Alexander Glebovich (Oleksandr Hlibovych) Nevzorov (Russian: Алекса́ндр Гле́бович Невзо́ров; Ukrainian: Олександр Глібович Невзоров; born on 3 August 1958) is a Russian and Ukrainian television journalist, film director and a former member of the Russian State Duma.

Alexander Nevzorov
Александр Невзоров
Nevzorov in 2024
Member of the State Duma
In office
12 December 1993 – 24 December 2007
Personal details
Born
Alexander Glebovich Nevzorov

(1958-08-03) 3 August 1958 (age 66)
Leningrad, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
CitizenshipSoviet (until 1991)
Russian
Ukrainian (since 2022)[1]
Spouse(s)Natalia Nevzorova (divorced)
Aleksandra Yakovleva (divorced)
Lidia Nevzorova
Children2
EducationMoscow Theological Academy (expelled)
Leningrad State University (dropped out)
OccupationJournalist, news presenter, opinion journalist, film director, screenwriter, politician, blogger
Websitenevzorov.tv

Biography

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Nevzorov was born on 3 August 1958 in Leningrad.[2] He started working for the Leningrad television in 1985.[3] From December 1987 to 1993, he hosted the program 600 Seconds on the Leningrad TV channel, aired then all over the Soviet Union.[4][5][6] On 12 December 1990 he was shot and wounded during a meeting with someone who pretended to have sensitive documents to offer.[4][7] In late 1991 his program was taken off the air twice and later gradually lost its popularity.[8][9] During the 1991 coup d'état attempt, Nevzorov supported the State Committee on the State of Emergency, the organ of the coupists.[10] Nevzorov formed the Nashi movement (not to be confused with the later pro-Putin youth movement of the same name). The broadcast was finally closed down in the aftermath of Yeltsin's victory in his confrontation with the Russian Supreme Soviet (Nevzorov had supported the anti-Yeltsin side).[8]

Nevzorov worked as a reporter in the Yugoslav Wars and the Transnistria War in 1992–1993.[9]

 
Nevzorov as a deputy of the State Duma in 1994

In the 1993 campaign, Nevzorov was elected deputy in the State Duma of the Russian Federation for the first time, and after that was re-elected as an independent deputy three times, serving until the 2007 elections when the single constituency seats were abolished.[8]

He served as an adviser on film, TV and radio to Vladimir Yakovlev during the latter's tenure as the Governor (mayor) of Saint Petersburg.[11]

In 1994 Nevzorov was a vocal supporter of the initiation of the First Chechen War.[4] In 1997 he wrote and directed the TV film Chistilishche ("Purgatory") about the Chechen war, co-produced with Boris Berezovsky and released in March 1998.[12] As the Chechen War dragged on, his views changed and he became skeptical of Russian imperialism. He regretted his past nationalist positions, and said in 2015 about his involvement in Nashi (Russian political party):

I experimented with fascism in laboratory, soft forms. I don't have to spend my whole life following ideas whose delusion has become obvious to me.[13]

In 2003 Nevzorov collaborated with the ORT TV channel and often appeared as a political commentator on Sergey Dorenko's Saturday night news show.[14]

In 2012, Nevzorov supported Vladimir Putin during his presidential campaign, and was his authorised representative.[15]

In 2014 Nevzorov opposed the Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation.[15]

Russian invasion of Ukraine

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In a video posted to YouTube on 11 April 2021, during the build-up of Russian forces near the Ukrainian borders, Nevzorov predicted that the future Russian invasion of Ukraine is inevitable and will end in tragedy and humiliation for Russia. He also predicted fierce Ukrainian resistance.[16]

After the Russian invasion of Ukraine began in earnest, Nevzorov was charged on 22 March 2022 under Russia's "false information" law after he published information that Russian forces had shelled a maternity hospital in Mariupol.[17] He could be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison. Nevzorov said that Vladimir Putin's "regime is not going to spare anyone, and that any attempts to comprehend the criminal war [in Ukraine] will end in prison."[18] Nevzorov's wife Lidia stated on social media that her husband was in Israel.[19]

