Professional biography
He works at the intersection of journalism, digital media, audience development, and political communication. His professional background combines newsroom leadership, editorial strategy, media product development, and communications work for independent media and civic initiatives.
Klishin is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of Volna Media, an independent Russian-language media project launched in exile in 2022 and developed across multiple European countries. He is also the founder of KF Agency, a communications and media strategy consultancy working on editorial systems, digital distribution, and audience growth.
Previously, he served as Digital Director at RTVI from 2016 to 2019, where he worked on digital transformation and audience growth. From 2013 to 2016, he was Head of the Digital Newsroom at TV Rain (Dozhd) during a period of sustained pressure on independent media in Russia. In 2011-2012, he took part in the digital coordination infrastructure of the Fair Elections movement.
His current work focuses on independent media in exile, Russian-language diaspora audiences, digital editorial strategy, and the evolution of modern Russian propaganda as a hybrid of Soviet political culture, post-Soviet black PR, and contemporary marketing techniques.
In addition to his editorial and consulting work, Klishin runs literary and public-intellectual projects, including the ReadMe.txt channel and international book club initiatives.
He studied at MGIMO University from 2004 to 2010, earning degrees in International Relations with a focus on European studies. He also studied at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and completed an FSA FLEX exchange year at Iota High School in Louisiana (2003-2004).
He has written for, edited, or been cited by publications including The Moscow Times, Vedomosti, and Carnegie-affiliated platforms. In 2015, he was featured by The Guardian's New East project in its "30 under 30" list.
Languages: Russian (native), English (C2), Lithuanian (B1), Modern Greek (B1), German (A2).
Personal: Married since 2017; father of two daughters, Zoya (born 2020) and Sofia (born 2025).