Ruslan Leviev

Ruslan Leonidovich Leviev (, surname at birth - Karpuk; born August 22, 1986, in Bikin, Khabarovsk Krai, RSFSR, USSR) is a 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 in Khabarovsk Krai, in the Russian Far East. His father left the family when Leviev was two. When he was eight years old, his mother died, and Leviev and his sister were adopted by their mother's distant relatives, who took them to Surgut, the largest city of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug in Western Siberia.

After completing high school, Leviev studied law at the Surgut State University, specializing in criminal law. During his studies, he did an internship at an investigation unit of the local police, assisting detectives in criminal investigations. From an early age, he was also interested in computer programming, and 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. 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 started Open Source Investigation of the involvement of the Russian military in these events. To be able to investigate a greater number of events and avoid duplication of effort, he joined forces with several other like-minded investigators to form the War in Ukraine (WiU) group. 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 Libya and Central African Republic. In March 2022, after the start of the invasion, Leviev fled Russia and settled in Tbilisi, Georgia, from where he has made daily YouTube broadcasts on the course of the war in conversations with Michael Nacke, an independent journalist who had also left Russia. Leviev also 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. The prosecution was condemned by the Committee to Protect Journalists.

On November 18, 2022, it became known that the Ministry of Justice of Russia had added Leviev to the Register of Foreign Agents.