The Russia’s Ministry of Digital Development’s new initiatives will effectively leave people with only the state-run internet. Here’s what regional internet service providers say about this 🔽 istories.media/en/stories/2...

Mathew Kyle Dubron is a former American and Israeli military serviceman. He went to army recruitment offices in both Moscow and Kyiv and told IStories about what he saw in Russia and Ukraine amid the war 🔽 istories.media/en/stories/2...

On March 30, the Tribunal de Paris was holding the first hearing of Dmitry Klyuev’s case, IStories found out. He is the alleged mastermind behind the 2007 tax fraud scheme that had been uncovered by Sergei Magnitsky 🔽 www.istories.media/en/news/2026...

A plant in Ireland owned by Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska turned out to be part of a supply chain for missile production in Russia — yet it is not under sanctions. An investigation by IStories, OCCRP, The Irish Times, and partners 🔽 istories.media/en/stories/2...

How the daughter of a Russian intelligence officer gained access to some of the world’s most powerful people — @istories_eng tells the story of Lana Pozhidaeva, who was involved in Jeffrey Epstein’s network and recruited women for him from the former USSR 🔽 istories.media/en/stories/2...

In 2022, a new trend emerged in the Russian segment of Telegram messenger: public channels that exclusively post videos of brutal executions from the war in Ukraine, known as sn*ff. IStories found out who created them and profited from them 🔽 istories.media/en/stories/2...

By early 2025, North Korean munitions had become vital for the Russian military effort in Ukraine, accounting for 75–100% of all daily artillery fire. How the DPRK armed Russia — an investigation by IStories and Open Source Centre 🔽 istories.media/en/stories/2...

Since December 2025, a coercive campaign has been underway in Russian universities and colleges to make students enlist in the military. Here’s what we know about the student recruitment campaign and how to avoid it 🔽 istories.media/en/stories/2...

Russia’s military aims to recruit 80,000 contract soldiers for its drone forces by the end of 2026, IStories found in Defense Ministry documents that were publicly accessible. The campaign includes recruiting students and conscripts 🔽 istories.media/en/news/2026...

How Wagner’s Yevgeny Prigozhin’s network kept operating in Africa and Latin America after his death (with Russian intelligence’s help) — an investigation by IStories, The Continent, Forbidden Stories, Dossier Center, All Eyes On Wagner, and openDemocracy 🔽 istories.media/en/stories/2...

IStories now has its own app for iPhone and Android! You can read and watch investigations without a VPN, even in Russia — the app bypasses censorship and disguises itself 🔽 onelink.to/istoriesapp

🔴 #PropagandaMachine: An unprecedented data leak shared by our partner @thecontinent.org has helped us uncover new findings on Russian influence operations.Tomorrow, Forbidden Stories will reveal more. @istories.bsky.social @opendemocracy.net @aeowinpact.bsky.social Dossier Center

Ramzan Kadyrov’s health is deteriorating, and speculation has resurfaced over who could become Chechnya’s next leader. Here’s how Chechnya and the Kremlin are preparing for a change of power in the region after Kadyrov’s death 🔽 istories.media/en/stories/2...

In France, prosecutors have seized assets belonging to the head of Gazprombank Andrey Akimov and his deputy totaling more than €100 million. IStories previously published a joint investigation with Le Monde about Akimov’s European assets 🔽 istories.media/en/news/2026...

What we learned about Russia’s Unified Military Registry: how it was hacked, its security flaws, preparations for mobilization (and who is shielded from it), the key figures behind it, and the developers’ opinions. An investigation by IStories 🔽 istories.media/en/stories/2...

❗ Roman Anin, the publisher and former editor-in-chief of IStories, has been stripped of his Russian citizenship after a Russian court found him guilty of “spreading fake news” about the actions of the Russian Armed Forces in Ukraine 🔽 istories.media/en/news/2025...

Authorities evict Chechen Alternative for Germany party member Murad Dadaev (Noah Krieger) from his villa in Hanover following investigation by IStories and @correctiv.org. The article established Dadaev’s connections with Ramzan Kadyrov’s people in Europe. istories.media/en/news/2025...

How did a Grozny native whose brother participated in the assassination of Ramzan Kadyrov’s opponent become a prominent figure in the AfD party and gather German far-rightists around him — an investigation by @correctiv.org and IStories 🔽 istories.media/en/stories/2...

Hackers breach the infrastructure of key Unified Military Register developer. They gained access to data on the development of the register. Soon we’ll reveal how the registry works and break down its main components. istories.media/en/news/2025...

A monument to the son of CIA Deputy Director Michael Gloss, killed in the war in Ukraine, erected in Donetsk. It was installed at the school that was previously named after Gloss 🔽 www.istories.media/en/news/2025...

Companies in Russia and the UAE are involved in secretive exports of oil products to North Korea — in violation of U.N. sanctions that Moscow itself supported. New from @istories.bsky.social, @occrp.org and @osc-london.bsky.social istories.media/en/stories/2...

Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov proposed to Vladimir Putin to approve the immediate start of preparations for full-scale nuclear tests on the Novaya Zemlya archipelago in response to possible U.S. tests. Putin has given his approval. istories.media/en/news/2025...

According to the figures Russia provided to the UN, almost a thousand women were killed in acts of domestic violence in Russia last year. This represents 47% of all women intentionally murdered in Russia, which is the highest ratio in the last 15 years. istories.media/en/news/2025...

Russian cadets at military universities and academies are being deprived of the right to resign, as one of them told IStories. At the same time, their military contracts are now permanent under Putin’s 2022 mobilization decree. istories.media/en/stories/2...

IStories Media editor-in-chief Alesia Marokhovskaia was sentenced in absentia to 10 months of corrective labor. She was convicted of evading “foreign agent” reporting obligations.

In Russia, the number of those sentenced for “treason” and “espionage” doubled, and 350 people avoided criminal punishment by taking part in the war. IStories data department reports on the Russian court rulings data from the first half of 2025 🔽 istories.media/en/stories/2...

There are deserters who flee the war right from the frontlines. Some of them, like Russian army corporal Pavlov, manage to do so twice. He told us his story 🔽 istories.media/en/stories/2...

in the occupied territories of Ukraine, people are kidnapped and tried as “spies” and “traitors” — with new sentences imposed every 3 days. Teenagers, pensioners, and entire families have fallen victim to the repression. Here is what we have learned 🔽 istories.media/en/stories/2...

Behind every investigation is not only data and proof, but also journalists. Polina Uzhvak, one of the team members working on the data-driven investigation about mobilization in Russia, hosted #AskMeAnything on Reddit. Here are a few highlights from the conversation.

Putin’s wartime economy has reached its limit (this time for real). This is what we learned from 2026 draft federal budget data 🔽 istories.media/en/stories/2...

How Spanish wine exports to Russia are linked to chemical smuggling and Russian intelligence services — a new investigation by OCCRP, IStories, and partners 🔽 istories.media/en/stories/2...

Sanctioned Russian Sovcombank co-owner Sergey Khotimsky and his now ex-wife owned real estate in the United States worth about $60 million, and it evaded sanctions — read about it in our investigation with The Post and Courier and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution 🔽 istories.media/en/stories/2...

Three years of mobilization: what one region — and the whole Russia — has endured. We analyzed the full list of those mobilized from Tomsk Oblast and found that one in four was killed, went missing, or was wounded, and at least 11% were killed 🔽 istories.media/en/stories/2...

The Russian Armed Forces have once again carried out an operation inside a gas pipeline. Why take such risks for an unclear outcome? IStories asked military experts about it 🔽 istories.media/en/stories/2...

“We are investing in Spain.” Here are the details of the interrogation of Dmitry Artyakov, son of state corporation Rostec’s first deputy, who in the fourth year of the “war with the West” was detained at a villa in Spain in a money laundering case 🔽 istories.media/en/stories/2...

Russia continues to increase spending on programs for foreign influencers, IStories found out. Rossotrudnichestvo, which promotes Kremlin interests abroad and is considered a front for the FSB and SVR, has spent a record sum on this in 2025 🔽 istories.media/en/stories/2...

For the first time in Russia, a foreign travel ban was enforced due to the military register — at Moscow’s airport, a man was barred from going on vacation just days after receiving a draft notice. The draft notice register was launched in August 2025. istories.media/en/news/2025...

Ivan Tkachev, head of FSB’s Directorate K, has been appointed the new chief of military counterintelligence, @istories_eng found out. In wartime, this position is considered doomed. istories.media/en/news/2025...

Kursk Oblast faces a gubernatorial election. The previous governor is under arrest, his predecessor shot himself, and acting governor Aleksandr Khinshtein has no real achievements — just a “pretty picture.” Here’s how he runs the region and why he was sent there 🔽 istories.media/en/stories/2...

The Russian army is losing way less equipment now. What’s the reason? There is little equipment left, and it is too vulnerable. Russian army may be stockpiling it for a major offensive, experts say 🔽 istories.media/en/stories/2...

We’ve found dozens of job postings for people with HIV and hepatitis, offering them contracts with the Russian Ministry of Defense — previously, there was no known targeted recruitment of those. Moreover, the current order prohibits this altogether. istories.media/en/news/2025...

Putin's Russia cannot attract new contract soldiers in the same numbers as before. istories.media/news/2025/08...

On September 1, many new laws and regulations will come into force in Russia, potentially affecting everyone’s life. IStories has compiled the main changes 🔽 istories.media/en/stories/2...

In Moscow and Moscow Oblast, migrants will be required to install an app transmitting their geolocation to the Russian Interior Ministry starting September 1. As IStories has discovered, users complain that the app does not work 🔽 istories.media/en/news/2025...

💥💰Important add-on to the Hungary–Ukraine spat over Russian oil and the Druzhba pipeline. "A secretive oil trader that supplies Russian crude to Central Europe is linked to Kremlin insiders and allies of Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán, according to an investigation by @istories.bsky.social." @occrp.org

The Russian website iStories has uncovered some very interesting information. In the first half of this year, 127,500 contract soldiers received payments for signing contracts with the Russian Ministry of National Defense, a significant drop compared to 2024. istories.media/en/news/2025...

💃 How the owner of a modeling agency joined the board of directors of VSMPO-Avisma — Russia’s largest titanium producer and a key supplier to the defense industry. An investigation by IStories 🔽 istories.media/en/stories/2...

In the second quarter of 2025, 37,900 Russians signed contracts with the Defense Ministry, which is 2.5 times fewer than a year ago, IStories calculated. The pace of contract recruitment has fallen to its lowest in two years. istories.media/en/news/2025...

The Russian economy has split in two. The defense sector keeps growing, while the civilian sector is already in decline. Major Russian companies are switching to a four-day workweek. Is this a crisis or just a cooldown after an overheated economy? istories.media/en/opinions/...

Since the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine, at least 70 people have died during FSB arrests, IStories calculated. Among them are suspects in ties to Ukrainian intelligence services and Islamist groups, as well as members of anti-war movements. istories.media/en/news/2025...