Arkady Ostrovsky
1843 Magazine, The EconomistArkady Ostrovsky is an award-winning author, journalist and translator. He is Russia and Eastern Europe editor for the Economist and the host of Next Year in Moscow podcast
He has three decades of experience reporting and analysing domestic and foreign affairs in Russia, Ukraine and the former Soviet Union. His cover stories and special reports have helped to shape Western policy and thinking about the region. He joined the Economist in 2007 after 10 years with The Financial Times.
He holds a doctorate degree from Cambridge University in English Literature. His book The Invention of Russia won the 2016 Orwell Prize. His translations of Tom Stoppard’s plays have been staged in Moscow.
His shortlisted pieces are:
- Escape from the meat grinder: the making of a Russian deserter
- A farewell to arms
- Cancel culture in Ukraine
Arkady Ostrovsky’s Escape from the Meat Grinder is beautifully written. It pulls you in and doesn’t let you go.
– Maryam Moshiri, Judge, The Orwell Prize for Journalism 2025
