Marina Litvinovich Director of the Foundation for Assistance to Victims of Terror. Date of Birth: 19.09.1974 Country: Russia

1. Early Life and Education
2. IT and Media Projects
3. Election and Campaign Management
4. Political Activism
5. Protests and Advocacy
6. Awards and Recognition

Early Life and Education

Maria Litvinovich was born on September 19, 1974 in Moscow, Russia. She is the granddaughter of aircraft engine designer Georgy Litvinovich. In 1992, she enrolled in the Philosophy Faculty of Moscow State University (MSU), where she graduated in 1998 with a specialization in "Methodology of Science." From 1995-1997, she studied sociology at a French university college. In 1999-2000, she pursued a postgraduate degree in political science at MSU.

IT and Media Projects

Between 1996 and 2001, Litvinovich served as the director of new projects (primarily online) for Gleb Pavlovsky's Fund for Effective Policy (FEP). She co-founded the "Russian Journal" in January 1997 alongside Pavlovsky and Dmitry Ivanov.

Litvinovich played a role in several FEP projects, including "SMI.ru," "Vesti.ru," Primakov.nu, "We are for Barack," Elections99.com, Kirienko.ru, and Government.ru. She also participated in the 1999 mayoral campaign of Sergei Kirienko in Moscow.

Election and Campaign Management

In September 2000, Litvinovich became the CEO and editor-in-chief of the online news project "National Information Service 'Strana.Ru.'" In 2003, she joined the Union of Right Forces (SPS) party as its chief political strategist during the General Duma elections. However, she left the campaign in October 2003 due to the party's negative tactics against Yabloko.

In 2004, Litvinovich led the campaign for Irina Khakamada's presidential candidacy. She later joined Khakamada's "Free Russia" party's organizing committee.

Political Activism

From 2004 onwards, Litvinovich played a key role in the "Committee-2008: Free Choice" movement and became a political advisor to Garry Kasparov in February 2005. She was appointed as a political strategist for Kasparov's United Civil Front (OCF) in May 2005 and joined its Federal Council in the summer of the same year.

Litvinovich established the "Truth of Beslan" website in July 2005, advocating for the mothers of Beslan school siege victims. She faced threats of violence against her child after Khakamada filed a defamation lawsuit against Sergei Mironov, then Chairman of the Federation Council.

In 2005, Litvinovich founded and led the Victims of Terror Foundation. She headed Viktor Shenderovich's election campaign in 2005.

Protests and Advocacy

Litvinovich has been actively involved in various protests and advocacy initiatives. She organized gatherings outside the Ministry of Defense over the case of soldier Andrei Sychev, leading to her arrest and fine in 2006. She participated in "Marches of Dissent" and investigated cases of mass poisoning of Chechen and Ingush children in 2006-08.

Awards and Recognition

In 2004, Litvinovich was ranked 7th in the "Izvestia" newspaper's list of Top-10 Russian Political Strategists. She was recognized as one of the Top-50 Young Politicians by "Re:Akcia" magazine in 2006. In 2007, she represented Russia on the jury for the "Best of the Blogs-2006" contest organized by Deutsche Welle.