| Dubbed Russian Secrets, the investigation is based on court documents, interviews with intelligence officials and leaked records previously obtained by ICIJ as part of Cyprus Confidential.
Led by German news outlets NDR, WDR and Süddeutsche Zeitung in collaboration with nine media partners, the project reveals details of the secret scheme that largely escaped Western authorities' scrutiny until Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine triggered a full-scale probe into shadowy procurement networks serving the Kremlin.
"The Russians are very clever at circumventing our sanctions," David O'Sullivan, the European Union's Sanctions Envoy, told NDR. Read more.
UN REPRISALS REPORT
The targeted repression of human rights activists across borders is becoming more frequent and sophisticated, according to the latest annual U.N. reprisals report. Echoing the findings of ICIJ's China Targets investigation, which revealed how suspected proxies for the Chinese government surveilled or harassed activists at the U.N. headquarters in Geneva, the report lists new allegations of reprisals inside the organization from two dozen countries, including China.
ELITE SECRECY TACTICS
A study by researchers at Dartmouth College based on data from ICIJ's Offshore Leaks Database found that the ultrawealthy in countries with high rates of financial transparency and oversight are just as likely to turn to the offshore world as their counterparts living under corrupt regimes.
HEAR FROM ICIJ AT CONFERENCES NOV. 5 & 6
Catch two of ICIJ's regional coordinators at conferences next week. Africa partner coordinator Micah Reddy will be at AIJC, the African Investigative Journalism Conference, to talk about his investigative reporting in South Africa and Equatorial Guinea Nov. 5. Latin America partner coordinator Isabella Cota will run a workshop on investigating offshore leaks at COLPIN, the Latin American Investigative Journalism Conference, Nov. 6.
DOUBLE EXPOSURE FILM FESTIVAL
ICIJ partners every year with the Double Exposure Symposium, a film festival for investigative journalists and documentary filmmakers kicking off in Washington, D.C. Thursday and running through Sunday. Use our discount code ICIJ25 for 10% off. Explore the schedule here: dxfest.com/schedule
Thanks for reading!
Carmen Molina Acosta
ICIJ's digital producer | 
