Portnikov was born in 1967 in
Kyiv,
Ukrainian SSR,
Soviet Union (modern-day
Ukraine) to
Ukrainian Jewish parents. He graduated from the
MSU Faculty of Journalism in 1990. In 2013 Portnikov was one of the organisers of the
Euromaidan demonstrations. He started creating programs for
Espreso TV in November 2013. In late January 2014 he temporarily relocated to
Warsaw,
Poland, after receiving credible information from his contacts in Russia about a planned provocation against him, aimed at discrediting the Euromaidan movement. In July 2015 Portnikov became a member of the supervisory board
Ukrainian National Council for TV and Radio Broadcasting as a representative of the political party
People's Front. ==Awards==