The Most Famous
JOURNALISTS from Russia
This page contains a list of the greatest Russian Journalists. The pantheon dataset contains 127 Journalists, 6 of which were born in Russia. This makes Russia the birth place of the 5th most number of Journalists behind France and Germany.
Top 6
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Russian Journalists of all time. This list of famous Russian Journalists is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.
1. Yuri Bezmenov (1939 - 1993)
With an HPI of 50.42, Yuri Bezmenov is the most famous Russian Journalist. His biography has been translated into 17 different languages on wikipedia.
Yuri Alexandrovich Bezmenov (Russian: Ю́рий Алекса́ндрович Безме́нов; December 11, 1939 – January 5, 1993; alias: Tomas David Schuman) was a Soviet journalist for Novosti Press Agency (APN). In 1970, as a member of the KGB Soviet mission in New Delhi, India, Bezmenov defected to the West and was re-settled in Canada pursuant to an arrangement between American and Canadian security agencies. After being assigned to a station in India, Bezmenov eventually grew to love the people and the culture of India. At the same time, he began to resent the KGB-sanctioned repression of Soviet dissidents and other intellectuals who dissented from Moscow's policies and he decided to defect to the West. Bezmenov is best remembered for his anti-Marxist, anti-Soviet, and anti-Atheist lectures and books published in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.
2. Vladislav Listyev (1956 - 1995)
With an HPI of 47.27, Vladislav Listyev is the 2nd most famous Russian Journalist. His biography has been translated into 33 different languages.
Vladislav (Vlad) Nikolayevich Listyev (Russian: Владисла́в Никола́евич Листьев; May 10, 1956 – March 1, 1995) was a Soviet, later Russian journalist and head of the ORT TV Channel (now government-owned Channel One).
3. Dmitry Kiselyov (1954 - )
With an HPI of 46.66, Dmitry Kiselyov is the 3rd most famous Russian Journalist. His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.
Dmitry Konstantinovich Kiselyov (Russian: Дмитрий Константинович Киселёв; born April 26, 1954) is a Russian TV presenter and propagandist. In 2013, Kiselyov was appointed by Russian President Vladimir Putin to head Rossiya Segodnya, a Russian state-controlled media group. He also serves as deputy director of the All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company. His comments have been controversial both in Russia and in the West, especially regarding homosexuality and the Euromaidan, the Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation in 2014 and his allegation of the US standing on "the side of the terrorist caliphate" ISIS, destroying Syria and bringing down Metrojet Flight 9268. Kiselyov has been on the list of personal sanctions imposed by the EU since 2014. In January 2023, Ukraine imposed economic sanctions on Dmitry for his support of 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.
4. Vladimir Solovyov (1963 - )
With an HPI of 43.22, Vladimir Solovyov is the 4th most famous Russian Journalist. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.
Vladimir Rudolfovich Solovyov (Russian: Владимир Рудольфович Соловьёв, born 20 October 1963) is a Russian TV presenter and propagandist. He has been an anchor on the television show Evening with Vladimir Solovyov on Russia-1 since 2012. In 1990, Solovyov left for the United States to teach economics. There he actively participated in political life and started doing business. Upon his return to Russia in 1992, he continued to run his business. In 1997 Solovyov became a presenter on the Silver Rain Radio. In 1999, he was invited to the ORT TV channel, where, together with Alexander Gordon, he began to host the program "Process". At the same time he hosted the program "Passion for Solovyov" on TNT channel. From 2001 to 2003 Solovyov hosted the programs "Breakfast with Solovyov", "Night of Nightingale", "Duel" and "Look Who's Here!" on TV-6 and TVS. In June 2003, Solovyov was hired by NTV, where he hosted the talk shows "Orange Juice", "To the Barrier!", and "Sunday Evening with Vladimir Solovyov". Since 2004 Solovyov has published a number of books of artistic and journalistic nature, as well as recorded two music albums. He became a famous interviewer, and in 2005 he received the TEFI award in the relevant category. In the summer of 2010 Solovyov left Silver Rain Radio and moved to Vesti FM radio and Russia-1 TV channel, where he began hosting the talk show "Poyedinok". In March 2022, YouTube blocked his channel Solovyov Live. Since then, he was assigned the TV channel frequency of the news channel Euronews, which Russia banned after the invasion of Ukraine.
5. Margarita Simonyan (1980 - )
With an HPI of 38.83, Margarita Simonyan is the 5th most famous Russian Journalist. Her biography has been translated into 19 different languages.
Margarita Simonovna Simonyan (born 6 April 1980) is a Russian media executive. She is the editor-in-chief of the Russian state-controlled broadcaster RT, as well as the state-owned media group Rossiya Segodnya. She covered the Second Chechen War in the 2000s while working as a journalist. Subsequently, she worked at Krasnodar television, was VGTRK's own correspondent in Rostov-on-Don, and worked as a special correspondent for the Vesti TV news program. She is a member of the board of directors of Channel One Russia and a member of the Academy of Russian Television. At the age of 25, she was appointed head of Russia Today, now known as RT. In 2022 and 2023, Simonyan was sanctioned by the European Union, United Kingdom, Ukraine, Armenia and other states for her central role in state propaganda before and during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
6. Zhanna Nemtsova (1984 - )
With an HPI of 31.77, Zhanna Nemtsova is the 6th most famous Russian Journalist. Her biography has been translated into 18 different languages.
Zhanna Borisovna Nemtsova (Russian: Жа́нна Бори́совна Немцо́ва; born 26 March 1984) is a Russian journalist and social activist. She is the daughter of Boris Nemtsov.
Pantheon has 6 people classified as journalists born between 1939 and 1984. Of these 6, 4 (66.67%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living journalists include Dmitry Kiselyov, Vladimir Solovyov, and Margarita Simonyan. The most famous deceased journalists include Yuri Bezmenov and Vladislav Listyev. As of April 2022, 2 new journalists have been added to Pantheon including Yuri Bezmenov and Vladimir Solovyov.
Living Journalists
Go to all Rankings
Dmitry Kiselyov
1954 - Present
HPI: 46.66
Vladimir Solovyov
1963 - Present
HPI: 43.22
Margarita Simonyan
1980 - Present
HPI: 38.83
Zhanna Nemtsova
1984 - Present
HPI: 31.77