On 22 April 2022, Nevzorov was added by the Russian government to the list of individuals acting as foreign agents.[19]

In June 2022, Nevzorov and his wife Lidia submitted an application to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine for Ukrainian citizenship.[20] On 3 June, Nevzorov and the State Migration Service of Ukraine confirmed that Nevzorov and his wife had received Ukrainian citizenship.[19][1][21] On 6 June, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Oleksiy Danilov stated that Nevzorov did not yet have citizenship, but that he had only applied for it.[22]

References

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  1. ^ a b (in Ukrainian) Russian journalist Nevzorov received Ukrainian citizenship, Lb.ua [uk] (3 June 2022)
  2. ^ "Невзоров, Александр Глебович". tass.ru. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  3. ^ «Звезды» телевидения Archived 4 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ a b c Biography (in Russian)
  5. ^ The Struggle for Control over Soviet Television by Elena Androunas, Journal of Communication 41.2, 185–200 (June 1991).
  6. ^ Сюжет // «Взгляд»
  7. ^ Popular Soviet TV Journalist Reported Shot, Reuters, 14 December 1990.
  8. ^ a b c "Александр Невзоров: РПЦ "подставила" государство из-за истории с Pussy Riot". Archived from the original on 10 June 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
  9. ^ a b Если завтра во главе России встанет буддист, чиновничья братия немедленно побежит заказывать себе оранжевые сари, начнёт подыскивать местечки для определенных знаков и будет косноязычно приветствовать друг друга словами: «Ом мани падме хум» Archived 6 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  10. ^ "Александр Невзоров: "ГКЧП - это были старенькие дети"". 19 August 2015.
  11. ^ "Меня интересует только настоящее. 7 дней, №49 (6–12 декабря) 2010". Archived from the original on 24 March 2016. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
  12. ^ Russell, John. Chechnya – Russia's 'war on Terror', Routledge (publisher), 2007, p. 64. ISBN 978-0-415-38064-5 ISBN 0-415-38064-2
  13. ^ "Особое мнение". Echo of Moscow. Archived from the original on 13 February 2015. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  14. ^ "Александр Невзоров: Попы должны пойти работать". 8 October 2010. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
  15. ^ a b Morozov, Viatcheslav (2015). Russia's Postcolonial Identity: A Subaltern Empire in a Eurocentric World (1 ed.). Palgrave Macmillan London. pp. 166–168. doi:10.1057/9781137409300_7. ISBN 978-1-349-48859-9. During the presidential campaign of 2012, Nevzorov became one of Vladimir Putin's authorised representatives and currently keeps this status, despite being an outspoken opponent of the annexation of Crimea and the intervention in Eastern Ukraine. He claims he has cleaned himself of the 'imperial addiction.': he supports the Ukrainian government in its military offensive against the separatists, while most of his friends fight on the other side, and a few of them have been killed. Paradoxically, he says he still supports Putin.
  16. ^ "Watch This Russian Journalist and Former Politician Predict the Outcome in Ukraine Back in April 2021". Esquire. 23 March 2022.
  17. ^ "Russia: Authorities launch witch-hunt to catch anyone sharing anti-war views". Amnesty International. 30 March 2022.
  18. ^ "Top Russian Journalist Defiant in Face of Fake News Investigation". VOA News. 23 March 2022.
  19. ^ a b c (in Ukrainian) The Migration Service confirmed that the President had granted Ukrainian citizenship to Nevzorov, Ukrinform (3 June 2022)
  20. ^ (in Ukrainian) Russian journalist Nevzorov and his wife want Ukrainian citizenship - the media, UNIAN (3 June 2022)
  21. ^ "Russian Journalist, Kremlin Critic Granted Ukrainian Citizenship". The Moscow Times. 3 June 2022.
  22. ^ "У Невзорова ще нема громадянства, він лише звернувся, – Данілов". 24 Канал (in Ukrainian). 6 June 2022. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
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