Students crammed into the fourth-floor conference room of the FedEx Global Education Center on Tuesday night for the chance to hear Russian journalist Yulia Latynina speak candidly about her country.
Her provocative blend of sarcasm and intellect might garner a large audience in the U.S., but in Russia, Latynina’s candor has made her an infamous government target.
“Where there are journalists like Yulia, there is hope,” said Slavic language professor Radislav Lapushin.
“She never strives to please any kind of establishment. It takes courage and fearlessness to do what she does on a daily basis.”
Latynina writes for one of the few independent newspapers in Russia and has her own radio show. She said she doesn’t write for a noble reason but because it is her job as a journalist to tell others what is happening.
“You know, the Russian government is pretty immune to critics,” she said. “Putin prides himself on not reacting to what people are saying.”
Despite her heavy accent, Latynina’s cynicism was clearly evident as she depicted Russia as a poor, corrupt country with a failing democracy.
“There’s total corruption, total toleration of corruption. If the regime changes, it doesn’t follow suit that the corruption will change,” she said.
Throughout the night she used pictures to contrast the wealth of the Russian political elite with the poverty of the people.
According to Latynina, poor people cannot be trusted to elect responsible leaders because they make their decisions based on false promises.
“Poor people vote for the people who promise them irrational things,” she said, pointing to Latin America and even Iran as examples. “It has nothing to do with Russian character, but with the fact that Russia is poor.”
Latynina’s lecture was organized by David Pike of the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures and the UNC Center for Slavic, Eurasian and East European Studies.
Sophomore Stephany Murphy said she was shocked that Pike came through on his promise to bring Latynina to UNC all the way from Russia.
“She’s so interesting because she does things that nobody else wants to touch,” Murphy said about Latynina.
“We’re really lucky to get to see her.”
Senior Ali Hawkins said Latynina’s lecture changed her perception of democracy and corruption in Russia.
“Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, I always thought of Russia as a democratic society, but clearly that’s not the case.”
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
