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destroy them.” She said that publicly revealing the private same-sex activities of
Russian members of parliament was a “nuclear bomb” that should be used only as a “last resort,” but that given the proposed bill that would remove children from the homes of gay and lesbian parents, she said that “such a time has come.” She promised to publish a report outing closeted Duma members on the day the bill had its first reading in the State Duma.
192:. By age 16, she was already working on the local paper in Yaroslavl. She later said that “when I started working as a journalist, I had no lofty aspirations.... I just wanted to buy winter boots with buckles; my family was poor. I had the option either to clean the school for six months, or to try to write something in the local paper. I decided to try to write something in the local paper.” Then, she read an article about
289:, which “aims to provide a safe virtual space” for LGBT teens. The report quoted Kostyuchenko as calling it “the best and most humanistic project working for Russia’s LGBT community at the moment,”because under the new Russian law banning pro-gay “propaganda,” “the most vulnerable section of society are LGBT teenagers.” She added: “According to this law, LGBT teenagers do not exist.”
227:. She later became a full staffer, and was the newspaper's youngest staff member ever. When Politkovskaya was assassinated in October 2006, said Kostyuchenko two and a half years later, “I realized I had never told her she was my idol.” Now, she stated, she praised all her colleagues, because “You come to work, see your colleagues and think: 'Who's next?'”
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citizen.” She underscored that “I am not the center of LGBT activism in Russia. I actually don’t do that much activism: I have a lot of other work. It’s just that I’ve been focusing on it this past week because I know that my life specifically will be severely affected for a long time, as will the lives of millions of gays and lesbians in Russia.”
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activists and others against the participants: “Two of my friends got their noses broken,” she said, “and they beat up my girlfriend.” Asked about the demonstration, she said that “doing something is always better than sitting at home and waiting around for Duma deputies to declare you a second-class
248:
program “The
Dzyadko Three” on January 24, 2013, the day before the Duma passed its first reading of the law banning the promotion of homosexuality. Kostyuchenko discussed a “Day of Kisses” in which she had taken part earlier that week. The action involved “just going to the Duma with a mixed group
276:
were taking place, they sang the
Russian national anthem as they displayed a rainbow flag. After her release, Kostyuchenko said she suspected police had known in advance about the protest by tapping her phone and had been waiting for them. She said she changed the location a half-hour prior to the
358:
Kostyuchenko has said that “if we can say that the new social journalism has a purpose, this purpose is to give a voice to everyone.” She has also said that
Russians “absolutely do not know what is happening in our country... because the regional press has been almost completely destroyed by the
260:
In
September 2013, Kostyuchenko threatened on Twitter to “out” closeted Russian politicians who voted for a bill that equated homosexuality with alcoholism and drug abuse and that would remove children from gay parents. “This is a warning,” she wrote. “They want to destroy our lives, and we will
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local authorities, we know nothing about what is happening in the regions.” In addition, she has complained that there are few realistic TV reports about events in the provinces. Only the
Internet, she has added, provides some degree of valuable regional reportage.
280:
In June 2014, Kostyuchenko reported on apparent efforts by
Russian authorities to cover up the return of Russian militia's bodies to Russia after being killed in battle at the Donetsk Airport in Ukraine. A November 2014 report by
249:
of people, homosexuals, heterosexuals, couples, singles, and, for those who have them, significant others. If a person doesn’t have anyone to kiss, they just hug whoever is standing next to them.” The result had been violence by
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in 2011. She covered protests against the construction of a controversial 12-lane highway through the Khimki Forest, and exposed the presence of
Russian fighters in the
216:'s thumb.” The article proved revelatory to Kostyuchenko: “I was shocked. I realised that everything I knew about this country, about what was happening, was wrong,”.
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In 2023, Kostyuchenko published an essay revealing that she suspected she had been poisoned by the
Russian state in 2022 as a response of her journalism covering the
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protest, and had only communicated the new location through phone calls and text messages, which she believed were intercepted.
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power” and as a newspaper “dedicated to real journalism, unlike
Russian television and most other newspapers, all under
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In May 2013, she was one of seven persons to win the “Freedom” award for her reportage about the Zhanaozen protests.
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Kostyuchenko was the first journalist to break the information blockade around the city of Zhanaozen during the
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She has been assaulted and arrested on several occasions in retribution for her journalism and activism.
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described the support group Children-404 (“Deti-404” in Russian) on the Russian social networking site
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318:. It has received worldwide appreciation and several awards, including Best Book of the Year by
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334:. The book has subsequently been translated into other languages as well; the French title is
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613:"International Women's Day Special: Elena Kostyuchenko on Fighting Russia's Anti-LGBT Law"
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In May 2013, Kostyuchenko was arrested for taking part in a gay pride rally in Moscow.
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430:"Elena Kostyuchenko, Russian LGBT Journalist, Threatens To Out Closeted Politicians"
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October 2023 saw the publication in English of a selection of her writing, entitled
577:"Russian Governments Assassination and Beatings Not Stopping Elena Kostyuchenko"
771:"Winner of Pushkin House Book Prize 2024 - Elena Kostyuchenko's I Love Russia"
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314:, translated by Bela Shayevich and Ilona Yazhbin Chavasse, and published by
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Kostyuchenko was the first journalist to write about the punk protest band
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797:[Journalists Elena Kostyuchenko and Yana Kuchina got married].
