Elena Kostyuchenko

Independent Russian journalist and civil rights activist

Elena Kostyuchenko is a Russian independent journalist. For 17 years she was a special correspondent of Novaya Gazeta, till the newspaper was shut down under the pressure of Russian authorities in March 2022. She reported on conflict, crime, human rights and social issues. Kostyuchenko was among the first to prove the presence of Russian troops in eastern Ukraine. She covered the Russian invasion of Ukraine from the second day of the war. Now she collaborates with the independent Russian exiled media Meduza.

Kostyuchenko’s book “I Love Russia”, named one of the best books of the year by The New Yorker and TIME, documents her country as experienced by those whom it aims to erase: girls from the provinces coerced into sex work, queer people, patients and doctors at a Ukrainian hospital under attack, and reporters like herself targeted by the abusive government. Her work was acknowledged with multiple awards including the European Press Prize, the Gerd Bucerius Award-Free Press of Eastern Europe, and the Paul Klebnikov Prize.

Summer School of Investigative Reporting 2024 Sessions

How to Report From a Lost Country

Session explores the unique challenges of reporting from authoritarian countries, including fieldwork strategies, source recruitment, safety, resisting government pressure, verifying information, and countering propaganda, using Russia as a case study.