Leadership Change at Wikimedia RU and Russia’s Domestic Encyclopedia Initiative

Vladimir Medeiko stepped down from the role of director at the non-profit partnership Wikimedia RU, the organization that oversees the Russian-language edition of Wikipedia. In his place, Stanislav Kozlovsky took the helm; he had previously held the position of executive director within the same organization, bringing continuity to leadership as the transition unfolded. The change was confirmed through public statements and followed a formal submission that Medeiko himself described as approved, marking the end of his tenure and the start of a new chapter for the group. Medeiko explained that he had submitted his resignation and that it had been accepted, and he emphasized that his departure would free him to devote his efforts to a new project known as Free Encyclopedia. He added that this initiative had not been developed in some hidden corner but was being advanced openly and with public awareness, underscoring a move toward transparent collaboration rather than clandestine planning. Kozlovsky responded to the transition by confirming that Medeiko had chosen to resign of his own accord, noting that the organization would continue its mission under the fresh leadership while Medeiko redirected his focus to other scholarly endeavors. This shift in leadership came at a time when the organization had been balancing issues of governance, strategy, and the broader goal of expanding access to free knowledge in the Russian-speaking world, and the public statements reflected a shared commitment to maintaining the integrity and openness that have defined Wikimedia RU’s operations since its inception. Meanwhile, reports from various media outlets suggested there had been discussions within the sphere about the previous director’s methods, with some commentators alluding to internal disagreements about the pace and scope of reform. These discussions were framed as part of a larger conversation about how the Russian-language encyclopedia movement would evolve in a landscape where digital knowledge platforms are continually negotiating policy, openness, and community governance. In late 2022, Russia launched its own domestic encyclopedia that sought to offer a parallel model to international platforms, positioning it as a homegrown alternative to widely used reference sites. The new project employed a wiki-based framework and positioned itself as not strictly bound by the policies upheld by the Wikimedia Foundation, a stance that drew attention from lawmakers and industry observers alike. This development fed into an ongoing debate about local control, content guidelines, and the balance between global standards and national perspectives when it comes to curated knowledge. Statements from a State Duma deputy highlighted the project as part of a broader trend toward national digital sovereignty, with supporters arguing that a locally governed encyclopedia could better reflect regional history, language, and cultural nuances. As discussions continued, observers noted that while the platform relied on collaborative editing and community-driven updates, it sought to establish its own governance norms and editorial policies, distinct from those of international Wikimedia projects. The transformation in Russia’s encyclopedia landscape thus reflected both a continuity of collaborative producing and editing practices and a pivot toward a more autonomous, domestically oriented model of knowledge curation, inviting readers and contributors to weigh the benefits of a homegrown approach against the familiar, globally connected systems they have known for years. In this evolving context, the leadership change at Wikimedia RU and the emergence of a parallel domestic project illustrated how the ecosystem could accommodate new ideas and reorganize around different editorial philosophies while continuing to promote free access to information, education, and public literacy across Russian-speaking communities and beyond, all within a framework that values openness, accountability, and community trust (TASS).