Yelena Tregubova

Yelena Viktorovna Tregubova (Russian: Елена Викторовна Трегубова) (born May 24, 1973) is a Russian journalist, a critic of the president Vladimir Putin and his environment.

Biography

Tregubova studied journalism at the Moscow State University in the nineties, during the time when liberal-democratic ideals swept Russia. She started her career as a journalist in the newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta. Between 1997 and 2001 Tregubova was a member of the Kremlin press pool, reporting for the independent Moscow dailies Kommersant, Izvestia, and Russky Telegraf. The members of this "Kremlin Pool" are reporters who cover work of Russian presidents (Boris Yeltsin and later Vladimir Putin) for television and major newspapers. She was expelled from the Kremlin press pool for refusal to adhere to the official version of the events.

Her best-seller, Tales of a Kremlin Digger, published in October 2003 describes her experiences as a Kremlin correspondent and criticizes customs of the Russian political elite. In particular she criticizes the Putin administration for state control of the media. Tregubova condemns Putin’s regime for its authoritarian tendencies and attacks on free speech and censorship. Some critics noted that her judgement about Russian politicians is subjective, and the book is highly opinionated.^[1]

"The Tales of a Kremlin Digger" peeved the Kremlin. After the book appeared, Tregubova lost her job as a correspondent for Kommersant. An interview with Yelena Tregubova (11.2003) was pulled from broadcast by NTV - a channel once renowned for its critical reporting. The segment nevertheless was yanked after it had already aired in Eastern time zones of Russian Federation. Not long after her book February 2, 2004 was published, a bomb blew up outside her apartment.

In her second book "Farewell of the Kremlin Digger"(2004) Tregubova writes on the Kremlin’s attempts to stop the first book from reaching the reader, and on the attempt on her life.

Popularity Abroad

The Italian translation of "Tales of a Kremlin Digger" ("I mutanti del Cremlino"), came out in 2005 at the publishing house Piemme.^[2] The German publishing house Tropen Verlag released the book in German ("Die Mutanten des Kremls") in October, 2006.^[3]

Tregubova started enjoying wide popularity in Germany in connection with the murder of the Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya (7.10.2006). The German newspaper "Zeit" published on October 12, 2006 her letter on occasion of the assassination of Politkovskaya "Silence is partnership", addressed to the Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel. Tregubova demanded that the German chancellor actively oppose the suppression of press freedom in Russia.^[4]

Tregubova's books have not yet been translated into English.

Political Asylum

On 23 April 2007 Trebugova filed an application for political asylum to Britain's Home Office, claiming her life is in "mortal danger" in Russia. ^[5] [1].

Bibliography

• Трегубова, Елена (2003). Байки кремлевского диггера. Москва: Ad Marginem. ISBN 978-5-93321-073-3. 
• Трегубова, Елена (2004). Прощание кремлёвского диггера. Москва: Ad Marginem. ISBN 978-5-93321-095-5. 

Notes

External links

• BBC News reports
• Washington Post on freedom of speech in Russia
• Moscow Times reports on Tregubova’s Tales
• Bomb attack on ex-Kremlin press pool journalist
• Asia Media: Book prompts angry reaction from Kremlin
• Eхplosion Rocks Home of Journalist
• Former Kremlin Digger Dishes the Dirt
• Bomb Blast Near «Digger»
• Tales of a Kremlin Digger
• Kremlin Digger: tabloid book may have sparked Kremlin ire.(notebook)(Tales of a Kremlin Digger by Yelena Tregubova)(Brief Article)
• Anger in Kremlin as "digger" reveals Putin secrets

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