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Ruslan Leviev

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Ruslan Leonidovich Leviev (Russian: Руслан Леонидович Левиев, surname at birth - Karpuk; born August 22 1986, Bikin, Khabarovsk Krai, RSFSR, USSR) — Russian opposition activist, military analyst and founder of the investigative group Conflict Intelligence Team.

Biography

Early years

Ruslan Leonidovich Leviev was born on August 22, 1986 in the Bikin military camp Khabarovsk Krai.[1]

After completing high school, Leviev studied at the Surgut State University Faculty of Law, specializing in criminal law. During his studies, he did an internship at an investigation unit of the local police, assisting detectives in criminal investigations. In 2009, having become disillusioned with the realities of the Russian legal system, he quit the university and moved to Moscow, where he began working as a computer programmer[2].

Political activity

In 2011, after reading opposition blogs, Leviev became interested in Russian politics and began participating in opposition demonstrations. On December 5, 2011, he answered the call of an opposition blogger and activist Aleksey Navalny and took part in an opposition rally on Chistoprudny Boulevard. At the rally he was detained by the police and after two days of detention was fined by the court [2][3] for allegedly shouting “Burn everyone”[2][3]. After that, he began attending all opposition events, including rallies on Sakharov Avenue and Bolotnaya Square.

In January 2012, he answered a call by Navalny, who was looking for computer programmers to complete work on the monitoring site presidential election[2][3] . Leviev “quickly completed the website” and began working for Navalny on a permanent basis; for the first six months he worked directly in the office of the Anti-Corruption Foundation[2].

In 2012, during the “Occupy Abay” campaign, he worked at the headquarters of Maxim Katz, arranging lawyers, monitoring detention centres and conditions of detainees, as well as presence of minors among the detainees[2][3]. During the 2013 Moscow mayoral election, Leviev prepared analytical reports for Navalny's headquarters and made live broadcasts, including all of Navalny's official press releases on election day, which, among other things, were shown on TV Rain[2][3]. Later, he founded a company Newcaster TV, which specialised in online broadcasts of various political actions, in particular, Euromaidan and trials of Pussy Riot and protesters on Bolotnaya Square, as well as filming various presentations and business conferences, where, according to Leviev, one of the main customers was Internet Initiatives Development Fund[2][3].

During Euromaidan, Leviev monitored air traffic at Kyiv airports and was the first to notice that the day after Sniper shooting of protesters on February 20, 2014[4], there was a spike in the number of business jets taking off from Boryspil Airport.

Military analyst

After Russian annexation of Crimea and the start of the war in Donbass, Leviev founded the War in Ukraine (WiU) group, and began Open Source Investigation of various circumstances of the conflict. In September 2015, after the start of Russian military intervention in Syria, WiU changed its name to Conflict Intelligence Team (CIT). CIT's investigations have covered other Armed Conflicts involving Russian armed forces and militias, including their involvement in Lybia and Central African Republic.[5][6]

In March 2022, after Russian Invasion of Ukraine, Leviev fled Russia and began daily youtube broadcasts on the course of the war with independent journalist Michael Nacke. Leviev is based in Tbilisi, Georgia[7] and gives frequent interviews to Russian opposition channels and international media.

Harassment and prosecution

In November 2019, Leviev was attacked near his home by an assailant who hit him and splashed his face with green dye.[8]

On March 16, 2022, Leviev was charged with “[spreading false information]” about use of Russian armed forces[9][7][10][9]. This was condemned by the Committee to Protect Journalists.[11]

On November 18, it became known that the Ministry of Justice of Russia included Leviev into the register of Foreign Agents”[12].

References

  1. ^ "I have, for example, "Khabarovsk Territory / USSR" in my passport, not "Khabarovsk Territory / Russia"". Ruslan Leviev. 2015-08-05.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Барышников В. (2016-05-28). ""Солдаты говорят, что им осточертела ложь"" (in Russian). Radio Liberty. Archived from the original on 2022-03-12.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Cite error: The named reference tv2_2016_05_26 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "Who is Ruslan Leviev? CIT, UK practice, Navalny, 3 hours sleep". Retrieved 2023-01-09.
  5. ^ a b "В Москве напали на основателя расследовательской группы Conflict Intelligence Team" (in Russian). Deutsche Welle. 2019-11-27. Archived from the original on 2019-11-28.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Toler_2018 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ a b "Arrest in absentia of CIT founder Ruslan Leviev. Online". Mediazone. 2022-05-18. Archived from the original on 2022-05-19.
  8. ^ "Russian Investigative Blogger Reports Green Dye Attack On Moscow Street". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. November 27, 2019.
  9. ^ a b "Court in CIT founder Ruslan Leviev arrested in absentia in Moscow". Current. 2022-05-18. Archived from the original on 2022-05-18.
  10. ^ {{Cite web|lang=ru|url=https://meduza.io/news/2022/05/18/protiv-osnovatelya-conflict-intelligence-team-ruslana-levieva-vozbudili -ugolovnoe-delo-o-rasprostranenii-lozhnyh-svedeniy-o-rossiyskih-voennyh|title=A criminal case was opened against the founder of the Conflict Intelligence Team Ruslan Leviev for spreading "false information" about the Russian military|website=Meduza|date=2022-05 -18|archive-date=2022-05-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220518122224/https://med uza.io/news/2022/05/18/protiv-osnovatelya-conflict-intelligence-team-ruslana-levieva-vozbudili-ugolovnoe-delo-o-rasprostranenii-lozhnyh-svedeniy-o-rossiyskih-voennyh|deadlink=no} }
  11. ^ "Two exiled Russian journalists charged for disseminating 'fake' news on war in Ukraine". Committee to Protect Journalists. 2022-05-24. Retrieved 2022-06-26.
  12. ^ "The Russian Ministry of Justice declared CIT founder Leviev, Shikhman and Noize MC "foreign agents"". Krym.Realii. 2022-11-18. Archived from the original on 2022-11-19.
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