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Julia Ioffe

Julia Ioffe (; ; born October 18, 1982) is Soviet-born American journalist, author, and media entrepreneur. She is a Founding Partner and Washington correspondent at the media company Puck, where she co-authors the newsletter ''The Best & The Brightest'', covering the intersection of national security, foreign policy, and domestic politics.

Before joining ''Puck'', Julia Ioffe wrote for ''The New Yorker'', ''Foreign Policy'', ''The New Republic'', ''Politico'', ''GQ'', and ''The Atlantic''. Her work has also appeared in ''The Washington Post'', ''The New York Times'', ''Forbes'' and ''Bloomberg Businessweek''.

Born in Moscow, Ioffe immigrated to the United States in 1990 and later graduated from Princeton University. She is fluent in Russian and is widely regarded for her deep expertise in Russian politics. She is frequently cited as one of the most prominent and in-demand experts on Russia and Russia-U.S. relations. She has been often described by professional peers as having a “visceral” understanding of Russian politics, society, and culture.

Ioffe’s reporting on Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny brought her early recognition: her 2011 ''The'' ''New Yorker'' profile of Alexei and Yulia Navalny was a finalist for the Livingston Award for journalists under the age of 35. In 2024, the independent outlet ''Meduza'' recognized her as one of the two individuals “most responsible for educating the English-speaking world” about the Navalnys’ work.

Her other notable work includes the 2017 ''Atlantic'' cover story “What Putin Really Wants,” which challenged the narrative of Vladimir Putin as a “super mastermind,” instead portraying him as a tactical gambler driven by emotional reactions and fear of regime collapse. In 2020, her investigative reporting for ''GQ'' on “Havana Syndrome” was credited with helping pressure the CIA to provide medical care for affected officers.

In 2025, Ioffe published ''Motherland: A Feminist History of Modern Russia, from Revolution to Autocracy''. The book blends family memoir with political history, centring the lives of Russian women rather than traditional male-dominated narratives. Motherland was a finalist for the National Book Award for Nonfiction and won the National Jewish Book Award. It was also named one of the “10 Best Books of 2025” by The Washington Post and Apple Books, and one of the “100 Notable Books of 2025” by The New York Times. Provided by Wikipedia