Famous Russian Journalists

Anna Politkovskaya was a Russian writer, journalist, and human rights activist. She is best remembered for reporting the Second Chechen War. In spite of various acts of intimidation and violence, Politkovskaya never gave up reporting on the war. Her efforts and work earned her several international awards, such as the IWMF Courage in Journalism Award. Politkovskaya was murdered in 2006.

Russian-American journalist and The New Yorker staff writer Masha Gessen is known for his sharp criticism of political figures such as Donald Trump. The renowned author of the internationally popular books such as The Man Without a Face and The Future Is History, he identifies as nonbinary and trans.

Russian author Isaac Babel was a reporter before plunging into full-time writing. He is remembered for his short story collections Red Cavalry and Odessa Stories. One of his most popular stories was The Story of My Dovecote. He was part of the Soviet 1st Cavalry Army as Kiril Lyutov and documented the Polish-Soviet War.

Irina Khakamada is a Russian political activist, economist, publicist, journalist, and politician. In 1995, she was named in Time magazine's list of 100 well-known women in the world. A multi-talented personality, Irina Khakamada has also acted in many television series and films. In a television series titled Brief Guide To A Happy Life, Khakamada portrayed a psychologist named Vera Rodinka.

Russian human rights activist and journalist Natalya Estemirova, also known as Natasha, made headlines when she was kidnapped and brutally shot dead, in what many suspected was a state-sponsored killing. In fact, her friend and collaborator Anna Politkovskaya was also shot dead in a similar fashion earlier.

Soviet politician and The New Times editor Valeriya Novodvorskaya, who founded the Democratic Union party, had been a prominent dissident who often clashed with the Soviet authorities. She was once jailed for criticizing the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia. The self-proclaimed asexual activist lived with her mother and her cat.

Blogger, author, and journalist Alexandra Mitroshina is also a well-known women’s rights activist. The founder of movements and projects such as I Did Not Want to Die and You Are Not Alone, she is also popular on social media and has penned the book Private Instagram Blogs Promotion.

Most renowned for his short novel The Blind Musician, Russian author and journalist Vladimir Korolenko was known for his depiction of the plight of the disadvantaged sections of society. In his early days, his revolutionary activities got him expelled from two colleges. Makar’s Dream remains one of his best-known stories.

Russian journalist and dissident Alexander Ginzburg was also a prominent human rights activist. His political activities led him to be expelled from Moscow University and sent to labor camps multiple times. Known for works such as The Trial of the Four, he later became a French citizen.

Born Iehiel-Leyb Arnoldovich Faynzilberg, journalist Ilya Ilf proved himself to be one of the greatest Soviet humorists ever. Along with Yevgeni Petrov, he formed the duo Ilf and Petrov to produce some of the best satirical works, such as Odnoetazhnaya Amerika and Dvenadtsat stulyev. He also contributed to Pravda.

Kronid Lyubarsky was a Russian human rights activist, journalist, dissident, and political prisoner. Also an astrophysicist, Lyubarsky wrote many books on astrobiology. He is also credited with translating many scientific works into Russian. Lyubarsky became an important figure of the civil rights movement in the mid-1960s. Kronid Lyubarsky went on to co-author the present Constitution of the Russian Federation.