Russia · 25 August, 2026 · 2 min read
Putin Rise Book by Roman Badanin and Mikhail Rubin Wins Prix Strasbourg in France
A book about Putin's rise and private life won the Prix Strasbourg in France. The work draws on over two decades of investigative reporting and witness interviews.
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3 outlets, one story, no spin found.
1 of 3 outlets skipped it: prize purse: winner gets 20,000 euros.
Prix Strasbourg for Putin book
A book about Vladimir Putin’s rise to power and private life by exiled Russian journalists Roman Badanin and Mikhail Rubin has won the newly established French literary prize Prix Strasbourg.
“won a newly established French literary prize on Tuesday”
The work, titled "The Tsar in Propria Persona: How Vladimir Putin Deceived Us All," draws on more than two decades of investigative reporting and is due to be published in France next month.
The jury said the book reads "like a spy novel" and called it a "fascinating and shocking work about a figure who is himself fascinating and shocking."
The prize is awarded by EBRA, France’s largest regional newspaper group, and its parent company, Credit Mutuel Alliance Federale, with the winner receiving 20,000 euros and a total purse of 55,000 euros.
Authors in exile, interviews
Badanin and Rubin, founders and investigative journalists of the publication "Proekt," live in the United States after coming under pressure from Russian authorities.
RTL Today described Badanin as the founder and editor-in-chief of Proekt, an investigative media outlet created in 2018, and said Rubin is his deputy at Proekt.
The book is based on "several hundred interviews with witnesses, some of whom later disappeared under tragic circumstances," according to the jury as quoted by RTL Today.
The jury also characterized the book as "an intriguing and shocking work about a man who is himself intriguing and shocking," while UНН said the work examines Putin’s path from a former KGB agent to the leader of Russia and includes accounts of extramarital affairs, cronyism, and ties to organized crime.
Taboo, Kremlin risk, stakes
RTL Today said the book broke a Kremlin-imposed taboo about Putin’s private life "at great personal risk," citing the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).
“at great personal risk”
It also said the book contrasts the official image of the Russian president, now in his 26th year in power, with "the reality of his private life -- where extramarital affairs, nepotism, and connections to organised crime reign."
Badanin told AFP that "there is no need to invent anything about Putin. Instead, learn how things really are," framing the project as a way to convey "actual facts" about Putin and the system he had built.
UНН added that the laureates’ award ceremony will take place in Strasbourg in September, tying the prize to a public moment for the exiled journalists’ account of Putin.