Putin private life book wins French literary prize

A book about Vladimir Putin's rise to power and private life, written by exiled Russian journalists Roman Badanin and Mikhail Rubin, won a newly established French literary prize on Tuesday.

“The Tsar in Propria Persona: How Vladimir Putin Deceived Us All” won the Prix Strasbourg, awarded by France's EBRA regional newspaper group and its parent company, Credit Mutuel Alliance Federale. The book is due to be published in France next month.

The jury said the book reads “like a spy novel” and described it as a “fascinating and shocking work”. It said the work was based on several hundred interviews with witnesses.

Badanin is the founder and editor-in-chief of Proekt, an investigative media outlet created in 2018. Rubin is his deputy at Proekt. Both journalists live in the United States after coming under pressure in Russia.

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists said last year, when the Russian edition was published, that the authors traced Putin's rise to power and challenged a Kremlin-imposed taboo about his private life “at great personal risk”.

The Prix Strasbourg was launched in 2026. EBRA Editions chief executive Mathilde Reumaux said it aims to be open to the world rather than Paris-centric. The overall winner receives 20,000 euros, with 55,000 euros distributed across all categories.

Other prize winners include Haitian author Thelyson Orelien and French journalist Marion Dubreuil. The winners are due to receive their awards in Strasbourg in September.