Egor Prosvirnin
Egor Prosvirnin | |
|---|---|
Егор Просвирнин | |
 Prosvirnin in 2021 | |
| Born | 3 April 1986 Vladivostok, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union |
| Died | 27 December 2021 (aged 35) Moscow, Russia |
| Other name | Egor Pogrom |
| Citizenship | Russia |
| Education | Russian State University for the Humanities (did not graduate) |
| Occupations | |
| Years active | 2008–2021 |
| Known for | Founding editor-in-chief of the online Russian nationalist outlet Sputnik and Pogrom |
Egor Aleksandrovich Prosvirnin (Russian: Егор Александрович Просвирнин; 3 April 1986 – 27 December 2021), also known by his pen name Egor Pogrom (Russian: Егор Погром) was a Russian right-wing opinion journalist, political commentator and activist, best known as the founding editor-in-chief of the online outlet Sputnik and Pogrom, which was active from 2012 to 2018. He began his writing career in video game magazines and on the blogging platform LiveJournal before launching Sputnik and Pogrom in 2012, where he published articles on history, politics, and culture. Through his work in the 2010s, Prosvirnin became a prominent voice within Russia's nationalist and national-democratic movements, later shifting toward monarchist views.
A committed nationalist who was frequently critical of many state initiatives, Prosvirnin became, from 2014 onward, one of the most ardent supporters of Russia's annexation of Crimea and of comprehensive Russian backing for the separatist Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic in eastern Ukraine. However, in 2015, a criminal investigation was launched over a number of extremist statements published on the Sputnik and Pogrom website, Prosvirnin was named as a witness in the case. In 2017, the site was blocked within Russia, and the publication was shuttered for good in 2018. Following the closure of Sputnik and Pogrom, Prosvirnin continued his career as a blogger and commentator, hosting livestreams on his YouTube channel Czar where he discussed major socio-political issues. On 27 December 2021, Prosvirnin died after falling from the balcony of an apartment building in Moscow.
In the wake of his death, a number of authors described him as one of the most talented Russian opinion journalists of the 2010s, praising the literary craft and stylistic flair of his prose, even as assessments of his ideological positions remained sharply divided.