Send us information
Contact the newsroom
For questions, suggestions and corrections: info@factum.press. If you have spotted an error in our material, write to us — we will check it and correct it.
If you are in Russia
We accept documents and testimony about corruption and crimes committed by officials and the military.
Address for such messages: factum.press@proton.me
Before you write, decide who you are hiding from
What you need to do depends on the answer. If you simply do not want your employer to find out, it is enough not to write from a work computer or a work network. If you are concerned about law enforcement and the security services, more is required — read everything below, and do not rush.
What we do
These are our obligations, not intentions.
We do not ask for your name and do not expect you to give it. If you have identified yourself, we do not keep that information longer than the work on the material requires.
We never publish details that could identify you: a position, a place, a time, circumstances known only to a small circle of people. If a fact cannot be stated without exposing its source, we do not publish it.
We strip metadata from every file before publication — document properties, photo EXIF data, tracked changes. We do not post documents in their original form: we rebuild them or cover the internal markings and watermarks used to determine whose copy it was.
We do not pass materials or correspondence to third parties — not to other newsrooms, not to human rights organisations, not to anyone — without your consent.
Correspondence is stored encrypted and is not forwarded to any other mailbox.
We reply only to the address the message came from. We read everything, but we cannot promise a reply to everyone: the newsroom is small. If we need your material, we will write.
What you need to do
Your safety depends above all on how the message is sent. That part is beyond our reach, so please read this carefully.
Email. Create a separate mailbox — not the one tied to your name, your job or your main phone number. This is not only about sending: we will reply to that address, and we have no other way to continue the conversation. Proton is blocked in Russia — you will need a VPN both to create the account and to send the message.
Device. Not from a work computer and not from a work network — they are almost always monitored. And not from your personal phone: phones are the first thing seized, they sync messages to the cloud, and deleted data can be recovered from them. Safest is a computer not linked to your accounts.
Connection. Only through a VPN or Tor Browser. Without one, your internet provider can see where you went, and that record is kept. Using a VPN does not draw attention — millions of people in Russia use one to get around blocking. Public Wi-Fi, however, will not help: almost everywhere it requires an SMS login, SIM cards are registered to a passport, and it is visible who connected.
Files. We strip metadata before publication, but it is better to remove it yourself: if the message is intercepted on the way, our cleaning will no longer help. Consider also how many people had access to this document, and whether the access itself could point to you.
After sending. Clear your browser history and downloads folder, and delete the message from your sent mail. Leave no traces off the computer either: printouts, copies on a flash drive or an external disk. Do not bookmark this page.
Tell no one that you wrote to us. Not family, not colleagues. Most exposures happen this way, not through technology.
What helps us
An account alone is usually not enough: we are obliged to verify everything we publish. Support what you tell us with a document, a photograph, a recording, or point us to someone else who can confirm your story. Before sending, put yourself in the position of a journalist — would your own message convince you?
Complaints about our materials, typos you have noticed and story suggestions go to info@factum.press — that address is for something else.
We do everything within our power to protect your anonymity, and we honour the obligations above without exception. But no one can offer a full guarantee: most of your safety is decided on your side — by which device you use and how the message is sent. We are responsible for our half, and we ask you to take yours just as seriously.