Andrey X | |
|---|---|
| Андрей Х | |
_2022.jpg) Andrey X in May 2022 | |
| Born | Andrey Ilyich Khrzhanovskiy (1998-05-02)May 2, 1998 (age 27) |
| Citizenship |
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| Education | |
| Alma mater | University College London |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 2021–present(journalism) 2023–present(activism) |
| Organization | Kompas (2023–2024) |
| Father | Ilya Khrzhanovsky |
| Relatives | Andrei Khrzhanovsky (grandfather) |
| Website | www.andreyx.com |
Andrey Ilyich Khrzhanovskiy (Russian:Андре́й Ильи́ч Хржано́вский; born May 2, 1998),[1][2][3][4] known online asAndrey X, is aRussian-Israeli journalist and activist againstIsraeli settler violence in theWest Bank. He has gained prominence during theGaza war.
The son and grandson of Russian filmmakersIlya andAndrei Khrzhanovsky, respectively,[5][6][7] Andrey Khrzhanovskiy was raised inSaint Petersburg.[3][7][8] He had a brief experience as achild actor, which includes a role inRoom and a Half (2009), directed by his eponymous grandfather.[1][2]
Having quit public schooling at the age of 14, he earned his high school degree at 16 and moved to Scotland, attendingGordonstoun to fulfil the requirements to enter a British university.[7][9] After spending a year learning about Buddhism and practicingkung fu at theShaolin Monastery in China,[9] he graduated in Anthropology fromUniversity College London, with a dissertation focusing on the politics ofpost-Soviet countries – for which he spent some time inTransnistria.[6][7][9] He started his career as a journalist writing for Russiananti-government publications likeMeduza,Novaya Gazeta,Doxa andDiscours.[9] Until 2022, he also worked in an organization assisting people on theautism spectrum in Saint Petersburg.[7][10]
Khrzhanovskiy was visiting his grandparents in Israel in February 2022, when theRussian invasion of Ukraine began; hechose to stay there, fearingpotential persecution for his activity as a political journalist.[3][4][7][11][12] Taking advantage of his Jewish heritage, he applied for Israeli citizenship in accordance with theLaw of Return and was granted a passport in a short time, allowing him to settle inTel Aviv.[9][11][12]
Although initially little informed about theIsraeli–Palestinian conflict, Khrzhanovskiy said his interactions with Israelis and1948 Palestinians quickly made him realize he was benefiting from the privileged side of anapartheid system, and felt compelled to "do something about it."[3][4][7][11][13] He has mainly attributed this to exchanges with two people: a real estate agent telling him that "Netanya is a very good place to live in because the mayordoesn't allow Arabs to rent apartments;"[13] and the owner of aJaffa café where he worked being forced to visithis family in Jordan, who wasexpelled in 1948 and has since been prohibited from entering Israel.[4][7][13]
Following a firsthand encounter with a settler in theSouth Hebron Hills, as well as the outbreak of theGaza war in October 2023 and the subsequent escalation ofsettler andstate violence against Palestinians in theWest Bank, includingmilitary raids, Khrzhanovskiy joined local human rights organizations and started documenting the incursions on social media, particularly in the village ofRas al-Auja[3][4][11] by theHilltop Youth.[7] He also co-founded the activist and media company Kompas (Компас), providing Russian-language coverage of the West Bank.[3][7][9] In the summer of 2024, when he was at theAuja spring, Israeli settlers hit him on the head with a stick, piercing his eardrum.[11]
The following October, Khrzhanovskiy and four other journalists were stopped on their way toNablus and taken to a military base, where they were reportedly blindfolded, beaten and held for hours in the sun, with authorities charging his colleague Jeremy Loffredo ofThe Grayzone of "aiding the enemy during wartime" after he had reported on thelanding of an Iranian missile on theNevatim Airbase.[14][15] Due to Loffredo's association with apro-Russian outlet, Khrzhanovskiy was expelled from the Kompas collective for failing to adhere to their values, "the main one of which is the rejection of anyimperialism, includingRussian." He commented that agreeing to accompany Loffredo was "a massive mistake and gross unprofessionalism on[his] part."[15]
On December 12, 2024, Khrzhanovskiy was arrested by theIsraeli police in Tel Aviv and taken to a station inSderot. The stated reason was to arrest him for "vandalism" over a video he had posted two weeks earlier, where he was seen placing a "Free Palestine" sticker on a lookout point in Sderot used by Israelis to watch thebombing of the Gaza Strip, but also dedicated to the memory of anIDF soldier killed in theBe'eri massacre during theOctober 7 attacks. His actions were publicly criticized by theMinistry of Construction and Housing of Israel,Yitzhak Goldknopf. Khrzhanovskiy was later released on conditional bail of₪15,000.[3][8][16] According to him and his lawyers, he was repeatedly beaten and denied any food or water throughout his detention, as well as being refused language support on his trial despite his limited skills inHebrew.[3][8]
On October 3, 2025, Khrzhanovskiy was part of a group of Israeli protesters who attempted to cross theIsrael–Gaza border on foot, in stated continuation with theGlobal Sumud Flotilla as an act of pressure to "dismantle the siege on Gaza – by sea and by land." Along with other activists, he was detained and assaulted by Israeli forces, who allegedly sprained his wrist.[17][18]
In November 2025, Khrzhanovskiy was touring Swedish cities speaking about Israeli settler violence.[19][20] Shortly later, in early December, he was convicted to one month and a fine for spray-painting theEmbassy of Russia in Tel Aviv two years prior, in protest of the country's war on Ukraine.[21]
Khrzhanovskiy's political positions have been described as "far left",[5][7] with his father calling him "radical left-wing".[6] He supports aone-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.[3]
Khrzhanovskiy says that Israelis enjoy "endemic impunity" to commit human rights abuses andethnic cleansing against locals, and maintains that only international pressure or direct intervention likeUN peacekeeping missions can stop it.[4][11][13] According to his testimony, when Palestinians or international activists – himself included – are victims of settler assaults and report to the Israeli police, they are the ones to get arrested on those charges instead.[11] He is involved in 13 civil lawsuits with Israeli authorities as of May 2025[update];[3] however, he has denounced the fact that, unlike him, Palestinians are tried inmilitary courts.[3][21]
When he first settled in Tel Aviv in 2022, Khrzhanovskiy was married; he has since divorced from his wife.[10] As of September 2025,[update] he had been living for a year in the West Bank, being hosted by Palestinian families and moving from village to village every few days.[10][12]
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