Polina Uzhvak

Polina Uzhvak is a journalist with Istories, an independent Russian media outlet in exile. As a data journalist, she has written extensively about social issues in Russia: the problems of orphanages, environmental challenges, the accessibility and quality of schools in small towns and villages and other topics. As an investigative reporter, she has focused on corruption and nepotism within the Russian government. After the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Polina and her colleagues were forced to leave Russia. Since then, she has primarily investigated war crimes and reported on life inside Russia during wartime. This year, she joined reporters from six countries to work on the Viktoria project, a joint investigation into the death of Ukrainian journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna and into Russia’s systematic detention and torture of Ukrainian civilians. In the previous year, she collaborated with journalists from Tagesspiegel and analysts from Vertical 52. Using satellite imagery, the team assessed the scale of destruction in the most heavily damaged Ukrainian cities under Russian occupation. She also gives masterclasses to colleagues and students in various educational programs, sharing her expertise in data and investigative journalism.