Employees of MBKh Media, Dozhd and Sberbank were accused of harassment. What is happening and how are they reacting to it?

After the publication of the material, clarifications and updates were added to this text.

On July 12-13, several threads appeared on Russian Twitter, talking about inappropriate behavior and sexual harassment by men who worked or continue to work in Russian media. The described cases, according to the authors of these threads, occurred both at work and at friendly parties and after them. At the same time, the flash mob began with a discussion of abusive relationships in couples: was the first to talk the hairdresser Violeta Er about such an experience. When her friend, Valentina Dekhtyarenko, an employee of the Human Rights Postcard, revealed the name of Violeta's former partner, a wide discussion of inappropriate behavior in the journalistic environment began on Twitter.

Several girls accused Ruslan Gafarov, a former employee of Open Russia, SMM manager of Sberbank, of harassment. spoke about harassment Some of the accusations relate to situations at work: Valentina Dekhtyarenko and Alina Danilova , who worked together with Gafarov in Open Russia, . Another accusation is related to inappropriate behavior and harassment in personal communication - Maria Konstantinidi spoke about this (Danilova and Konstantinidi host the podcast “Is this really sex”). The press secretary of the Lumiere Brothers Center for Photography, Valeria Shabelnikova, claims that Gafarov raped her.

Sergey Minenko, project manager at Sberbank, who previously worked for Menʼs Health Russia, Mel, Gazeta.ru, and Izvestia, has also been accused of several charges. about harassment at work said His former subordinate from Mel, Daria Kushnir, , according to which other employees of the editorial office also faced this. Journalist Karina Merkuryeva said that Minenko molested her at a meeting - and at that meeting Minenko was going to offer her a job (Merkuryeva previously described this incident in a column , but did not name). Journalist Olga Beshley spoke about Minenko's aggressive harassment at the meeting, which was also intended to discuss work. Journalists Anna Chesova , Zalina Marshenkulova and Sasha Semyonova stated that Minenko was aggressively molested during friendly parties. Violeta Er published a screenshot of an anonymous correspondence, from which it followed that Minenko allegedly secretly recorded sex with girls on cameras in his apartment. Journalist Yevgenia Ofitserova said that Minenko tried to rape her.

Sberbank said they were conducting an internal audit because of these reports. For the duration of the proceedings, Gafarov and Minenko were suspended from their duties. “Sberbank was mentioned as an employer, and, of course, we immediately drew attention to this. We categorically do not accept violence in any form and against anyone," the organization said. Minenko did not comment on the situation.

Updated . Gafarov said he pleaded guilty to "everything that was written" about him. “I apologized to those who spoke about this before, and personally apologized again yesterday and today. I haven't had a chance to text everyone yet, and I will," he tweeted , expressing his hope that "those who have found the courage to talk about traumatic experiences will feel better."

Other accusations were directed against the editor-in-chief of MBKh Media Sergey Prostakov, as well as the photo editor of the publication Andrey Zolotov. about cases of harassment by Prostakov at work A former intern of the editorial office anonymously told . And the former bartender Anastasia Zavyalova and Evgenia Ofitserova said about harassment in personal communication . In addition, the editor of Lenta.ru (the current composition of the publication) Victoria Kuzmenko wrote that a few years ago, during a party in Prostakov’s apartment, a girl was gang-raped, in which Zolotov participated.

On the night of July 14, Prostakov wrote in his telegram channel that he apologizes to everyone he offended and resigns from his post as chief editor of MBKh Media. Responding to reports of a gang rape, he said he did not remember that night. Zolotov stated that he did not plead guilty to the rape, although he "has no way to justify himself", and also announced his dismissal from the publication.

Maxim Dbar, a spokesman for Mikhail Khodorkovsky (who owns MBKh Media), said that the businessman is aware of what happened, but does not interfere in the staffing issues of the editorial office. “We adhere to a policy of intolerance to such manifestations ... In the conditions in which we work, it is quite difficult to have any prescribed and formalized rules of conduct, but we will try to maintain a respectful and friendly atmosphere in the teams cooperating with us,” said the Russian Service BBC Dbar.

Updated . The editor-in-chief of MBKh Media, Veronika Kutsyllo, apologized to everyone who suffered from the actions of Sergei Prostakov. She added that she considers the decisions of Prostakov and Zolotov to quit "the right and only possible in this situation."

Another accused of harassment was the host of "Rain" Pavel Lobkov. MBKh Media correspondent Alexander Skrylnikov said that during an internship on the TV channel, Lobkov molested him, “climbed to kiss, touched his hands and called him home.” Similar facts were anonymously cited by other former Dozhd trainees.

On the afternoon of July 14, Pavel Lobkov apologized for his "frivolous behavior." Lobkov stated that for him "the boundaries of bodily integrity remained at the level of the 2000s", and he did not notice how a new ethic appeared. The editor-in-chief of Dozhd, Tikhon Dzyadko, promised that the situation with Lobkov would be sorted out and discussed on the TV channel. “We will conduct an audit of relations within the company so that this does not happen again,” he said.

Updated . Valentina Dekhtyarenko, an employee of Pravozashchita Otkrytka (during this flash mob, she collected all the evidence and accusations on her Twitter account) also said that Pavel Nikulin, the editor-in-chief of moloko plus samizdat, once forced her to have sex without her consent. “There was no violence, it was just very unpleasant for me. Against the background of many other stories I have read, I do not consider this significant, ”Dekhtyarenko wrote. Samizdat moloko plus said that "having listened to both sides", he decided not to remove Nikulin from work. “We believe that the history of the relationship between our participant and Valentina Dekhtyarenko should be analyzed separately from the accusations against other participants in the scandal,” the moloko plus post says. Dekhtyarenko replied that no one from the publication contacted her and "did not listen to the other side."

Alexander Filimonov