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Outlook: The student journalist who risked it all to report in Russia

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Armen Aramyan

25/10/2022 GMT

The student journalist who risked it all to report in Russia

BBC World Service - Outlook, The student journalist who risked it all to report in Russia

Armen Aramyan's student paper became one of Russia's last independent news outlets

Armen Aramyan went from being a philosophy student to heading one of the last independent news outlets in Vladimir Putin's Russia. This mission would come at a high cost.

Armen Aramyan never intended to become a journalist. His love of philosophy led him to enrol at one of Moscow's most prestigious universities, and this was where his life would take that unexpected direction. After starting the student publication, DOXA, his journalism attracted the attention of the world's media, as one of the few voices inside the country criticising President Vladimir Putin's regime. Now, at the young age of 25, he finds himself torn from his family and friends, having fled to Germany — all for reporting the news.   

In order to go to school in Kathmandu, Tsering Deki and Nima Gurung had to move far away from their family homes in the remote areas of Nepal, high in the Himalayas. When they graduated they undertook gruelling physical and emotional journeys to go back home. Their school, in the capital, takes in children who wouldn't otherwise get a chance to learn — most of whom don't get to see their families for as long as 12 years. Tsering and Nima trekked across mountains, via the highest inhabited place on the planet, to finally see their families again. Outlook's Neal Razzell spoke to them in 2019.

Get in touch: outlook@bbc.com

Presenter: Emily Webb
Producer: Gaia Caramazza

(Photo: Armen Aramyan at a court hearing in Moscow, Russia. Credit: Courtesy of Armen Aramyan)

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