This article is devoted to the reflection of the biography of Robert Clive, the founder of the British Colonial Empire in India in the Russian press. The British are proud of their history, honor monarchs, statesmen, military leaders. Among them - the conqueror of Bengal R. Clive (1725-1774). He received the title of Baron (1762), became a knight (1764) for services to the Fatherland, but was in the center of the scandal concerned with the abuses his governorship in Bengal. The famous general ended his life at the age of 49 years having committed self-murder. Nowadays information about the general contains many biographies and reference books. For the first time in historiography the subject of the article is a detailed study of the news about R. Clive, available to his contemporaries in Russia. The authors conduct a detailed analysis of the information about the British military leader that was published in the newspapers “Sanktpeterburgskie vedomosti” in 1752-1774 years аnd «Moskovskie vedomosti» in 1756-1774 years. The article discusses which aspects of R. Clive’s life were reflected in the Russian press. The authors tell about the first Clive’s steps in the theater of war in South India, about his initiative in the conquest of Bengal and further establishing control over its territories in 1757-1767 years. The article highlights some facets of public activities of the military commander in Britain. The authors reveal the features were invested in the image of the general by Russian journalists. The study is conducted to determine the main reasons of the assessments of the military leader`s personality in the Russian press.