Yulia Latynina

Yulia Latynina
In 2013
Born	(1966-06-16) 16 June 1966 Moscow, Soviet Union
Nationality	Russian
Education	Maxim Gorky Literature Institute
Occupation	Journalist, writer, radio personality
Years active	1989 – present

Condoleezza Rice presents Latynina with the Freedom Defenders Award in 2008

Yulia Leonidovna Latynina (Russian: Ю́лия Леони́довна Латы́нина; born 16 June 1966) is a Russian journalist, writer and radio host. She is the most popular presenter at the Echo of Moscow (political) station.^[1] She also writes for Novaya Gazeta and The Moscow Times.

Writer, journalist and radio host

Yulia Latynina has authored twenty fiction books, including science fiction.

She has worked for Russian newspapers Izvestia (1995—97), Expert (1997—98), "Top Secret" (editor-in-chief Artyom Borovik), Novaya Gazeta (since 2001), Kommersant (since 2006), and others.

She worked for several Russian TV Channels "V drugoe vremya" (First Channel ORT 2001–02), "Est' Mneniye" (TV Tsentr 2002-3) and "Nedelya" (REN TV 2003-4).

She received an investigative journalism award by Corriere della Sera dedicated to Maria Grazia Cutuli, an Italian journalist who was killed in Afghanistan.^[2]

She is a host of the show "Access Code" at radio station Echo of Moscow since 2003. On 8 December 2008 she was awarded the Freedom Defenders Award by the United States Department of State.^[3]

Views

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.^[4] 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."^[5]

Latynina claimed in a 2004 article that "In terms of governance, the country has already disintegrated into six to eight enclaves." According to her, "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 referred to Russia as "a disintegrating empire".^[6]

She is usually regarded as a journalist who criticizes Russian political establishment, but has also scolded members of Moscow Helsinki Group for supporting Russian scientist Igor Sutyagin, who she suggested could actually be involved in espionage.^[7][8] 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.^[9] Lawyer Boris Kuznetsov, who represented Sutyagin previously, hinted that the Russian secret service FSB benefited from her program in Echo of Moscow,^[10][11] which she vigorously denied.^[12][13]

In January 2010, in the aftermath of Yanukovich’s win in Ukraine, Latynina published an article declaring that people can’t be trusted to vote for their best interests. She writes: Viktor Yanukovych’s victory in Sunday’s presidential election – not unlike the victories of former Chilean President Salvador Allende, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad or Adolf Hitler – once again raises doubt about the basic premise of democracy: that the people are capable of choosing their own leader. Unfortunately, only people in wealthy countries are truly capable of electing their leaders in a responsible manner.^[14]

In March 2011, Latynina harshly criticized various human right organisations including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International for their support for terrorist groups and anti-western bias, which she called Liberal Fundamentalism^[15]

Political activism

Latynina has been a member of Committee 2008 since 2004.

Novels

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Yulia Latynina.

• Insider. By Yulia Latynina
• Her fiction writings (Russian)
• Her articles on political topics (Russian)