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:
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:
Elena is one the bravest person I know.
When you think about it, people living in Western Democracies have no excuse. You can create a labor union in your company. You can run for office in your town. You can fight big corporations to reduce pollution.
In my life, whenever I lack strength to do the right thing, I always think about her.
Fun fact
Canada currently gives tax breaks to people that give money to the following universities :
Tel-Aviv University
Ariel University
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Technion-Israel Institute of Technology
Ben Gurion University of the Negev
Bar-Ilan University
University of Haifa
Yeshivat Aish Hatorah
👉 https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/charities-giving/other-organizations-that-issue-donation-receipts-qualified-donees/other-qualified-donees-listings/list-prescribed-universities-outside-canada.html
If Israel is showing such disrespect, their charitable statuts should be revoked.
In fact, there are far too many foreign universities in this list. WTF