Irina Dolinina - IStories

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Author

Irina Dolinina

You can contact Irina via email irina.dolinina@istories.media or telegram @iradolinina_istories

I'm making investigations, data driven reporting, and documentary films. I've been a reporter of ‘Important Stories’ (IStories) since its launch in 2020. Before that, I worked in Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta. I graduated from Higher School of Economics with a bachelor's degree in media communications and a master’s degree in data journalism.

Awards

Redkollegia Award for “The Troika Laundromat” (Meduza, OCCRP)

The 2020 Sigma Award for Best data-driven reporting for “The Troika Laundromat” (OCCRP)

Redkollegia Award for data-research into child abuse in Russian families (Novaya Gazeta)

Winner of the European Press Prize 2021 in the investigation category (Important Stories)

The Sigma Awards 2022 (Important Stories)

“Journalism as a Profession” Award for the documentary film “Refugees 2022” (Important Stories)

Redkollegia Award for #RussianCensorFiles investigation (Important Stories)

Author materials

To stop the Ukrainian offensive on Svatove, the Russian command threw thousands of untrained mobilized people to the front line. Their relatives are telling what happened to them

18 January

Irina Dolinina, Rina Nikolaeva

Svatove Slaughter: What Was It Like

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The Rotenberg Files

Boris and Arkady Rotenberg were two of the most prominent Russian oligarchs to be sanctioned after the Kremlin’s 2014 annexation of Crimea. Never-before-seen insider documents now offer unprecedented insight into how they shielded their fortune — and who helped them do it.

20 June

Maria Zholobova, Dmitry Velikovsky, Roman Anin, Alesya Marokhovskaya, Editors, Irina Dolinina, Daniel Balint-Kurti, Robert Denis, Misha Gagarin, Kevin G. Hall, Ekaterina Selivanova, Graham Stack, Tom Stocks, Julia Wallace, Giacomo Tognini, Ben Cowdock, Abdelhak El Idrissi , Jyri Hänninen, Minna Knus-Galan, Cecilia Anesi, Sanita Jemberga, Holger Roonemaa, Ilya Lozovsky

Leaked Emails Reveal How Putin’s Friends Dodged Sanctions With Help of Western Enablers

A Russian military paramedic talks with IStories about poor medical training in the Russian army and what are the most dangerous wounds in the war with Ukraine

12 May

“Better Get a Minor Wound — No One Will Help You”

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The Case of Russian Censorship

IStories uncovered that Russia’s main censor Roskomnadzor monitors Russian protests every day: in which regions people are protesting, about what issues, and whether these scattered actions may turn into large-scale riots

22 March

Irina Dolinina, Polina Uzhvak

There Are No Protests in Russia? Yet Roskomnadzor Found Them!

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The Case of Russian Censorship

Who found themselves in Roskomnadzor, the main Russian censor’s, sights, and why: potential “foreign agents”, opinion leaders, the media, tech giants, messaging apps and those close to powerful people. Enemies are blocked, while loyalists are saved from unflattering publications

8 February

Alesya Marokhovskaya, Polina Uzhvak, Katya Bonch-Osmolovskaya, Irina Dolinina, Sonya Savina, Rina Nikolaeva

The All-Seeing State Eye

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The Case of Russian Censorship

Roskomnadzor plans to arrange total surveillance of the entire Russian-speaking internet using artificial intelligence. Is it possible?

8 February

Irina Dolinina, Katya Bonch-Osmolovskaya, Polina Uzhvak, Editors, Sonya Savina, Alesya Marokhovskaya

Inside the Censorship Machine

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The Case of Russian Censorship

Russia’s main censor — Roskomnadzor — secretly monitors publications critical of Russian authorities on the internet. They generate reports that they then send to the security forces. What does it mean for Russian citizens?

8 February

Katya Bonch-Osmolovskaya, Irina Dolinina, Polina Uzhvak, Alesya Marokhovskaya, Sonya Savina, Anastasia Korotkova, Rina Nikolaeva

How Roskomnadzor Protects Putin's Power

War has put some Russian citizens against a tough moral choice: if you’re against the aggressive acts of Russian authorities, may you support the Ukraine Army? “Important Stories” spoke to Russians, who send drones to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

7 February

“The War Will End When Everybody Makes an Effort for That”

Russian servicemen, who may have been involved in a missile attack on a residential building in Dnipro, avoid Important Stories' questions

16 January

Irina Dolinina, Dmitry Velikovsky, Editors

The Russian Aviation Squadron’s Chief of Staff: “What, Did I Press the Button, or Was I Sitting in the Plane?”

After entering Kyiv, Russian soldiers detained locals, and held them prisoner for days, while violently beating and torturing them using hammers, axes and gunstocks

3 October

Irina Dolinina, Rina Nikolaeva, Editors

Harrowing Accounts of Ukrainians Who Were Detained, Questioned and Tortured by Russian Troops near Kyiv

Why Russian servicemen are refusing to fight in Ukraine and how Russia is trying to send them back to the front

18 August

“You Do Realize We’re the Fascists?”

How they lose, escape, and help during the war

27 May

Ekaterina Fomina, Irina Dolinina

Refugees 2022. A Documentary Film by Important Stories

How university freedoms are being eliminated in Russia, rectors are being purged, and higher education is being placed under the control of the security services — an IStories investigation

8 April

Irina Dolinina, Alesya Marokhovskaya

“Before, It Never Occurred to Anyone to Consider Education as a Threat to Security”

The month of Putin’s war in Ukraine is being told by the voices of people on both front lines in the IStories’ film

29 March

The Voices of the War in Ukraine

Why public oversight committees in Russian regions are pushing out human rights lawyers and replacing them with ex-siloviki and businesspeople loyal to prison admin

27 April

Alesya Marokhovskaya, Irina Dolinina

“Much like the Prison Staff, They Think That Inmates Can Be Beaten, Tortured and Humiliated without Consequence”

Former policemen and “regular” attesting witnesses who fabricated drug trafficking cases against 17 people are being tried in Samara. The study performed by Important Stories shows that this is only a small part of a large-scale scheme, designed to fabricate “drug” related cases in the region: 86 fake attesting witnesses who took part in 269 cases were identified

31 March

Alesya Marokhovskaya, Irina Dolinina

Expendables of the “Quota” System

On December 17, president Vladimir Putin held his annual “Direct Line,” a live press conference, where the public can submit questions directly to the president. In 2020, it was held remotely over video, and questions could be asked not only by journalists, but also by interested members of the general public. The format of this ‘Direct Line’ to Putin has existed since 2001, during which time he, in the position of both president and prime minister, answered questions from concerned citizens, 18 times

18 December

Alesya Marokhovskaya, Irina Dolinina, Editors, Sonya Savina, Polina Uzhvak

18 “Direct Lines” with Vladimir Putin. The Promises He Broke and the Successes He Exaggerated

Thousands of emails sent and received by Kirill Shamalov — Vladimir Putin’s former son-in-law — showcase the fantastic wealth and personal power that come with access to Russia’s first family

7 December

Dmitry Velikovsky, Sonya Savina, Editors, Irina Dolinina, Alesya Marokhovskaya, Roman Anin

Love, Offshores, and Administrative Resources: How Marrying Putin’s Daughter Gave Kirill Shamalov a World of Opportunity

Leading Russian defense figures bought luxury apartments in a Black Sea resort controlled by an organization U.S. diplomats called one of the country’s largest crime syndicates

10 September

Irina Dolinina, Editors

Russian Elites’ Connections to Bulgaria’s Largest “Crime Group”