South Asia — RT Academy

Alexey Nikolov

Deputy Editor-in-Chief, RT

Alexey has been a journalist for over 45 years and has worked as a writer, presenter, editor and producer for various print publications, radio stations and television channels. He covered the August 1991 coup in Russia and has received a number of awards for his professionalism in journalism. Alexey joined RT in 2005 and was part of the team that created and launched our flagship channel. He is also the Deputy Dean for the Communications, Media and Design department at HSE University.

Runjhun Sharma

Head of News, RT India

Runjhun Sharma is an award-winning journalist and the Director of News at RT India. With 15 years of broadcast journalism experience, she has reported on many of South Asia’s most defining events, balancing studio presenting with corresponding from the field. Based in New Delhi, Runjhun covers foreign affairs, politics and regional developments bringing clarity and context with her in-depth storytelling abilities. Over the years she has covered major flashpoints, including the Sri Lankan economic and humanitarian crisis, political unrest in Bangladesh, India–Pakistan conflicts from Kashmir, the Delhi riots, the Nepal earthquake, the G20, BRICS, and SCO Summits from Russia, India, and China as well as India’s general elections. Runjhun’s work has been widely recognised with prestigious honours, including two UNFPA Laadli Awards, the Red Ink Award for Excellence in Indian Journalism, among others.

Rory Suchet

Presenter, RT International

Rory joined the RT team as a presenter in 2009 and has become one of the most recognised faces on the channel. Over the past 15 years, he’s covered breaking news and some of the most important international developments on RT’s global broadcasts including the war in Iraq, the Arab Spring and the conflict in Donbass when it kicked off in 2014 after the Maidan Coup in Ukraine. Rory was one of the first journalists to visit Khmeimim — Russia’s air base in Syria. He’s reported live from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi and has hosted broadcasts from Red Square covering Victory Day parades in Russia. Rory led special coverage of the 2013 G20 summit and the Russia-Africa summit in 2023. During his time at the channel he has interviewed top diplomats, politicians and public figures. Accolades for his work include a Peabody Award for Outstanding Achievements in Journalism. Coming from a family immersed in television, from his uncle David Suchet who is a famous actor, to father John who has been in journalism for over 5 decades, Rory carries a new generation legacy for the family name.

Maria Finoshina

Middle East Bureau Chief, RT International

Maria has been in TV broadcasting since she was 15 years old. In 2005, she joined the ambitious team that launched RT - the first Russian English-language international television channel. She began her career as newsroom editor, eventually becoming RT’s leading war correspondent. For many years, Maria reported from the most dangerous conflict zones on the planet: Libya, Syria, Iraq, Egypt, Ukraine, South Sudan, Darfur, and Kosovo. She has always found the opportunity to talk to people on both sides of any conflict. In 2023, Maria was appointed RT’s special correspondent for the Middle East.

Murad Gazdiev

SENIOR CORRESPONDENT, RT INTERNATIONAL

Murad graduated from the Plekhanov University of Economics and in 2010, he joined the RT team as a broadcast journalist and soon became a leading TV correspondent. Over the years, Murad has covered military conflicts and clashes around the world, from Donbass to Aleppo and Mosul to Kabul, he has shined a light on some of the most furious battles of our days and has repeatedly come under fire while working in war zones. His reporting during Russia's Special military operation is filled with exclusive footage from frontline trenches, captured locations in the grey zone.Mr. Gazdiev covered the World Economic Forum in Davos, interviewed world public and political figures, including Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and many others. He was a finalist for the New York Festivals award in the category «Best News Reporter».

Chay Bowes

Correspondent, RT International

Chay is an Irish journalist, author and geopolitical analyst. He specialises in strategic research and holds a Master’s degree in the field. He is also the co-founder of the investigative journalism website ’The Ditch’ which was launched after he published an article that led to an investigation into Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar’s corruption. Currently a correspondent at RT International, Chay is also a contributor for several publications across the world. He has covered events related to Russia’s Special Military Operation and has provided assistance to civilians affected by the conflict. In June 2023, Chay addressed a United Nations Security Council session regarding Western weapon supplies to Ukraine. In Russia, he continues to work on his doctoral thesis in international relations and is a part of various public and volunteer organisations.

Maria Antonenko

Chief producer, Head of Ruptly Russia & CIS

Maria is a Moscow-based executive producer for Russia’s first international video agency Ruptly, which is part of the RT media family. Prior to this, Maria worked as an executive producer for RT International. She has been working in media for 13 years, after studying PR and Journalism at the Russian State University for Physical Education and Sport. Maria worked as a producer for the RT Sports segment for three years before moving into news. She believes that viral videos are the type of content that is most in demand today. Such videos get millions of views, expanding the outlet’s audience and boosting its ratings. The ability to identify and source such content before it goes viral is the key to success.

