Alexander Valeryevich Sladkov (; born April 1, 1966) is a prominent Russian military correspondent and a special correspondent for the ''

Izvestia ''Izvestia'' ( rus, Известия, r=Izvestiya, p=ɪzˈvʲesʲtʲɪjə, "The News") is a daily broadsheet newspaper in Russia. Founded in February 1917, ''Izvestia'', which covered foreign relations, was the organ of the Supreme Soviet of th ...

'' program.

Biography

Sladkov graduated from

Kurgan A kurgan is a type of tumulus (burial mound) constructed over a grave, often characterized by containing a single human body along with grave vessels, weapons, and horses. Originally in use on the Pontic–Caspian steppe, kurgans spread into mu ...

Higher Military-Political Aviation School in 1987. In 1992, he retired from the

Armed Forces of the Russian Federation The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, commonly referred to as the Russian Armed Forces, are the military of Russia. They are organized into three service branches—the Ground Forces, Navy, and Aerospace Forces—two independent comba ...

with the rank of Senior lieutenant (First lieutenant). From 1992 to 1993, he worked as a correspondent for the regional newspaper ''Vremya'' in the town of

Shchyolkovo Shchyolkovo ( rus, Щёлково, p=ˈɕːɵlkəvə) is a city and the administrative center of Shchyolkovsky District in Moscow Oblast, Russia, located on the Klyazma River ( Oka's tributary), northeast of Moscow. Population: 112,865 ( 20 ...

in the

Moscow Region Moscow Oblast (, , informally known as , ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). With a population of 8,524,665 (Russian Census (2021), 2021 Census) living in an area of , it is one of the most densely populate ...

and for the program ''Voice of Russia'' on

Radio Rossii Radio Rossii (, ''Radio of Russia'') is the primary public radio station in Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest coun ...

. He studied journalism at the Faculty of Humanities University, graduating with an

externship Externships are experiential learning opportunities, similar to internships, provided by partnerships between educational institutions and employers to give students practical experiences in their field of study. In medicine, it may refer to a visi ...

. Since 1993, Sladkov has worked on the television channel Rossiya as a correspondent for the program ''Izvestiya''. From April 2002 to September 2015 he was the author, manager, and presenter of the ''Military Program'', and from September 2003 to January 2004 he was the presenter of the TV entertainment program ''Steep Route''. Sladkov broadcast news from

Grozny Grozny (, ; ) is the capital city of Chechnya, Russia. The city lies on the Sunzha River. According to the 2021 Russian census, 2021 census, it had a population of 328,533 — up from 210,720 recorded in the 2002 Russian Census, 2002 ce ...

during the battles of the Russian forces against the

Chechen Republic of Ichkeria The Chechen Republic of Ichkeria ( ; ; ; abbreviated as "ChRI" or "CRI"), known simply as Ichkeria, was a ''de facto'' State (polity), state that controlled most of the former Checheno-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, Checheno-Ingus ...

in January 1995, March and August 1996, and January 2000. On August 9, 2008, he received a leg wound while covering the

Russo-Georgian war The August 2008 Russo-Georgian War, also known as the Russian invasion of Georgia,Occasionally, the war is also referred to by other names, such as the Five-Day War and August War. was a war waged against Georgia by the Russian Federation and the ...

. He covered the

Transnistria conflict The Transnistria conflict (; ; ) is an ongoing frozen conflict between Moldova and the unrecognized state of Transnistria. Its most active phase was the Transnistria War. There have been several unsuccessful attempts to resolve the conflict ...

, the

Tajikistani Civil War The Tajikistani Civil War,, group=pron also known as the Tajik Civil War, began in May 1992 and ended in June 1997. Regional groups from the Garm and Gorno-Badakhshan regions of Tajikistan rose up against the newly formed government of Preside ...

, the Chechen-Russian conflict, the

, and the

Russo-Ukrainian war The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia Russian occupation of Crimea, occupied and Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, annexed Crimea from Ukraine. It then ...

. Since 2014, he has been a member of the Public Council under the Russian

Ministry of Defense A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divided ...

Work in Ukraine

Since the beginning of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2014, Alexander Sladkov has worked in the contested territories, justifying the Russian invasion of Ukraine and role of the Russian army's alleged war crimes against Ukrainian civilians. Sladkov regularly interrogates Ukrainian prisoners of war and political prisoners who have allegedly been tortured by the Russian special services. One of the most famous victims was Ukrainian journalist and writer Stanislav Aseyev from

Donetsk Donetsk ( , ; ; ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin, and Stalino, is an industrial city in eastern Ukraine located on the Kalmius River in Donetsk Oblast, which is currently occupied by Russia as the capita ...

. In April 2020, Alexander Sladkov published a video on his YouTube channel showing Russian positions near the Ukrainian-controlled town of

Horlivka Horlivka ( ; , ), also known as Gorlovka (, ), is a city in Donetsk Oblast of Ukraine. Its population is Economic activity is predominantly coal mining and the chemical industry. The Horlivka Institute for Foreign Languages has a two-building ...

in the

Donetsk Region Donetsk Oblast, also referred to as Donechchyna (, ), is an Oblasts of Ukraine, oblast in eastern Ukraine. It is Ukraine's most populous province, with around 4.1 million residents. Its capital city, administrative centre is Donetsk, though d ...

. In this video, the separatists fired from a 122 mm caliber Partisan launcher (improvised launcher for MLRS

BM-21 Grad The BM-21 "Grad" () is a self-propelled 122 mm multiple rocket launcher designed in the Soviet Union. The system and the M-21OF rocket were first developed in the early 1960s, and saw their first combat use in March 1969 during the Sino-S ...

), which was prohibited according to the

Minsk agreements The Minsk agreements were a series of international agreements which sought to end the Donbas war fought between armed Russian separatist groups and Armed Forces of Ukraine, with Russian regular forces playing a central part. After a defe ...

that were rejected by both sides .

Personal life

Alexander Sladkov lives in Moscow, is married and has four children.

Awards

* Order of Honor (1996) - for active participation in the creation and development of the All-Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company. *Honorary weapon (1999) - from the Russian Minister of Defense, Marshal of the Russian Federation I.D. Sergeev. * Order of Courage (2000), for self-sacrifice in covering events in the North Caucasus region. *Award of the Federal Security Service of Russia (nomination "Television and Radio Programs", 2006) - for the film ''The End of the Black Angel''" *Award of the Federal Security Service of Russia (nomination "Television and Radio Programs", 2013) - for the film ''Fire Bail. Those who survived'' *Award of the Federal Security Service of Russia (nomination "Television and Radio Programs", 2019–2020) - for the film ''Operation Argun'' *A valuable gift (2007) from the Russian Minister of Defence S. B. Ivanov - for active assistance in completing of missions of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. * Order of Courage (2009) - for self-sacrifice in covering events during the

*Order of Friendship (2013, self-proclaimed non-recognized

Republic of South Ossetia South Ossetia, officially the Republic of South Ossetia or the State of Alania, is a landlocked country in the South Caucasus with partial diplomatic recognition. It has an officially stated population of just over 56,500 people (2022) ...

) - for significant personal contribution to the development of friendly Russian-South Ossetian relations, high professionalism, courage, and selflessness demonstrated during the

. *«Военкор» 'War Correspondent medal, (November 2020, 'Wave of Memory' Organisation, Moscow).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sladkov, Alexander 1966 births Living people 21st-century Russian journalists Recipients of the Order of Courage (Russia)

Biography

Work in Ukraine

Personal life

Awards

See also

References