Stories – IStories

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Stories

Country’s “sovereign internet” proved vulnerable by Ukrainian attacks

12 October

Egor Feoktistov

“Russia Has Backed Itself into a Corner”

The deceased woman was an employee of an anti-plague research institute. Do these institutes pose a danger, and is Russia now facing an epidemic?

6 October

Boris Bogomilskii

First Death of Plague in Russia in 50 Years

This is what we know about the Kremlin’s methods and objectives

5 October

Aleksandr Dmitriev

Russia is Escalating its Hybrid War against Europe, but What for?

Anomalies and statistics show that 18 of 30 millions of “paper votes” for United Russia in last week’s elections might actually be fabricated, which would mean that the ruling party’s real result would be at around 35% instead of the declared 58%

22 September

Rina Nikolaeva, Timur Khairutdinov

About 60% of Paper Votes for United Russia Might be Fabricated

How does the internal digital system used in Russian elections operate? The vulnerabilities, the issues and the creation process of the new GAS Vybory 2.0 system have been disclosed due to a successful hacker attack on the system’s developer

17 September

Egor Feoktistov, Sonya Savina

Russia’s Digital Elections System Creation and Vulnerabilities Disclosed

Ivan Kirsanov had been working on a surveillance system project for the Russian Federal Security Service. Then he left the country taking a copy of its internal documents archive. Why did he do it and what can we learn from the files?

3 September

Polina Uzhvak, Rina Nikolaeva

Unsafe Connections: the Classified Files Archive and the Philosophy Shared by an FSB Surveillance Project Ex-Developer

In August 2024, two and a half years after the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine had begun, the Armed Forces of Ukraine started their incursion operation in Russian Kursk Oblast. Among those guarding the Russian border, most were young conscripts of varying levels of training. IStories and Verstka researched how the conscripts had been drawn into hostilities and how the war affected the survivors

27 August

Egor Feoktistov, Ekaterina Krasotkina

What Happened to Russian Conscripts in Kursk in 2024 — and Afterwards

Brian Sutton, accused of masterminding one of the largest fraud schemes to ever be unraveled in the United States, is living freely in Russia. Among his acquisitions there is a fleet of luxury cars, an elite villa near Moscow, and a stake in an MMA club tied to a member of the Russian parliament

29 July

Roman Katin, Zack Kopplin

The Alleged Mastermind of a $2 Billion U.S. Telemedicine Scam Is Enjoying the Luxury Life in Russia

The Russian state security service — FSB — has been trying to implement AI in its anti-opposition operations for at least two years. IStories investigated how the development of the Pauk (“Spider”) system went — and why it was stopped (at least for now)

15 July

Egor Feoktistov

AI at the (Federal Security) Service

A Russian Duma deputy’s family supports Russian militaries in the war against Ukraine while investing millions of euros in Luxembourg and Germany

24 June

Roman Katin

One Powerful Family, Different Sides of the War

IStories unfold the Russian president’s path from discussing “getting rid of extensive weapons” back in 2000 to being ready to “employ all available means” in 2022 — and the way the West learned to deal with the threats and keep helping Ukraine

19 June

Editors

Putin and the Bomb: History of Russian Nuclear Blackmail

The consequences of the war against Ukraine are causing frustration and tension even among Russia’s elite: the power structures created by Vladimir Putin, which consist of various clans, are beginning to falter

29 May

The Mapping of Power: Russia’s ��“Game of Thrones”

After being released from prisons in Russia, Ukrainian citizens are indefinitely kept in practical captivity. IStories managed to talk to them

20 May

Polina Uzhvak, Rina Nikolaeva

Never-ending Prison

The privacy of hundreds of millions of users is at risk, experts say

18 May

Independent Review Confirms Critical Telegram Vulnerability Previously Exposed by IStories

Russian programmer Alexander Okunev set himself on fire on the third anniversary of the full-scale invasion. No one heard

6 May

Maria Zholobova, Filipp Gorenshtein, Holger Roonemaa, Indrė Makaraitytė, Ilya Ber

He Burned Himself Alive to Protest Russia’s War in Ukraine. The State Tried to Erase Him

Tensions among security services are rising, and security measures around the Russian president are strengthening

4 May

Vladimir Putin Fears an Assassination Attempt and a Coup, an EU Intelligence Agency Says

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stated Russia is once again attempting to drag Belarus into the war. Is it possible? How could it look and how would it affect Ukraine?

22 April

Editors

Might Belarus Join Russia in the War?

Essentially, only the state-run internet will remain in the whole country

14 April

Anastasiya Merenyasheva

New Reforms Will Leave Some Areas of Russia without Internet, Internet Providers Warn

Mathew Dubron wrote a book on the two opposing sides volunteers’ perspectives on war and told IStories about what he saw in both countries

6 April

Sonya Savina, Egor Feoktistov

US Citizen Went to Army Recruitment Offices in Both Moscow and Kyiv

Leaked transaction data reveals how a major refinery in Ireland owned by Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska feeds into the aluminum supply chain of Russia’s weapons manufacturers. An investigation by IStories, OCCRP, The Irish Times, and partners

24 March

Maria Savitskaya, Eli Moskowitz, Misha Gagarin, Ingrid Gercama, Conor Gallagher

From Irish Alumina to Russian Rockets

IStories tells the story of Lana Pozhidaeva — an MGIMO graduate, model, and daughter of career intelligence officers — who for many years was involved in Jeffrey Epstein’s network and recruited women for him from the former Soviet Union

21 March

Nikita Kondratyev, Egor Feoktistov

How the Daughter of a Russian Intelligence Officer Became a Recruiter for Epstein’s Trafficking Network

Who makes money off videos of brutal war executions published on Telegram channels

17 March

Irina Dolinina, Aleksandr Atasuntsev

The Russian War Snuff Videos Industry: “Welcome to the Real Murders Channel”

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How Russia Imports Foreign Components and Machinery

Russia has received more than 8 million artillery rounds from the DPRK. An investigation by IStories and the Open Source Centre

16 March

Egor Feoktistov

Inside the Pipeline: How North Korea Armed Russia

What we know about the student recruitment campaign and how to avoid it

3 March

Polina Uzhvak, Lena Lemyasova

Students Recruited to War in Universities and Colleges All Over Russia

A new leak unveils the scale of Wagner Group’s ex-staffers’ work in Africa and Latin America as well as Russian intelligence connections

14 February

“The Central African Republic Supports Trump”

The successor will be the one who can guarantee the Kadyrov family’s security and keep Chechnya under Kremlin control

23 January

Roman Anin, Olga Churakova, Nikita Kondratyev, Editors

How Chechnya and the Kremlin Are Preparing for the Death of Ramzan Kadyrov

Over the past three years, Russia has almost completed the development of a digital registry that can be used for a new and more effective war mobilization campaign, storing data on 25 million citizens who can potentially be drafted. IStories examined the data shared by the hackers who attacked the registry key developer

22 December

Polina Uzhvak, Sonya Savina, Egor Feoktistov, Rina Nikolaeva

What We Learned from a Hacker Attack on the Russian Military Registry Developer

How did a Grozny native whose brother participated in the assassination of Ramzan Kadyrov’s opponent become a prominent figure in the Alternative for Germany party and gather German far-rightists around him?

9 December

Leonid Troevidov

The First Chechen of German Nationalism

Companies in Russia and the United Arab Emirates are involved in secretive exports of oil products to North Korea — in violation of U.N. sanctions that Moscow itself supported.

20 November

Editors

Leaked Russian Records Reveal Obscure Firms Helping Bust North Korean Oil Sanctions

Here is what we know from sources close to the Kremlin and law enforcement agencies

19 November

Olga Churakova, Roman Anin

How Sergei Kiriyenko Is Battling the Siloviki