Bulgarian investigative journalist Christo Grozev named European Journalist of the Year

published on 10/4/25 10:15 AM

Christo Grozev

Photo: BGNES

Bulgarian investigative journalist Christo Grozev has been awarded the prestigious "Journalist of the Year" award at the PRIX EUROPA European media festival, which is supported by an alliance of 24 European public media outlets. Grozev, who is the director of the investigative website Bellingcat, will receive the award in Berlin from October 5 to 10.

The award is in recognition of the Bulgarian journalist's key role in the international investigation that exposed the former head of the German company Wirecard, Jan Marsalek, as a Russian spy hiding in Moscow.

Grozev, who has been described by Alexei Navalny as a "modern Sherlock Holmes", is known for his work exposing the machinations of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB).

"He played a key role in reconstructing the shooting down of a Malaysia Airlines passenger plane over eastern Ukraine by a Russian missile launcher, which killed nearly 300 people in 2014, and was instrumental in uncovering the poison attacks on Sergei and Yulia Skripal in 2018 as well as on Alexei Navalny in 2020. Grozev himself was shadowed by a spy ring for years and is on Russia's wanted list. It has become evident that there were concrete plans to murder him," the festival's organizing committee said in a press release.

Bulgarian investigative journalist Christo Grozev wanted by Russia: There is a risk to my life

Grozev's work also includes investigating the poisoning of Bulgarian arms manufacturer Emilian Gebrev, which is believed to have been carried out by Russian military intelligence officers.

The PRIX EUROPA is being held for the 39th time. The event is traditionally hosted by the German public media outlet "Radio Berlin Brandenburg" (Rundfunk Berlin Brandenburg) with the support of the local authorities in the province of Berlin.

Read also: