Journalist Elena Tregubova: biography and creativity

Elena Tregubova is known to everyone who has long been following Russian journalism and politics. This journalist, who used to work in Nezavisimaya Gazeta, Segodnya and Russkaya Telegraf, managed to write a sensational book entitled The Tales of the Kremlin Digger. It was this fact that drew the attention of both politicians and the public to it.

Biographical information

Tregubova Elena Viktorovna was born on May 24, 1973 in Moscow. In the direction of journalism, the choice was made in 1991. According to Elena, journalists were always in opposition to the existing authorities and this allowed them to be the heroes of the people. Obviously, this vision of the situation inspired the future writer and journalist.

As a result, Elena Tregubova successfully graduated from the Faculty of Journalism at Moscow State University. Having started her career in Nezavisimaya Gazeta, she eventually reached the well-known edition of Komersant, having at the same time, in a break between work in the newspapers, tested her strength on the radio Deutsche Welle.

Attention is also due to the fact that Elena Tregubova was a member of the Kremlin press service in the period from 1997 to 2001. It's about the so-called Kremlin pool, which in fact was a community of journalists accredited to the Russian president.

Thanks to this activity Elena managed to interview many important persons who worked in the administration, including Vladimir Putin and Anatoly Chubais.

The origin of the conflict

According to the views held by Elena Tregubova, a journalist must act in the interests of the people and not be a defender of dishonest authorities. It is this aspect of her worldview, which often found expression in articles, led to the loss of loyalty on the part of the political elite of the country.

Soon, the presidential press secretary stopped Elena from going to official briefings, at which other correspondents could attend. A journalist in her book "Tales of the Kremlin Digger" claims that Gromov, as the reason for his constant refusals, called Putin's personal initiative. He explained this reaction to the President's discontent about the situation when Elena Tregubova Asked him about his relationship with Boris Berezovsky.

The result of bold assessments of the Kremlin's activities was the exclusion of Tregubova from the number of journalists with accreditation, which allows working with the presidential administration. It happened under Vladimir Putin in 2001.

The history of the attempt

Elena Tregubova is a journalist who did not like to turn a blind eye to illegal, in her opinion, government actions. It is for this reason that she decided to present to the public compromising power information in the form of the book "Tales of the Kremlin Digger".

As a result, 4 months after the publication, in February 2004, a writer called a man who introduced himself as an employee of Sheremetyevo Airport. According to him, he had to give Elena Tregubova a package and for this he asked to name the address where he could be delivered. The journalist refused to provide such information, after which the caller hung up. After, on February 2, near the apartment door, in which the writer lived, an explosion occurred. The experts determined that this was an improvised explosive device. After that, Elena Tregubova, whose photo appeared in the newscasts, realized that she was in danger.

As for the investigators of the Tver inter-district prosecutor's office, they did not consider it necessary to initiate a criminal case, defining what happened as an act of hooliganism.

Attempts to "hush" the incident

Despite the fact that the prosecutor's office did not consider it necessary to link Tregubova's active activities and the explosion near the doors of her apartment, the journalist herself took the initiative to give official testimony, and repeatedly. But the law enforcement bodies did not show a reciprocal interest.

But unlike the police and the prosecutor's office, domestic and world media described the incident as an attempt on the life of a journalist, as a result of which the fact of the explosion acquired a new status. Elena Tregubova was summoned for questioning at the Central Internal Affairs Directorate. But the case was never instituted.

The journalist herself believed that the refusal of the police to take her testimony and the subsequent ignoring of the real basis for initiating the case indirectly indicated involvement in the attempt of the authorities. She also linked the fact of the explosion to the fact that on the eve, during the interview, she told about the work on the second book with no less provocative content. According to the journalist, this fact might not like the representatives of the authorities and they reacted quite harshly.

But later, already in an interview with the newspaper "Komersant", Tregubova changed her attitude to the situation, voicing her doubts about the involvement in the explosion of the special services. She believed that Putin was not interested in such incidents on the eve of the elections.

Contrary to the general assessment of the explosion that occurred in the media, the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper posted an article the day after the incident, stating that the whole story with the explosion is nothing more than an advertising move aimed at raising the rating of the book "The Tales of the Kremlin Digger" published.

At the same time, the newspaper defined the book itself as a mediocre literary product and included the fact of its publication as a consequence of the work of supporters of Boris Berezovsky. Also in the article it was alleged that police officers conducted a survey of Tregubova immediately after the explosion.

