Leonid Petrovich Kravchenko (May 10, 1938, Tureevka, Oryol Oblast – July 2, 2018, Moscow) – Soviet and Russian journalist, media executive, party and state official, USSR People’s Deputy. From 1975 to 2003, he served as editor-in-chief and head of several state media outlets. Biography
Born May 10, 1938, in Tureevka village, Dubrovsky District, Oryol Oblast. During the early years of World War II, he was with his mother among Bryansk partisans. His father went missing in action. His stepfather, a Great Patriotic War veteran, taught alongside his mother in a rural school—first in Bryansk Oblast, then, after moving to Smolensk Oblast, for over 40 years at Logovo School in Velizh District. Leonid graduated from Logovo’s seven-year school and later Velizh High School with a gold medal. In 1956, he enrolled in the Journalism Faculty of Moscow State University (MSU). In 1961, he graduated from MSU’s Journalism Faculty. As a student in 1958, he wrote his first literary work, the novella “Meeting with Death.” Until 1966, he worked as deputy editor of the economics section of Stroitelnaya Gazeta. From 1966 to 1975, he was the first deputy editor of TV programs for Moscow and Moscow Oblast at the Shabolovka and Ostankino TV centers, directing several documentaries. From 1975 to 1980, he was editor-in-chief of Stroitelnaya Gazeta, increasing its circulation tenfold from 62,000 to 670,000 copies. From 1980 to 1985, he led Trud newspaper, doubling its circulation to a record 19.7 million copies, earning a Guinness World Record. In 1985, he was appointed First Deputy Chairman of the USSR State Committee for Television and Radio Broadcasting (Gostelradio), serving until 1988. In 1989, he headed the USSR Telegraph Agency (TASS). On November 14, 1990, by decree of USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev, he was appointed Chairman of Gostelradio, and on February 8, 1991, Chairman of the All-Union State Television and Radio Company. His first interview in Izvestia (December 4, 1990) was titled “I Came to Fulfill the President’s Will.” This phrase was later seen as his programmatic statement, though Kravchenko claimed it was taken out of context, referring to Gostelradio reform plans. His editorial policies led to his expulsion from the USSR Journalists’ Union in 1991. On August 19, 1991, complying with the State Committee on the State of Emergency, he imposed strict political censorship on television, banning information from the White House. On August 21, 1991, he was temporarily suspended by a Russian presidential decree, and on August 26, 1991, after the August Coup’s suppression, he was dismissed by a USSR presidential decree. 1989–1991 – USSR People’s Deputy, CPSU Central Committee member (1990–1991). In 1993, he was First Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Rossiyskaya Gazeta. From 1998 to 2003, he led Parlamentskaya Gazeta, the official publication of the Russian Federal Assembly, which he founded. From 1998 to 1999, he served on the board of directors of TV-Stolitsa and as First Deputy Chairman of TV-Center’s board (from July 1998 to July 1999). In 2007, he worked at Stroitelnaya Gazeta. He died on July 2, 2018, in Moscow and was buried on July 5, 2018, at Troekurovskoye Cemetery. Facts
He championed strict professional standards: “Being famous isn’t enough; you must meet many criteria. A TV host enters millions of homes, becoming familiar, so they must be impeccable in dress and speech, or viewers will notice poor taste. I once lent a colleague my spare shirt and even ironed pants for Eldar Ryazanov!” He introduced Anatoly Kashpirovsky to television, earning the title “godfather of the Kashpirovsky phenomenon.” In January 1991, citing “concept clarification,” he removed Vzglyad hosts from the air and blocked channels of the independent Interfax agency. He introduced “release editors” in Vremya and TSN news programs, effectively enforcing ideological control. TSN hosts Tatyana Mitkova, Yevgeny Kiselyov, and Yuri Rostov were removed, Radio Russia’s airtime was cut, and popular host Vladimir Molchanov left Central Television. Responding to criticism, he engaged in press polemics: “Yevgeny Dodolev spread such rumors about me that I had to explain myself live on air.” He claimed Boris Yeltsin’s personal animosity led to 12 interrogations by the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office in fall 1991. In Perestroika’s Beatles, he alleged Vlad Listyev “stole 5 billion rubles in advertising money.” In January 1991, he pulled Aleksandr Myrlyn’s report on the OMON attack on the Latvian Press House and objective coverage of the Vilnius events. He shut down Vzglyad, censored TSN, and reverted Vremya to a pre-perestroika format. In an interview with Nezavisimaya Gazeta, he stated state television had no right to criticize the country’s leadership, and in the USSR Supreme Soviet, he declared he determined objectivity. Under his leadership, entertainment programming significantly increased. On April 13, 1991, the Moscow Journalists’ Union expelled him. Later Career
1989–1991 – USSR People’s Deputy, CPSU Central Committee member (1990–1991). May 18, 1989 – September 26, 1991 – Chairman of the USSR Ice Hockey Federation. 1993 – First Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Rossiyskaya Gazeta. 1998–2003 – Head of Parlamentskaya Gazeta. 1998–1999 – On the boards of TV-Stolitsa and TV-Center. In the early 2000s, he taught journalism at Moscow State Open Pedagogical University. In the late 2000s to early 2010s, he was a professor at the Higher School of Economics’ journalism department. Public Activities
May 18, 1989 – September 26, 1991 – Chairman of the USSR Ice Hockey Federation. Awards
Received two Orders of the Red Banner of Labor. Books

• Swan Song of the GKChP (2010): on the catastrophic consequences of perestroika.
• How I Was a TV Kamikaze (2005): on 1980s television and the glasnost era.
• Secrets of the Blue Screen (1974): on the history and art of television.
• Documentary novella Meeting with Death.

Family
Married with two children. Son Andrey (pseudonym Anton Orekh) – a well-known radio journalist and publicist.