Anastasiia Platonova

Anastasiia Platonova was selected for the 2026 Shortlist with Lost generation: Russia’s mephedrone teen crisis.

I am a Russian investigative journalist, and I used to be based in Moscow before Russia started the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Since January 2022 I joined the BBC Russian service as a journalist and left Russia for Lativa in March 2022. Throughout my career I focused on telling the stories of underreported communities (teenagers, women, local communities), trying to combine both — the investigative angle and the social issues that are rooted deeply in the Russian society. I did a number of investigations on drug trafficking, showing the devastating effect organized crime has on the society, especially on the most vulnerable groups When I left to exile in Lativa with my son, I had to reinvent the way I approach my contributors and tell the stories from inside the country that waged a horrible war on its neighbour. But I remained committed to unbiased and truly independent journalism.