Victor Olevich, a political analyst who appears as an American affairs expert on a propaganda show on NTV, a Russian state-controlled television channel, said he has left Russia after coming under pressure from the Federal Security Service (FSB). He wrote about it on Facebook.
FSB agents came to his home with “direct threats” in December and again in early February, he wrote.
“The reasons: refusal to cooperate, refusal to accept Russian citizenship. The pressure was applied despite the fact that I possess information sensitive to the state.”
Olevich also published phone numbers belonging to FSB agents he said had pressured him. One of the numbers does in fact belong to an FSB officer, the independent Russian investigative outlet The Insider reported.
Olevich said he is currently in Greece. He asked people to notify the U.S. State Department of his request for assistance.
Victor Olevich was born in Odesa and holds U.S. citizenship. He graduated from Temple University in Philadelphia in 2003 with a degree in Russian literature and history, then moved to Moscow in 2010. Olevich is known for his appearances on NTV’s propaganda show “Mesto Vstrechi.”
At Meduza, we are committed to transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The story you’re reading was written by one of our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model configured to follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is the result of extensive testing and refinements to ensure our English-language coverage is timely and accurate. A Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.
If you find any errors in this translation, please contact us at [email protected].
To read Meduza’s exclusive content in English, please subscribe to our newsletter.