Yulia Latynina

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Yulia Leonidovna Latynina (born June 16, 1966, Russian: Юлия Леонидовна Латынина) is a Russian journalist, writer and radio host. She works at the radio station Echo of Moscow. She also writes for Novaya Gazeta and The Moscow Times.

Yulia Latynina has authored a number of fantasy and science fiction novels, most of them set in Chinese-inspired world of The Great Veya.

Yulia Latynina is known for her sharp and polemic statements. She claimed that Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, French President Jacques Chirac, Chancellor of Germany Gerhard Schröder, and U.S. President George W. Bush have all been successfully "recruited" by Vladimir Putin to serve his political objectives.^[1] She also alleged that "President Putin will secure a third term simply because this is the authorities' logic. Power in Russia is in essence authoritarian, and there are no other ways to hand over power: control must be maintained over it."^[2]

Latynina expressed her opinion in a 2004 article that the Russian Federation is breaking up into six to eight independent territories. She claimed that "President Vladimir Putin can still install whoever [ruler] he likes on the territory of these enclaves -- but that is not the same as being able to govern them." She additionally claimed that "In terms of governance, the country has already disintegrated into six to eight enclaves."^[3]

She is usually regarded as a journalist who criticizes Russian political establishment, but has also criticized members of Moscow Helsinki Group for supporting Russian scientist Igor Sutyagin, who she suggested could actually be involved in espionage. ^[4]^[5] She argued that although communications of Sutyagin with foreign spy agencies have never been proven, the foreign agency that he passed information on was indeed highly suspicious.^[6] Lawyer Boris Kuznetsov, who represented Sutyagin previously, hinted that the Russian secret service FSB benefited from her program in Echo of Moscow, ^[7]^[8] which she vigorously denied. ^[9] ^[10]