Olga Vladimirovna Skabeyeva[a] (Russian: Ольга Владимировна Скабеева; born 11 December 1984) is a Russian television presenter, political commentator,[1] and propagandist.[2] Skabeyeva received the nickname "Iron Doll of Putin TV" due to her criticism of the Russian opposition.[3][4]
Early life and education
Skabeyeva was born in 1984 in Volzhsky, in the Volgograd Oblast of the Soviet Union.[5] At first, she studied at a private Russian-American school, from which she graduated with honors.[6][7]
Skabeyeva rose to prominence in 2012–2013 with her coverage of the Pussy Riottrial, the concurrent surge in anti-government rallies and subsequent criminal investigations into the activities of Russian opposition supporters. Her critical reports of the Russian opposition prompted TV critic Irina Petrovskaya [ru; uk] to describe her as a member of Russian state TV's "special operation forces", and her tone as "prosecutorial and accusatory".[3]
Since 2015–2016, Skabeyeva has hosted the author's program Vesti.doc on the Russia-1 state TV channel.[4] Since 12 September 2016, together with husband Yevgeny Popov, she has hosted the 60 Minut (60 minutes), a social and political talk show on Russia-1, billed as a discussion program on high-profile topics.[10][11]
In 2018, Skabeyeva was involved in an attempt to discredit the British investigation into the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal.[12][13] Her television program said the Skripal poisoning case was 'an elaborate British plot to smear Russia'.
According to an Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) investigation published 29 July 2021, Skabeyeva and her husband own real estate in Moscow with a total value of over 300 million rubles (US$4 million).[14][15] A 2020 investigation by The Insider website found that Skabeyeva officially earns 12.8 million rubles a year, and her husband 12.9 million.[16][17] Their only reported sources of income are the state-owned media holding VGTRK and its subsidiary TV channel Russia-1.[16][18]
Skabeyeva is a two-time winner of the Russian television TEFI Award, receiving the distinction in 2017 and 2018.[19]
She called the Russian invasion of Ukraine an effort "to protect the people of Donbas from a Nazi regime" and said it was "without exaggeration, a crucial junction in history".[20] On 15 April 2022, she reacted to the sinking of the Russian cruiser Moskva by the Ukrainian forces, saying: "One can safely call that it has escalated into World War III."[21]
In September 2023, she said that Russia should have nuked Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral in London.[22] In June 2023, she suggested that Russia would need about "two or three million" Chinese soldiers to win the war in Ukraine.[23]
Skabeyeva criticized Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip during the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, saying that "Only the Americans can stop this bloodbath but they are doing exactly the opposite."[24]
Sanctions
On 24 February 2023, the United States Department of State imposed financial sanctions on Skabeyeva and her husband Yevgeny Popov (journalist). In a press release, the State Department described them as "hosts of a Russian talk show where they predominately disseminate pro-Russia propaganda for the war against Ukraine."[25] Four days later the European Union sanctioned Skabeyeva, who was also sanctioned by the UK government on 15 March 2022 in relation to the Russo-Ukrainian War.[26]
.jpg)