First book

It was the "Tales of the Kremlin Digger" that marked the beginning of the writer's career, in which Elena Tregubova decided to find herself. The photos of the uncompromising journalist became recognizable, since the book published in 2003 was more than popular among Russian readers.

The fact that Elena's creation was on the bestseller list can be explained by a bold presentation of the history of her activity as a Kremlin correspondent and criticism of Russia's political elite. In her book, she describes the government's control of the media recorded by her. Tregubova openly speaks out against Putin's regime, emphasizing the fact of censorship, pressure on freedom of speech and authoritarian tendencies.

A certain part of literary critics reacted negatively to the book. In their opinion, the journalist presented the reader with a subjective assessment of the situation, and they stressed the groundless, in their opinion, author's certainty in his rightness.

Interesting Facts

In the first book of Elena Tregubova, the government is compared with mutants, creatures that have a different, inhuman nature. The book itself was actively disseminated even before it was officially published, in the form of photocopies. After it was released for sale, readers bought out all the copies, which numbered 300 pieces.

Later, even in Italy, this book was distributed. "Elena Tregubova" Kremlin mutants "- it was in this design that the product of a famous journalist entered the expanses of the Italian book market in 2005. On this procession of the Kremlin's history across Europe did not stop, and in 2006 the book was published in German (Die Mutanten des Kremls). For work with the creation of Tregubova took publishing Tropen Verlag.

In general, the author's position was accepted by the European reader. The Berliner Zeitung newspaper, in turn, noted that the book can be described as a masterpiece that exposed the real state of the mechanisms of power in Russia.

Tregubova herself claimed that she received an offer from Hollywood about writing a script based on facts from her book.

Comments of the domestic media

Elena Tregubova's books, in the opinion of representatives of the Russian media, provoked a negative response from the Kremlin, especially from those who were mentioned in the story. The media also disseminated information that Tregubova was put on so-called special account, defining it in this way as a journalist unwanted by the authorities.

In November 2003, the NTV channel even prepared a large story, directly related to Tregubova and her conflict with the administration of President Vladimir Putin. But the plot failed to get on the air. According to the personal initiative of the company's CEO, he was removed just before the show.

Subsequently, this action was defined as a manifestation of political censorship. This is how the reaction of the director general was taken by various public figures, including Fedotov himself, secretary of the Russian Union of Journalists.

Government response

Tregubova Elena Viktorovna, whose photo from the Russian reader was personified with criticism of the government, certainly did not evoke positive emotions among the Kremlin's representatives, especially after the publication of the book.

In addition to the fact that Elena Tregubova had to leave "Komersant" (the editor-in-chief later admitted the fact of pressure), an interview with her, which was in NTV archives, was subsequently withdrawn. Although earlier this channel was known for its critical position.

In other words, the representatives of the presidential administration made it clear that both articles and the book are unsuitable for them. The result of such a reaction from the authorities was a new book by Elena Tregubova "Farewell to the Kremlin Digger."

Official Speeches

Some time later, the Russian journalist again reminded of herself. It happened immediately after the murder of Anna Politkovskaya. Five days after this event, Tregubova published an open letter to Angela Merkel in the German newspaper Zeit.

The letter was called "Silence is complicity". In it, the journalist blamed the Russian president for the murder of Politkovskaya, and also voiced her claims to the Russian government regarding the violation of human rights and the persecution of freedom of speech. Tregubova also asked the Chancellor of Germany to influence the situation in Russia - to help stop the stable liquidation of free media and stop violations of the rights of Russian citizens.

After such an initiative, according to the writer, near her house you could notice two people who followed her daily.

Immigration

Realizing that she is not able to exert a tangible influence on the situation inside the country, Elena Tregubova left Russia and left for England.

The idea of moving has got its more concrete development after in March 2007 during interrogation of Boris Berezovsky representatives of the prosecutor's office were interested in the personality of Tregubova. The interrogation was connected with the Litvinenko case. Berezovsky regarded such issues as a potential threat to the journalist.

It was then in favor of moving to England and made a choice of Elena Tregubova. Where now She lives - is not a secret. The writer leads an active life in the UK, having the status of political emigrant.

It is worth noting that already in Europe, she did not cease in interviews and articles to demand from officials to pay attention to the harsh methods of Russia's political elite.

Conclusion

The activity of Elena Tregubova was aimed at publicizing some negative facts concerning the government of the Russian Federation. Obviously, because of her radical position and unwillingness to compromise, the journalist was in serious conflict with representatives of the presidential administration. As for the degree of objectivity of the information provided by her, only specialists in the political situation in the Russian Federation can appreciate this.