Founded in November 2013 by Roman Dobrokhotov, a member of the Solidarnost movement and a liberal-democratic journalist and political activist, The Insider’s editorial office is based in Riga, Latvia.

Among its most notable successes, The Insider identified the FSB officers responsible for poisoning Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny,[4] Vladimir Kara-Murza,[5] writer Dmitry Bykov,[6] politician Nikita Isaev,[7] and others.

The Insider managed to establish that one of the most wanted criminals in Europe, former Wirecard COO Jan Marsalek, is in hiding in Russia after receiving cover documents from the Russian security services.

[12] The Insider also identified members of GRU Unit 29155, which is responsible for the poisoning of the Sergei and Yulia Skripals and the bombings of military depots in Bulgaria and the Czech Republic.

[20][21][22] In September 2018, in collaboration with the Bellingcat network and the BBC's Newsnight television program,[23] The Insider conducted an investigation, publishing copies of official documents of the Federal Migration Service of Russia claiming to issue a passport in the name of Alexander Petrov, one of individuals accused of poisoning Sergei and Yulia Skripal in the United Kingdom, indicating his connection with the Russian intelligence agencies.

[25] Roman Dobrokhotov himself admitted that he did not know how the personal data of "Boshirov" and "Petrov" were obtained, stating that he himself "did not violate any laws", and that The Insider received information from Bellingcat.

[38][39][40][41] In December 2020, The Insider and Bellingcat in co-operation with CNN, Der Spiegel and Anti-Corruption Foundation published a joint investigation, in which they revealed details of what relationship the Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) has to the poisoning of Navalny.

[53] The outlet journalists contacted professor Catalin Grigoras of the National Center for Media Forensics at the University of Colorado Denver and asked him to conduct an analysis of audio recordings, as a result of which the likelihood ratio (LR) was 94.

[60] In February 2021, a Bellingcat joint investigation[61] with The Insider and Der Spiegel said that Vladimir Kara-Murza was followed by the same FSB unit that allegedly poisoned Alexei Navalny before he fell ill in 2015 and 2017.

[63][64][65][66] On November 10, 2017, The Insider received the World Forum for Democracy Council of Europe Award for Innovation in Democracy with the following wording: "The Insider is an investigative newspaper that seeks to provide its readers with information about the current political, economic and social situation in Russia, while also promoting democratic values and shedding light on issues related to human rights and civil society.

"[67][68][69] In May 2019, The Insider and Bellingcat received the European Press Prize for establishing the identity of the two men responsible for the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal.

[70][71] In May 2019, The Insider's economic observer Boris Grozovski received Redkollegia award for his article "Calls to Fight Against Slavery Threatens the State System."