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Kostyuchenko was beaten and hospitalized at the 2011 gay pride parade.
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651:"LGBT Activists In Moscow Arrested On Video, Beaten In Police Station"
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activist in exile. She is an investigative reporter for the newspaper
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In 2015, she was awarded with the Distinguished Writing Award by the
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472:"Opposition party of "Freedom" notes both the living and the dead"
840:"Observer columnist among winners of 2015 European Press Prizes"
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670:"A Russian Journalist Follows Up on 'Cargo 200′ From Donetsk"
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Kostyuchenko is an open lesbian. In March 2024, she married “
632:"Russian LGBT Journalist Promises to Out Closeted Lawmakers"
689:"Children-404: LGBT Support Group In Kremlin's Crosshairs"
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Russian activists against the Russian invasion of Ukraine
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Kostyuchenko then moved to Moscow, studied journalism at
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Kostyuchenko is from the town of Yaroslavl, not far from
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as “the last major publication consistently critical of
795:"Журналистки Елена Костюченко и Яна Кучина поженились"
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In February 2014, Kostyuchenko was one of about ten
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370:She won the 2013 Fritt Ord (Free Word) Prize in
268:activists who were arrested during a protest in
272:in Moscow. While the opening ceremonies of the
595:"Что защищала Елена Костюченко на гей-параде"
517:"Journalism in the shadow of death and Putin"
223:, and at age 17 was taken on as an intern at
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821:"Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013"
747:I Love Russia: Reporting from a Lost Country
312:I Love Russia: Reporting from a Lost Country
330:Book Review Editors' Choice, and the 2024
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921:Journalism as a Profession Awards winners
745:Kostyuchenko, Elena (October 17, 2023).
668:Fitzpatrick, Catherine (Jun 19, 2014).
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448:"Hun skrev om Pussy Riot og ble truet"
428:Nichols, James Michael (Sep 9, 2013).
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881:Russian people of Ukrainian descent
687:Balmforth, Tom (21 November 2014).
901:21st-century Russian women writers
708:46: Elena Kostyuchenko at Columbia
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838:Greenslade, Roy (14 April 2015).
283:Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
630:Brydum, Sunnivie (Sep 9, 2013).
470:Тогузбаев, Казис (3 June 2013).
296:Russian Civil Society Fellow at
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649:Feder, J Lester (Feb 7, 2014).
886:Russian LGBTQ rights activists
540:"У нас некорректная профессия"
515:Harding, Luke (Apr 11, 2009).
406:"Elena Kostyuchenko's Journal"
338:(Russia, My Beloved Country).
292:In 2018, Kostyuchenko was the
148:) is a Russian journalist and
130:Elena Gennadyevna Kostyuchenko
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21:Eastern Slavic naming customs
916:Women civil rights activists
911:European Press Prize winners
138:Елена Геннадьевна Костюченко
728:"How They Tried to Kill Me"
350:” journalist Yana Kuchina.
305:Russian invasion of Ukraine
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801:(in Russian). 9 March 2024
336:Russie, Mon Pays Bien-aimé
140:; born 25 September 1987,
66:Elena Kostuchenko in 2011.
19:In this name that follows
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941:Redkollegia award winners
931:Russian LGBTQ journalists
906:Free Media Awards winners
896:Russian women journalists
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332:Pushkin House Book Prize
244:interviewed her for the
946:Russian lesbian writers
891:Russian women activists
300:'s Harriman Institute.
221:Moscow State University
114:Moscow State University
926:People from Yaroslavl
775:www.pushkinhouse.org
558:"Elena Kostyuchenko"
493:"Elena Kostyuchenko"
386:European Press Prize
123:Journalist, activist
354:Views on journalism
298:Columbia University
581:Planet Transgender
497:Oslo Freedom Forum
379:Oslo Freedom Forum
237:in December 2011.
235:Zhanaozen massacre
198:Anna Politkovskaya
167:Zhanaozen massacre
46:Elena Kostyuchenko
16:Russian journalist
749:. Penguin Press.
693:Radio Free Europe
363:Honors and awards
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294:Paul Klebnikov
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37:Kostyuchenko
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871:1987 births
452:Aftenposten
240:Filipp and
173:in Eastern
100:Nationality
33:family name
29:Gennadyevna
865:Categories
799:Parni Plus
780:2024-07-05
714:2018-05-02
392:References
348:Takie Dela
270:Red Square
163:Pussy Riot
150:gay rights
93:Russia SSR
78:1987-07-25
25:patronymic
287:Vkontakte
142:Yaroslavl
110:Education
89:Yaroslavl
825:Frittord
636:Advocate
194:Chechnya
599:Svoboda
246:TV Rain
210:Kremlin
175:Ukraine
134:Russian
104:Russian
849:28 May
805:1 July
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562:tvrain
476:Azatty
372:Norway
190:Moscow
184:Career
146:Russia
23:, the
214:Putin
851:2020
807:2024
751:ISBN
322:and
266:LGBT
72:Born
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200:in
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