Andrei Baklanov
Editor-in-Chief, FACTUM.PRESS · journalist, Russian-trained lawyer
Andrei Baklanov is the founder and editor-in-chief of FACTUM.PRESS, a journalist and Russian-trained lawyer. He writes about political persecution and the machinery of state coercion in Russia, analysing cases under Russian law, international human rights law and international humanitarian law. In FACTUM's analysis he covers the war, sanctions and foreign policy, military and technological infrastructure, and tests official claims against open sources. He also writes the editor's column.
Method
His legal analyses start by granting the prosecution its strongest case, then test whether that case meets the requirements of the law. Established facts are kept apart from assessment and hypothesis, and each conclusion states what would prove it wrong.
Telegram: @andreibaklanov
Selected work
- Seven Years for Treason: What the Closed Trial of Philosopher Nikolai Zyuzev Left UnansweredICCPR · high treason · academic freedom
- 15 Years for a Retired Journalist: What the Levchenko Verdict Breaks in the Geneva ConventionsInternational humanitarian law · Fourth Geneva Convention
- Russia’s Exit Ban Has Reached the Passport OfficeMilitary registration · digital restrictions of rights
- Wildberries warehouses hit: Kyiv claims the strike, Moscow calls it terrorism — what is establishedMilitary objective · dual use · OSINT
- Rassvet after the second launch: satellites that will not climb, and a race that has moved to the groundOSINT · open-source analysis
- What Came of Witkoff and Kushner’s Trip to See Putin and ZelenskyDiplomacy · negotiation strategy