Dmitry Kiselyov | |
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Born |
Dmitry Konstantinovich Kiselyov April 26, 1954 Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union |
Years active | 1978–present |
Awards |
Dmitry Konstantinovich Kiselyov (Russian: Дми́трий Константи́нович Киселёв; born April 26, 1954 in Moscow) alternatively transliterated Kiselev, is a Russian journalist. In December 2013 he was appointed by Russian President Vladimir Putin to head the new official Russian government-owned international news agency Rossiya Segodnya. He also serves as deputy director of Russian state TV holding company VGTRK.
His comments have been controversial both in Russia and in the West, especially regarding gay people and the Euromaidan, the 2014 crisis in Crimea and allegations of US involvement in ISIS. Additionally, his show has been accused by other media of being a soapbox to promote pro-Putin propaganda.
Born in Moscow on April 26, 1954, Kiselyov was brought up in a musical environment, being the nephew of Soviet composer Yuri Shaporin, and graduated from School of Music in classical guitar. He studied at Medical College Number 6 in Moscow. In 1978 he graduated from the Department of Scandinavian Philology of philological faculty of Leningrad State University and claims to speak English, French, Norwegian and Swedish.
He is best known as presenter of Vesti nedeli (News of the Week), a weekly news programme on the domestic Rossiya 1 television network. His show is accused of being a soapbox to promote the Kremlin's policies, disparage homosexuality, denigrate the West and speculate about Western-led conspiracies as well as attack the political opposition to Putin. Prior to Rossiya 1, Dmitry was employed by Soviet Central Television as well as the Ukrainian television channel ICTV between 2000 and 2003.