Famous Russian Media Personalities

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.

Popular Russian host and actor Ivan Urgant is best known to audiences as Boris from the Yolki comedy film series. Dubbed the Russian Jimmy Kimmel, he is believed to have fled to Israel, as his show Evening Urgant was taken off the air soon after he criticized Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Russian novelist and travel writer Ivan Goncharov is best remembered for his novel Oblomov. Born into an affluent merchant family, he later had a 30-year stint as an official, working for the ministries of finance and censorship. In his memoir, An Uncommon Story, he accused many authors of plagiarizing his works.

Mikhail Nikolayevich Zadornov was a Soviet and Russian comedian and writer who specialized in stand-up comedy. After graduating from the prestigious Moscow Aviation Institute, Zadornov chose to become a humorist and would later use the memory of his engineering days mockingly during stage shows.

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.

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.

Recipient of the honorary title of People's Artist of the RSFSR, Soviet and Russian film actor Leonid Kuravlyov got his real breakthrough playing lead role in the Vasily Shukshin directed comedy-film There Is Such a Lad. In the ensuing years, Kuravlyov bolstered his career in showbiz starring in several top-grossing comedy movies like The Most Charming and Attractive and Afonya.    

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.

Leonid Yakubovich is a Russian television host and actor best known for hosting a game show called Pole Chudes. He is often counted among the most famous internet and television personalities in Russia. In 2002, Leonid Yakubovich was honored with the People's Artist of Russia title.

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.