In April 2025, Kommersant journalist Alexander Chernykh declined the most prestigious independent prize recognizing Russian journalism, Redkollegia. He’d won the award for a report from Russia’s Kursk region, which had recently spent more than seven months under partial Ukrainian occupation. In a statement explaining his decision, Chernykh — who regularly reports from the Russian side of the front line, a zone legally off-limits to exiled media — criticized the award’s jury for what he sees as its obvious partiality towards outlets operating outside of Russia. The distinction between “independent” and “censored” outlets, he argued, downplays the work of journalists who continue to report from within Russia.