Who Is Natalya Sindeyeva? Russian Newswoman Says "No To War" Walks Out Of Studio

Natalya Sindeyeva, one of the founders of Russian television news channel TV Rain ( Dozhd) said, " No to war" before she walked out of the studio with other employees.

The said news channel is reportedly one of the last independent outlets in the country. It suspended its operations after it was told by the authorities to shut down. The order came after the channel covered Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. The entire staff of the news channel resigned on the air with its last ' no to war' telecast.

The channel then played the ballet Swan Lake by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. It was referred to the moment in August 1991 when Soviet TV stations showed the ballet instead of the civil unrest in the country. The moment has gone viral on social media.

As per a report by New York Times, the telecommunications regulator in Russia had already blocked the TV Rain channel earlier this week. A few of the employees of the channel have already fled the country fearing their safety. The channel delivered their news segment on YouTube and the Swan Lake moment happened right then.

The channel has also reported on Thursday and they would stop operations due to the intense pressure from the Kremlin. Natalya Sindeyeva in her statement said, "We need strength to … understand how we can work from here. We really hope that we will return to broadcasting and continue our work. The statement was published on the channel’s website.

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It was reported by several outlets that Russian media has been directed to only deliver information provided by the official sources, meaning the government. The media houses have also been reportedly banned from using words like invasion, war or attack while describing the Ukraine crisis.

Who Is Natalya Sindeyeva?

• The owner and CEO of Dozhd media holding in Russia has received the Media Manager of Russia prize three times in her career.
• She graduated from Stockholm School of Economics Russia in 2006.
• Sindeyeva started her career in an Italian clothing company and then became the secretary to producer Pavel Vashchekin.
• As per reports, she networked with key figures of Russian media industry such as Russian Media Group founder Sergei Kozhevnikov.
• Starting out as a secretary, she worked her way up and became the producer of Thousand and One Nights TV show, as per reports.
• First she started a FM radio channel Silver Rain with her husband Dmitry Savitsky.
• She created the Dozhd media holding after her third marriage with Alexander Vinokurov, he was then the head of the investment bank KIT Finance 
• Natalya Sindeyeva was awarded with the Moscow Helsinki Group Prize for the Protection of Human Rights in 2016.
• She opened up about being diagnosed with breast cancer in February 2020 on air of her own programme. She has been a staunch critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin.