The Spike: Natasha Sindeyeva

Lucy Kenningham | Issue 6 | Kyiv, Magazine

From the Archive

The remarkable story of the exuberant socialite who founded Russia’s only independent television channel

The tango: a ballroom dance from Buenos Aires, distinguished by marked rhythms, postures and abrupt pauses. It’s dramatic, extravagant and ostentatious, also intimate and sexy: it’s a suitable passion for a glamorous Muscovite. But tango-lover Natasha Sindeyeva is not just a dancer; she is the founder and CEO of Russia’s only independent TV channel and the face of journalistic resistance. Sindeyeva is an exhibitionist, from her vibrant suits to her garish earrings. “Today is all about me, Natasha Sindeyeva,” she announces, giggling, in a clip filmed at a glitzy party in the noughties. “Without any false modesty I’m going to sing and dance. Prepare to get sick of seeing me on stage.” Not long later, she swapped stage for screen. “Why isn’t there TV for normal people? That’s how it started,” her husband, ex-oligarch Aleksandr Vinokurov explains, although he must have been aware that his wife was far from “normal”. So why? Her co-founder, Vera Krichevskaya, describes Sindeyeva as a “dre...

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