Oleg Lurie Date of Birth
3 May 1963
Oleg Lurie Citizenship
Russia
Oleg Lurie Professional field/official position
Journalist, propagandist, one of the founders of the Versiya newspaper
Oleg Lurie biography
Oleg Anatolyevich Lurie (born in 1963 in Kharkiv) graduated from the philological faculty of Kharkiv State University in 1988. After a year in Canada, he returned to the USSR in 1990 and became the manager of singers Larisa Dolina and Vladimir Kuzmin. In 1992, he moved to Moscow and headed the International Slavic Charity Foundation. In 1994, Lurie started working as a journalist. Initially, he worked for Ukrainian media, and later he became an assistant to several members of the State Duma of Russia.
- From 1996 to 1997, Oleg Lurie was employed in the press service of the State Duma and ran for the Moscow City Duma from the LDPR party (without success).
- In 1997, he parted ways with the party leadership and embarked on an independent career as a journalist.
- In 1997, Lurie began working as a special correspondent for the Investigation Department of Express-Gazeta, and from 1998 to 1999, he served as an op-ed columnist for the Investigations Department of the Sovershenno Sekretno Holding, becoming one of the founders of the Versiya newspaper. His 1999 publication in Versiya about the involvement of Peter Aven and Mikhail Fridman in orchestrating the transit of drugs from Southeast Asia through Russia to Europe, illicit connections with organized crime, and other illegal activities caused a scandal and was deemed false.
- From 2000 to 2003, Lurie worked as a columnist for Novaya Gazeta, where he investigated the activities of the Office of the President of the Russian Federation in the so-called Mabetex Case regarding multimillion embezzlements during the repair of the Kremlin. His investigative efforts led to the dismissal of Presidential Affairs Manager Pavel Borodin. In December 2000, he was assaulted after appearing on NTV’s Voice of the People program, delivering sharp criticism of the Presidential Administration and certain oligarchs.
- From 2004 to 2005, Lurie launched the magazine VVP featuring Putin’s portraits and promotional articles.
- In 2005, he established and published the youth magazine JEANS – Territory of Freedom.
- In January 2008, Oleg Lurie was arrested on suspicion of extortion and fraud against Olga Slutsker and her husband, Senator Vladimir Slutsker, the general director of the World Class Clubs gym network. In March 2009, he was convicted and sentenced to 8 years in prison.
- In the summer of 2009, following a sentence review, his prison term was reduced to 4 years. He was released in December 2011. After his early release, Lurie appeared as an expert in the program of the influential propagandist Vladimir Solovyov on the Vesti FM radio, as well as in the propaganda TV programs of various channels including Channel One, Rossiya-1, Rossiya-24, RenTV, NTV, TVC, Stars, Tsardgad, and others. He also contributed to newspapers such as Versiya, Novye Izvestia, and Nezavisimaya Gazeta.
- Oleg Lurie crimes
