The 2026 “Prize for the Freedom and Future of the Media” goes to Russian investigative journalist Roman A. Dobrokhotov.
Leipzig, July 2, 2026. Russian investigative journalist and founder of the online newspaper The Insider, Roman Alexandrovich Dobrokhotov, will be awarded the “Prize for the Freedom and Future of the Media” in 2026. The prize is awarded by Media Foundation of Sparkasse Leipzig and honours media professionals and institutions whose work, carried out with great personal dedication, serves the cause of freedom of the press and freedom of expression. The prize is endowed with 10,000 euros. Traditionally, the award ceremony takes place on October 8 - the eve of October 9, 1989, a date of great significance for Leipzig, when tens of thousands of people gathered at the decisive major Monday demonstration to demand, among other things, freedom of expression and of the press in former East Germany - at the foundation’s headquarters on the Mediencampus Villa Ida in Leipzig.
“Roman Dobrokhotov is one of Russia’s most prominent independent journalists,” explains Stephan Seeger, Managing Director of Media Foundation of Sparkasse Leipzig: “His life story illustrates how Russia has evolved over the past decades from a comparatively liberal society into an autocratic one, where critical voices are threatened, silenced, or driven out of the country. Even there, like Dobrokhotov, they remain under threat from the long arm of Vladimir Putin and his criminal intelligence services. I wholeheartedly congratulate Roman Dobrokhotov on receiving our award, which he is receiving twenty-one years after Anna Politkovskaya, who was murdered in Moscow on October 7, 2006,” Seeger continued.
Roman Dobrokhotov joins a long line of Russian award recipients in recent years, beginning with Grigory Pasko in 2002, followed by Anna Politkovskaya in 2005, Oleg Kashin in 2011, and Roman Badanin in 2022. The jury cited, among other things, Dobrokhotov’s impressive investigative work as the basis for its 2026 selection, such as his research into the downing of the Malaysian passenger plane MH17 over the Donbas in 2014, the hacking group Fancy Bear, the poisonings of Sergei Skripal and Alexei Navalny, the Tiergarten murder in Berlin, and the escape of former Wirecard executive Jan Marsalek - all of which Dobrokhotov and his colleagues had successfully uncovered under the most difficult conditions.
By February 28, 2026, numerous candidates had been nominated for the 2026 Prize for the Freedom and Future of the Media. As in previous years, the list of nominees underwent scientific review and evaluation. Subsequently, the jury - composed of members of the Foundation Council and the Board - selected the 2026 laureate.
About the laureate:
Roman Alexandrovich Dobrokhotov was born on August 6, 1983. After attending school in Moscow, he studied political science at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations and at the Higher School of Economics in Moscow. Starting in 2005, he was initially active in the political movements We and Solidarnost. Beginning in 2010, Dobrokhotov worked as a research assistant at the State Academic University of Humanities, where he taught political science. In 2011, he was one of the founders of the December 5 Party, which was formed in protest against the results of the parliamentary elections in Russia. For many years, Dobrokhotov advocated for fair elections in Russia, the release of political prisoners, and opposed Putin’s reelection as president.
Dobrokhotov began his journalistic career between 2006 and 2008, working as a columnist and head of the business section at the newspaper Novye Izvestia, as well as a freelance contributor to the radio station Govorit Moskva. That same year, he began working for the online newspaper Slon.ru. In 2013, Dobrokhotov founded the online newspaper The Insider, which subsequently garnered worldwide attention, particularly for its investigative reporting on the involvement of Russian intelligence agencies in national and international criminal cases. In 2021, The Insider was added to the Russian Ministry of Justice’s list of foreign agents, which significantly restricted its availability in Russia. Since then, the online publication has been operating out of Riga. Dobrokhotov himself now lives in exile.