Born in Moscow, Mikhail began his career with a local newspaper when he was 16.
Later he studied TV journalism at the Moscow State University and worked as a staff photographer with Kommersant, Russia’s largest newspaper.
Mikhail turned to freelance in 2005, after studying journalism at the Moscow University and working as a staff photographer for a daily newspaper in Moscow. His project on the post-war crisis in Chechnya has been published in Europe and the USA with showcases in New York, Paris, St. Petersburg, and Brussels. He moved to Afghanistan in 2009 to follow his interest in the region of Central and South Asia. Mikhail used to combine commissioned work with self-assigned documentary. Some of his editorial clients are Time, Newsweek, The New York Times, Stern, GQ and Fortune.
Mikhail has also worked for international medical and humanitarian aid organization, Medicines sans Frontier. His first long-term project focused on war consequences in Chechnya and it was widely published and exhibited in Europe and the US.