The Gamayun Report was established in March 2022 in response to the Russian Government’s authoritarian attempts to control news and information about the war in Ukraine and the domestic response to this conflict. The Gamayun Report serves as a historical record of Russian independent media’s Telegram and social media posts, starting from 20 February 2022.

The information presented here is the raw Telegram feeds from several independent Russian media outlets, preserved in the original format and translated into English. On 4 March 2022, following the passing of a law that imposes a jail term of up to 15 years for spreading intentionally "fake" news about the military, the list of sources shortened as most Russia-based news outlets removed any content that might jeopardize the lives of the members of the staff. For the same reason, at the moment, we are choosing to not cite sources publicly, unless the information comes from a state-sponsored outlet. A full list of sources is available, upon request, through the Data Archives page.

The Gamayun Report is a project run by Daria Franklin, Columbia University Sociology PhD Fellow. Her husband, Mark Franklin, provides technical support.

Gamayun painting
 

Gamayun is a prophetic bird of Russian folklore. It is a symbol of wisdom and knowledge and lives on an island in the mythical east, close to paradise. In the books of the 17th-19th centuries, Gamayun was described as a legless and wingless bird, ever-flying with the help of a tail. She frequently appears before the death of a Tsar.