Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Berlin has become home to a fragmented but resilient community of exiled Russian journalists. Scattered across the city, they are trying to rebuild a profession in conditions that blur work and survival.
Among them is Anastasia Korotkova, who left after her outlet TV Rain was labeled a “foreign agent.” She now works in Berlin alongside other displaced media professionals, trying to maintain a connection to an audience back home that can barely access their work. Ekaterina Fomina, once an investigative correspondent for Important Stories, fled after releasing an interview in which a Russian soldier confessed to war crimes: she continues reporting from abroad despite an 8-year sentence awaiting for her in Russia, and the distance forces her to rely on a web of anonymous sources and encrypted messages. Danila Bedyaev, formerly a local radio host in Yaroslavl, now helps coordinate practical support for others through the MiCT Exile Media Hub, where displaced journalists share workspace, training, and grants.
The piece explores how exile reshapes not only their journalism but also their sense of self. Based in Berlin, they work to preserve networks inside Russia that remain irreplaceable sources of information, all while navigating Germany’s slow bureaucracy and the constant awareness that someone could be watching. Putin’s regime has reached deep into Europe before, and nowhere feels entirely safe.
Rather than portraying exile as a single political statement, the story approaches the unique case of journalists as a daily practice of endurance, mutual help, and stubborn professionalism. These reporters no longer define themselves by access to Russia, but by the act of continuing to publish despite it. In Berlin, they start their days with headlines from a country that no longer wants them, and end them hoping someone back home is still reading.
