NOVEMBER 1, 1979 — MARCH 23, 2022
42 YEARS, JOURNALIST, EDITOR
Oksana Baulina was a Russian journalist who switched high heels for a bulletproof vest once the war broke out. She was working in Kyiv on an editorial for the opposition outlet The Insider, where she was a producer.
On March 23, Oksana was supposed to contact her colleague, Anton Naumliuk, once she was back from the filming. But she never came back. That evening, Oksana was filming the bombed mall Retroville on the outskirts of Podil district of Kyiv. The shelling broke out in the area. One of the shells killed a bystander, another — killed Oksana. She was face down, in a puddle of blood, back to the scorched building.
Oksana had worked for the glossy magazines for over a decade. After the electoral fraud-fueled mass protests in Russia (2011 – 2012), political investigative journalism got a hold of her. She took it as a blessing, and, with all her experience to date, got down to business. Oksana worked for the opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation. In 2020, she moved to Poland.
In 2017, «Radio Svoboda» released a short documentary about Oksana’s work. At the time, she was the editor-in-chief for «Navalny LIVE» channel, and spoke about the behind-the-scenes work she did.
Everyone willing to work for Navalny, comes to terms with possible risks attached to the job. So did Oksana. On one occasion, the journalist was taken into custody straight from her place of work and sentenced to arrest, in a prison cell. Dim light followed by blinding light. Wake-up call at 6 in the morning. Three more girls in the same cell. Around-the-clock video surveillance. Porridge for breakfast: wheat, barley, rice. She could handle it. A hole in the floor in the same cell as a toilet. Sink, table and chair nailed to the floor — payback for Oksana’s highlighting the anti-corruption rally in Moscow on March 26, 2017. She spent over a week behind bars.
Oksana was born on November 1, 1979 in Krasnoyarsk region. Oksana likes bright colors in clothing. Used to like. They elevated the mood, both for her and people around. At some party, Oksana said in passing «My cooking is divine!» Her friends and she agreed to conduct a culinary duel shortly after. She loved driving, and was pretty good at it. Special date for the journalist was October 6, 2006 — the day Anna Politkovskaya was assassinated. Oksana had many friends, and always found time to attend to everyone. When the war broke out, she posted on Facebook «If you need to talk, I’m here for you». It is very important to let every person know that they matter, here and now, the journalist believed.
Oksana felt that in order to rightfully cover everything Russia did in 2022, she needed to be in Ukraine in person. On March 11, she crossed the border. Oksana had arranged in advance with Ukrainian officials that she would be let in the country, so she could perform journalistic duties. She intended to make a film about the war. When in Lviv, she filmed interviews with four prisoners; active servicemen among them, one of whom phoned his mother during the interview.
When she arrived to Ukraine, she was given a bulletproof vest. It was nothing less of a level 5 one — designed to protect from automatic gunfire with 7,62 mm bullets and shrapnel. Sadly, on the day, Oksana did not have it on when she went filming the destroyed mall. The certificate issued at the morgue states in brief «Damage from shrapnel as a result of military actions».