Donald Courter

Correspondent, Presenter, RT International

Donald holds a BA in History and Russian Language from Rutgers University in New Jersey. Since 2018, he has been part of the RT team, holding various positions from correspondent to news presenter and political expert at RT International. His work includes reporting on Donbass refugees, coverage of Russia’s Pacific Fleet military exercises and an exclusive interview with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. He is also the author of the online news channel The Revolution Report where he covers topics that are outside the Western narrative.

Maria Zeleranskaya

Head of Newsroom, RT International

Maria has been working in the news department of RT International since 2005, where she was part of the team that launched the international broadcaster. Maria spent over seven years as a news editor in the newsroom. Together with her team, she prepared thousands of newscasts and covered the biggest events of the past decade. Maria was appointed head of newsroom in 2017 and was responsible for RT’s special coverage dedicated to the FIFA World Cup held in Russia. The project saw legendary coach José Mourinho and celebrated goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel assume the role of RT anchors for the duration of the tournament. In 2018, the newsroom, led by Maria, covered the fire in the Zimnyaya Vishnya mall in Kemerovo. One of the reports on the tragedy was later nominated for an International Emmy Award.

Vsevolod Pulya

Head of RT China and Editor-in-Chief of Gateway to Russia

RT China has for several years been the leading foreign media outlet in terms of audience engagement on Chinese social media platforms. In 2025, RT’s total number of views in China exceeded 3 billion. Gateway to Russia is the world’s largest community of people interested in Russia. It is a project dedicated to learning the Russian language, as well as exploring Russia’s culture, history, and tourism. Vsevolod has conducted more than 150 trainings and webinars on new media, newsroom management, and social media work in Russia and abroad.

Denis Bolotsky

Head of RT’s representative office in Indonesia and ASEAN countries

Denis began his career on television in Southern Russia as a reporter and news anchor. In 2005 he joined RT’s first team of reporters as a political correspondent, covering various topics in Russia and abroad. He later moved to RT’s Southern Russia bureau in Vladikavkaz, North Ossetia, and then Sochi. From 2012 to 2015, he was head of PR at Russia’s state Olympic construction company “Olympstroy”, assisting world media with coverage of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games. From 2016 to 2023, he covered international events and Russia’s foreign policy as a Sputnik News special correspondent embedded with the Russian Foreign Ministry’s press pool.

Olga Bataman

Senior Producer, RT International

After receiving her cum laude degree in International Relations from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, Olga worked at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. She joined the RT team in 2009. For seven years, she was in charge of Worlds Apart, an English-language geopolitical talk show that featured state leaders, foreign ministers, heads of international organizations, UN Secretaries-General, as well as writers, actors and other public figures. Currently a Senior Producer with the Kremlin Pool Department, Olga acts as key guest producer at all major forums, coordinating RT departments and handling the highest-ranking international and Russian guests.

Boris Gorlov

Head of Creative Projects, RT

Boris is in charge of a team that produces promotional content for all of the RT studios and special projects, including viral videos, brand-building videos, advertisements and new promos. RT’s Creative Projects under his supervision has received multiple international commendations, such as the Promax Awards, New York Festivals TV & Film Awards, the Clio Entertainment Awards among others.

Karina Zhdanova

News Editor, RT International

Karina holds a degree in International Relations from Moscow State Linguistic University and has been a member of RT’s English-language newsroom team since 2014.  Starting off as a journalist, since 2019 she is a news editor in charge of a team of journalists and editors working on international news broadcasts. She has managed the production of thousands of news programmes to date covering many major events over recent years including the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, the 2021 Putin-Biden summit in Geneva, the start of Russia’s special military operation and the global shift towards multipolarity. Karina was also in charge of off-site newsrooms delivering broadcasts from venues in India, China and a number of cities in Russia when it hosted the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Artyom Vorobey

Director, RT Documentary

Artyom Vorobey was born in the town of Miass, Chelyabinsk Region. He gained his first experience in journalism as a reporter for a youth newspaper in his hometown. When the newspaper launched a program on a local TV channel, Artyom took an active part in the new project. It was then that he realized that he wanted to build a career as a TV journalist. After graduating from the Ural State University in Ekaterinburg, he worked as a reporter, editor, and presenter for several Ural-based broadcasters (Vesti-Ural, Studio-41 and Channel 4). In 2008 he joined the RT Documentary department as a correspondent. During his time with RTD, he has worked on several dozen projects, most notably ‘I Want My Sex Back’, ‘She is My Son’, ‘Dance, Sex, Dance’, ‘US and the Wall’, and ‘Wombs for Rent’.

Charlotte Dubenskij

Correspondent, presenter, RT International

Charlotte has been a journalist for two decades. She’s worked around the world for some of the biggest news providers, including RT, BBC and Euronews. A graduate of Cardiff University in Wales with Distinction, she earned a Master’s Degree in International Journalism and focused her studies on covering conflict, terrorism, and insurgency movements in the Middle East. Joining the RT team in 2017 as a foreign correspondent in Paris, her work covered the Yellow Vest protest movement that saw her team nominated for the Golden Nymph Award at the Monte Carlo Television festival in 2019. Charlotte reported from the Philippines on the siege of Marawi, a five-month-long conflict between government forces and Islamic State linked militants. Also, she reported on the unrest in Israel following a decision by the Trump administration to relocate the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem along with a host of other top geopolitical stories. Charlotte is currently a correspondent based in Moscow and one of the presenters for RT International.

