Arkady Ostrovsky

Arkady Ostrovsky’s deep inside knowledge of Russia, its history, culture, literature and psychology, combined with his ability to cultivate sources on both sides of the border, makes not just for a rich insight into Russia and its people, but creates human stories so vivid and gripping that, were they played out on the big screen, would stretch credulity.

Indeed, the story of two army deserters, covering the sweep of their time from conscription to abscondment, are cinematic in their scope, drama and colour. But it is underpinned with an explanation of Putin’s sinister embrace of war as “Russia’s national destiny” and his “[fostering] of a cult of death in which he has equated bravery with indifference to life.”

Another feature draws a powerful and unsettling comparison between Russia’s current penal system and the brutal practices of Stalin’s era. Published shortly after the tragic death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, the feature drew on Ostrovsky’s correspondence with those inside the system to expose the gulags’ Soviet-era methods of control. “In prison brutality is elevated to a virtue,” he writes. “The pieces were all masterfully told, weaving together really impressive on-the-ground reporting and interviews with fascinating historical and cultural context,” concluded the judges.