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