Elena worked for Novaya Gazetta, the last independent newspaper in Russia.

She covered corruption, prison violence, gay rights and Chechnya.

This isn’t a job for the faint of heart. She has been stalked, arrested and beaten on many occasions. Her newsroom was harassed daily. In fact, 4 of her colleagues were murdered under her watch.

After the invasion of Ukraine, the newspaper was shut down. She left Russia and moved to Eastern Ukraine. She started systematically documenting war crimes committed against Ukrainian civilians

https://femantiwar.org/en/interview-kostyuchenko/

She was forced to leave after Ukrainians warned her that Russian soldiers put a bounty on her head. (you can use english subtitles)

Then, a few weeks later, she was hospitalized.

Her food was poisoned in an attempt to kill her:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/12/you-may-have-been-poisoned-how-an-independent-russian-journalist-became-a-target

https://www.dukechronicle.com/article/duke-university-elena-kostyuchenko-russian-journalist-in-exile-visiting-professor-poisoned-kremlin-20251124

Elena miraculously survived and kept reporting.

She now teaches at Duke University in the US. When asked if she is afraid, she said the following:

https://english.elpais.com/international/2025-11-22/elena-kostyuchenko-im-not-afraid-if-i-wasnt-afraid-of-putin-i-wont-be-afraid-of-trump.html

Elena is one the bravest person I know.

When you think about it, people living in Western Democracies don’t know how good they have it. You can create a labor union in your company. You can run for mayor in your town. You can join an NGO and sue large corporations. Yes you can.

In my life, whenever I lack inner strength to do the right thing, I always think about her

    • zephiriz@lemmy.ml
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      1 day ago

      Do you say the same thing to all the Twitter screenshots, anon greentext stories, or comics?

        • zephiriz@lemmy.ml
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          8 hours ago

          You must have a great time over at https://lemmy.world/c/lemmyshitpost /s

          But if I might make a suggestion. Why don’t you ask someone to do something? And if you feel inclined to tell them why. It might go over better than telling a random stranger on the Internet what to do.

          But you do you boo.

          • quick_snail@feddit.nl
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            5 hours ago

            Do you also ask fascists politely not to be rude to brown people?

            No, ableism should not be tolerated any more than racism.

            • zephiriz@lemmy.ml
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              5 hours ago

              So someone who makes a stylised choice in formating a post to inform people of a cool person and may not know about said possible issue of the accacability, issues such as yours, is a fascist?

              Do not attribute to malice, that which could easily be attributed to ignorance.

              Don’t assume. It makes an ass u me.

              All I’m saying is you should politely inform someone of a better way of doing something as opposed to telling someone to do something. I think I know a group of people who are known for telling other what to do. I wonder what it could be.

              But go a head keep calling anyone who doesn’t do what you say or points this out to you a fascist.

          • quick_snail@feddit.nl
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            5 hours ago

            Do you also ask fascists politely not to be rude to brown people?

            No, ableism should not be tolerated any more than racism.

    • Malle_Yeno@pawb.social
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      1 day ago

      Not sure why you’re getting downvoted. If you (correctly) think her story needs to be told, why shouldn’t it be told to blind people and people with low vision?

      Elena, like many other journalists, would likely agree with making information more accessible – both through transparency and accessibility.