Cite news|url=http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/all-the-kremlins-men-review-mikhail-zygar-on-the-powerbrokers-behind-putin-20170127-gtzrri.html|title=All the Kremlin's Men review: Mikhail Zygar on the powerbrokers behind Putin|last=Carroll|first=Steven|date=30 January 2017|newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald|access-date=14 February 2017|language=en-US}} The book was also published in Sweden,{{Cite web|title=Zygar – Michail {{!}} Författare {{!}} Ordfront förlag|url=https://ordfrontforlag.se/forfattare/zygar-michail/|access-date=2021-07-27|website=ordfrontforlag.se}} Germany, Bulgaria, Finland, Poland, Czech Republic, and Hungary. All the Kremlin's Men was published in English in 2016.{{Cite web|url=http://www.publicaffairsbooks.com/book/all-the-kremlins-men/9781610397391|title=All the Kremlin's Men|last=Archipelago|first=World|website=www.publicaffairsbooks.com|language=en|access-date=23 October 2017}}

Zygar's next book, {{vanchor|The Empire Must Die}}, was released both in Russian and in English{{Cite web|url=http://www.publicaffairsbooks.com/book/the-empire-must-die/mikhail-zygar/9781610398312|title=The Empire Must Die|last=Archipelago|first=World|website=www.publicaffairsbooks.com|date=28 June 2017|language=en|access-date=23 October 2017}} on the centenary of the Russian revolution. It’s a captivating story about the Russian society a hundred years ago, in the years leading up to the revolution, and the intertwined fates of Tolstoy, Diaghilev, Rasputin, Stolypin and other protagonists of the era. The way the story is told allows readers to recognize today's realities in almost every character or event: the century-old country looks like a reflection of modern Russia. Emily Tamkin of Foreign Policy described the book as "an immensely compelling work that transports the reader to the streets of St. Petersburg to see the early 20th century unfold for herself".{{Cite web|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2017/10/13/apocalypse-soon-new-books-on-war-plague-famine-demogogues-and-the-end-of-the-world-as-they-knew-it/|title=Apocalypse, Soon: New Books on War, Plague, Famine, Demagogues, and the End of the World as They Knew It|website=Foreign Policy|date=13 October 2017 |access-date=23 October 2017}} The Empire Must Die is listed among the Best Non-Fiction works of 2017 by Kirkus Reviews, characterised as a "a vivid, character-driven reconstruction of the period leading up to the overthrow of the Romanovs".{{Cite book|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/mikhail-zygar/the-empire-must-die/|title=THE EMPIRE MUST DIE by Mikhail Zygar {{!}} Kirkus Reviews|language=en-us}}

In 2023, Zygar next published, War and Punishment: Putin, Zelensky, and the Path to Russia's Invasion of Ukraine{{Cite web |title=War and Punishment: Putin, Zelensky, and the Path to Russia's Invasion of Ukraine Hardcover – July 25, 2023 |url=https://www.amazon.com/War-Punishment-Zelensky-Russias-Invasion/dp/166801372X |website=Amazon.com}} with Simon & Schuster. Nobel Peace Prize winner Dmitry Muratov wrote on the book: "Zygar has invented a new genre. If Tolstoy's story is a wide river, Proust's is a slow river, Zygar’s is a chase. Alas, under President Putin's rule, no one would dare to publish this terrific book in Russia. So it's easy to tell if the regime has changed—if Zygar is openly on sale in Moscow shops, then yes."{{Cite web |title=War and Punishment: Putin, Zelensky, and the Path to Russia's Invasion of Ukraine |url=https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/War-and-Punishment/Mikhail-Zygar/9781668013724 |website=Simon & Schuster}} In The Guardian review, Luke Harding notes that, "Zygar rips apart the claim that Russia and Ukraine were co-founded...(and that)...Zygar has written a fine book. And yet he is unlikely to find the forgiveness he craves, so long as Russia denies Ukraine’s basic right to exist."{{Cite web |last=Harding |first=Luke |date=July 9, 2023 |title=War and Punishment: The Story of Russian Oppression and Ukrainian Resistance by Mikhail Zygar – review |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/jul/09/war-and-punishment-the-story-of-russian-oppression-and-ukrainian-resistance-by-mikhail-zygar-review |website=The Guardian}} The book was also featured on The New Yorker's Best Books of 2023 list.{{Cite web |last=The New Yorker |date=December 20, 2023 |title=The Best Books of 2023 |url=https://www.newyorker.com/best-books-2023 |website=The New Yorker}}

In 2016, Zygar founded the creative studio Future History specialising in educational digital ventures. In November 2016, the studio launched its first digital project "1917. Free history" that used diary entries, memoirs, letters, pictures etc. of the contemporaries of the Russian Revolution to let Internet users follow their daily events live.{{Cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/news/europe/21716058-project-1917-lets-vadimir-lenin-post-status-updates-russian-social-media-site-reliving-1917|title=A Russian social-media site is reliving 1917|newspaper=The Economist|date=4 February 2017|access-date=14 February 2017}} The project was supported by Yandex, Sberbank and the Russian social network VKontakte. The project ran until 18 January 2018, the day of the dissolution of the Russian Constituent Assembly.