Eunan O’Neill

Presenter, RT International

As a core part of the RT team since the channel launched in 2005, Eunan has been a sports anchor, show host and now a lead presenter for the RT International news rundown. He holds a postgraduate degree in Broadcast Journalism from the University of Sheffield and over his tenure, Eunan has interviewed some of the world’s most recognisable faces, including Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan, Noam Chomsky, footballer and coach Jose Mourinho along with countless others. He’s covered major international events including the Iran nuclear deal and the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. That experiece came 8 years after he led RT’s coverage of the first FIFA World Cup to be held on the African continent which included a bungee jump live on TV. Eunan’s contribution as an RT news host has brought him two prestigious Emmy nominations. As part of his broadcast career, he hosted the channel’s first morning news program, ’Privet Russia!’, and the evening show ’Prime Time Russia’ that focused on politics, sports, cultural events and other aspects of interest for foreigners living in Russia. As a member of the Amateur Irish Kickboxing Squad for five years back in the day, Eunan holds dear the sport of Gaelic Football, and is quick to judge his colleagues’ interest in the pastime.

Lilia Zaripova

Head of Protocol to the Editor-in-Chief, RT

Lilia joined the RT team in 2011 and works behind the scenes and in front of the camera. In the newsroom and in her producer role, she is always on top of breaking news as part of the Presidential press pool. Lilia travels frequently, covering Russia’s vast lands with her responsibilities including Africa and Asia as well. Since 2023, she has served as an instructor at the Bastion course, a program designed for journalists operating in emergency and armed conflict zones. Lilia has been honoured with awards and recognition from the Russian President as well as the nation’s Ministry of Defense, and the Ministry of Emergency Situations. Lilia sees the news cycle as a constantly flowing stream, while reporting on its course is her way of embracing life to its fullest.

Oksana Boyko

Host of RT's WORLDS APART

Born in St. Petersburg, Oksana holds a Bachelors degree in Journalism from St. Petersburg State University and a master’s in Mass Communications from Kansas State University. Oksana stands as one of RT’s top journalists, with extensive experience in covering events across the globe. With RT since its inception in 2005, she began as a political news reporter and later moved on to become a foreign correspondent. Throughout her career, she has covered conflicts in Chechnya, Libya, Syria and Afghanistan. As the host of Worlds Apart, Oksana has interviewed former Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic, former Afghan President Hamid Karzai, former Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny, former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council Dmitry Medvedev and former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan among many others. Her work has been recognised with an award at the New York Festivals and she has also received accolades from organizations such as the Association of International Broadcasting.

Igor Zhdanov

Correspondent, RT International

Igor holds a degree in International Journalism from Moscow State University. In 2011, he joined the RT team as a broadcast journalist before he moved on to work as a producer, editor and eventually a correspondent. He has covered military conflicts in Syria and Iraq, as well as mass protests in France, Germany, Belarus and in the Middle East. Since spring 2022, he has been reporting on Russia’s Special Military Operation across the frontlines. Igor has reported on international events attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin, including the 2018 BRICS summit in South Africa and President Putin’s first meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2022. As a result of his work, he has been nominated twice for an Emmy as part of the RT team for his reporting on the 2018 deadly mall fire in Kemerovo and reports from the war zone in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Natalia Kadyrova

Film Director, RT Documentary

Starting off her journalistic career early in high school as a reporter for a local TV station, Natalia went on to get a degree in journalism from Novosibirsk State University and later studied at the prestigious Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography in Moscow where she graduated with a masters degree equivalent in documentary filmmaking. Natalia joined RT Documentary in 2010 and since then has become an experienced film director and scriptwriter, creating about 100 documentaries. From the Antarctic in the south to the Artic on top of the world, she’s been to countless places in between from North Korea to Africa to document stories and shed light on the plight of those whose voices haven’t been heard. Under her direction, the films she has created have been watched by millions across the globe. As part of her motivation, Natalia is of the belief that a good film can influence the future by raising audience awareness.

Tara Reade

RT Contributor

Daria Vaganova

Reporter, RT en français

Mike Okwoche

Presenter, RT International

Fauzan Al-Rasyid

Producer, RT International

Words are the journalist’s most important tool. How does one find the right phrasing for a captivating long read? What are the ways to stoke up reader interest with a brief post? How does one choose the right words to enhance the visuals of a video clip and tell the story? And, above all, how does one engage in dialogue with the audience? RT speakers will provide valuable insights into working with social media and texts. It will be very useful — take our WORD for it!