From FBI warning to literary acclaim: the Russian journalist who took on Putin

The journalist who spent two decades investigating Putin—now fears the Kremlin's reach

Exiled Russian journalist Roman Badanin received a warning from FBI agents about potential threats to his safety and family. Badanin co-authored a book detailing Vladimir Putin's abuses, which has gained significant recognition in France. He expressed frustration about the West's delayed attention to Kremlin atrocities, especially after the Ukraine invasion. Badanin criticized the prevailing analyses of Putin's character and motivations.

From FBI warning to literary acclaim: the Russian journalist who took on Putin

Badanin, an exiled Russian journalist who has spent more than two decades investigating President Vladimir Putin and his entourage, could become the target of an attack by a "foreign intelligence service", the agents warned. His wife and four children could be at risk, too. "I wasn't scared but I was surprised," Badanin, 49, told AFP in an interview in Paris. "They were the first FBI agents I'd ever met." Along with his colleague Mikhail Rubin, …