An English-language version of the website was launched in February 2017.{{Cite web|url=https://project1917.com/about|title=Project1917|website=project1917.com|language=en|access-date=14 February 2017}}

In 2018, Zygar's Future History studio launched its next digital venture: 1968.digital, a web documentary series with vertical episodes that "show the life of real historical personalities through the screens of their would-be smartphones".{{Cite news|url=https://www.rbth.com/arts/328324-1968digital-how-worlds-first-smartphone-documentary-was-created|title=1968.Digital: How the world's first smartphone-only documentary show was created|last=Shamporova|first=Yulia|date=21 May 2018|access-date=27 August 2018|language=en-US}} The series covers the events of 1968 all over the world and is distributed in English on BuzzFeed News,{{Cite news|url=https://www.fastcompany.com/40562144/new-buzzfeed-series-uses-social-media-to-retell-american-history|title=New BuzzFeed Series Uses Social Media To Retell American History|date=20 April 2018|work=Fast Company|access-date=27 August 2018|language=en-US}} in Russian and in French on the website of the Libération newspaper. It became a finalist for the 3rd annual Shorty Awards for Social Good in 2018.{{cite web |title=1968.DIGITAL / FUTURE HISTORY 1968 |url=https://shortyawards.com/3rd-socialgood/1968digital# |website=Shorty Awards |accessdate=10 January 2020 |quote=FROM THE 3RD ANNUAL SHORTY SOCIAL GOOD AWARDS ... Finalist in EDUCATION}}{{cite web |last1=Corr |first1=Amy |title=Here Are All the Shorty Social Good Finalists for 2018, Highlighting the Best in Cause Marketing |url=https://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/here-are-all-the-shorty-social-good-finalists-for-2018-highlighting-the-best-in-cause-marketing/ |website=Adweek |accessdate=10 January 2020 |date=17 October 2018 |quote=The third annual Shorty Social Good Awards, which put a spotlight on recent cause marketing campaigns, today announced the finalists for this year’s awards show...}}

Zygar participated in the 2018 TED conference in Vancouver talking about his historical digital ventures and the storytelling techniques he uses in his work.{{Citation|last=Zygar|first=Mikhail|title=What the Russian Revolution would have looked like on social media|date=18 July 2018 |url=https://www.ted.com/talks/mikhail_zygar_what_the_russian_revolution_would_have_looked_like_on_social_media|language=en|access-date=27 August 2018}}

In November 2018, Future History pre-launched a series of an app of Moscow walking tours – the Mobile Art Theatre. The tours resemble a play taking place in the imagination of the audience, telling the stories of historical figures who lived and worked in these city streets. The first tour is narrated by Kirill Serebrennikov who "tells the history of his neighbourhood in Moscow, which was home to cultural icons such as Mikhail Bulgakov, Boris Pasternak, poet Sergei Yesenin, or philosopher and writer Alexander Herzen".{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/15/trial-of-russian-stage-director-kirill-serebrennikov-seen-as-test-for-artistic-freedom|title='People of culture are targeted first' - Russian stars rally at director's trial|last=Roth|first=Andrew|date=15 November 2018|website=the Guardian|language=en|access-date=19 November 2018}}

• To Bury Stalin (2013)
• Who's the Power (2013)
• Past and Duma (2013). Dramatic mini-series about the history of the Russian Parliament.

{{Reflist|2}}

• [https://cpj.org/awards/2014/mikhail-zygar-russia.php Mikhail Zygar, Russia. 2014 CPJ International Press Freedom Awardee]
• {{TED speaker|mikhail_zygar}}

{{Footer CPJ International Press Freedom Award laureates}}

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Category:1981 births

Category:Living people

Category:Russian film directors

Category:Russian male journalists

Category:Russian male writers

Category:People listed in Russia as media foreign agents

Category:Russian LGBTQ journalists

Category:21st-century Russian LGBTQ people

Category:21st-century Russian journalists

Category:People from Moscow