Elena Romanova

I was born and raised in Belarus, where I studied and graduated as a teacher of Russian language and literature. I worked for two years as a teacher at a school for children with mental disabilities before I started working as a TV journalist in 2001. However, I felt more and more confronted by the increasing censorship in the country. For this reason, I left Belarus in 2006 and have since lived in Rostov-on-Don, in the south of Russia. As a freelance correspondent, I wrote for Novaya Gazeta, a newspaper critical of the Kremlin. In addition, I have been active as a fixer for foreign media, providing coverage of events on the border between Russia and Ukraine. After the beginning of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, I was able to come to Germany in exile thanks to the support of Reporters Without Borders, ECPMF (European Centre for Press and Media Freedom) and MiCT (Media in Cooperation and Transition). Now I live in Leipzig with my husband and youngest son. Currently I work as a freelance journalist and write for various Russian and Belarusian media. I also continue to work for Novaya Gazeta. Although the newspaper has had all its licenses revoked in Russia and its website is blocked there, the newspaper still has several hundred thousand readers.