“I was raped and now they are threatening me with justice”: Ekaterina Fedorova tells
In January, journalist Ekaterina Fedorova told in social networks that she was raped by co-founder of Far Eastern media holding PrimaMedia Alexey Migunov. On the Internet, violent disputes began about the "who is really to blame." Migunov himself said that "there was no violence," and later filed a lawsuit against the journalist for the protection of honor and dignity. Ekaterina Fedorova tells how she decided to tell her story in public and what it led to.
Julia Dudkina
On January 3, I posted a post on Facebook in which I described in detail how I was raped. This was not done by a maniac from the corner, but by a person with whom I had long been acquainted, my former colleague Alexey Migunov, co-founder of PrimaMedia media holding. I did not dare to talk about what happened. Inside, it was as if two Kati Fedorovs were fighting. The first is the one that works with victims of violence and knows that they can not always fight back, that they often fall into a stupor, that they are very easy to blame for what happened. The second Katya Fedorova is uncertain, scared. She objected: "But you yourself decided to meet with him, she let him in to her house." In the end, I realized that this story concerns not only me. I just had no right to be silent about her.
They know about what happened to me, not only in Vladivostok, but throughout Russia. When I published the post, I did not expect such publicity at all, and, frankly, I was frightened by how widely this story went. In short, on October 13, 2018, I met with Alexey Migunov to ask him for a loan. We were on friendly terms, he was always polite to me, and I didn’t expect him to do me any harm. Therefore, I agreed to meet late in the evening. Migunov came with a corporate party, he was very drunk. We met in a cafe, he ordered strong alcohol, and I decided for a company to drink a glass of wine with him. Now, looking back at this story, I understand that I have given a lot of reasons to accuse me of what happened.
Talking about money, we really did not succeed. Alexey said that he was buying an apartment in Moscow and could not lend me 150 thousand rubles right now. I decided, no - it means no, and we began to talk on other topics. Now I am glad that he refused to give me this amount. Already after what happened, I was afraid: what if he transfers money to me and says that I blackmailed him? But this, fortunately, did not happen.
After dinner, Alex went to see me off. On the way, I constantly told him to take a taxi and go home, but he did not leave at all. Near the entrance, he sharply grabbed me and started kissing. From an unexpected movement, I even hit my head against the door. I had the keys in my hand. Migunov didn’t take them away, didn’t grab them - just raised my hand to the intercom so that the door would open. I was in a stupor and did not resist. It seemed to me that if we get to the apartment, we can calmly talk there. I will explain to him that we will not have sex and it is time for him to go home.
It was precisely because I did not actively resist that I could not at first admit to myself that it was violence. Persuading herself: maybe it was just hard sex after all?
At the entrance he grabbed me, pushed me. In the apartment he immediately threw off his outer clothing, began to kiss me, press me against the wall. I asked him to stop, he did not react.
When Migunov told me to disassemble the sofa, I obeyed. I was terrified. He bit me, laughed. He asked: "Does it hurt you? Tell me that it hurts you." I did everything he said: it seemed to me that he was completely inadequate and it was dangerous to resist him.
My mother is a psychiatrist. Later, when I talked to her about what had happened, I confessed that I blamed myself. I myself did not understand why I did not fight, run away. She replied that I behaved normally. In this situation, I did everything I could to ensure relative safety for myself. But precisely because I did not provide active resistance, at first I could not admit to myself that it was violence. Persuading herself: maybe it was just hard sex after all? Maybe I misunderstood something?
When Migunov left, I sat on the sofa for several hours, looked at my face in the mirror and did not believe that it was me. I took a photo to remember this moment and never repeat this mistake, not plunge into such shit. Then I went to the shower. I wanted to wash off urgently: I could smell sex, sperm, the smell of this man. Already when I rubbed myself with a washcloth, I realized that now I would not be able to undergo a forensic examination and prove anything. But I did not think it would be necessary.
About what happened, my parents knew and loved ones. I did not dare to betray this to wider publicity. Migunov is an influential person, and I understood that the persecution would begin. But once in early January, I came across the post of Anastasia Shamarina. She wrote that on the night of December 31, her husband Boris Elshin beat her, "strangled her and called her a little." The post was attached her photo in bruises. In the comments, people wrote that she was lying or that she herself was fighting. They assumed that she had a lover.
Everything was cold inside me: I was acquainted with Elshin. In 2015, we worked together with him and Migunov. Elshin then just came to Vladivostok and constantly wrote me messages: "I am in this city for the first time, shall we go for a drink?", Asked if I had any girlfriends. I ignored him, but once, when we were left in the office together, he abruptly went at me as if he were going to grab me now. I ran away from him and told the whole HR manager. An hour later I was fired. I was silent about this story for three years. Now, having learned what happened to Yelshin’s wife, I began to blame myself. Maybe if I had made a fuss in my time, he would not dare to behave like that? Or maybe his wife, who told about the beating, would be believed?
I could not remain silent and wrote a post in support of Anastasia. In it, I talked about what happened in 2015. I wanted to somehow help her. As she reacted, I do not know - we never communicated. Now I understood what I had to tell about Migunov. After all, maybe some other girl will suffer from his hands once. I definitely can not forgive myself.
I was very scared to publish the post. Before you do this, I spoke to my father. He asked: "Are you sure?" I answered: "Yes." He supported me, and it gave me a little strength. I didn’t expect that history would be learned outside of Vladivostok, and I certainly didn’t think that Migunov would sue me. But a couple of days after publication, federal media began to write about me. The accusations began to pour in the comments: people wrote that I was “a journalist from the Western paid media”, that my story is a provocation of the West. The fact is that I cooperate with one of the projects of the Radio Liberty holding company. I talked with colleagues, and together we decided to record an interview. Such that no one could accuse the publication of bias. Therefore, during the interview I was asked the toughest and provocative questions.
After publication, the story spread even more over the web. I tried for some time not to go on the Internet, so as not to read horrible comments that my “face asks for a member”. The most active were the people who work with Migunov. PrimeMedia employees began to fight for their boss as if they were ready to just kill me. From the side it looked as if they had been given an appropriate order in the working chat.
I'm not going to back down. Messages constantly come to me: women from different regions thank me for courage. They admit that such stories happened to them.
Even though I tried not to go on the Internet unnecessarily, I still saw some posts. The record of Ilya Tabachenko, the chief editor of PrimaMedia in Vladivostok, was especially vile. He laid out a photo of fried and gutted chicken from the Christmas table and wrote: "I really hope that this tattered chicken will not write anything about me on Facebook." He also put the hashtag: "# zami150000".
Migunov himself wrote to me soon after that night. He asked how my lip (it was swollen from bites), put emoticons. I told him that everything hurts me, that he committed violence, scared me. To this he replied that, in fact, I also bit his lip, and added: "In any case, I'm sorry." I did not answer, and he himself did not get in touch anymore either.
When I published my story, I was afraid that he would call me, start asking for forgiveness, to persuade me to delete the record. I was worried because I didn’t know how to behave in this situation. I knew that I would not be ready to forgive him. But he did not call. After my public statement, he wrote his post in which he asserted that some people who had already become my “victims” contacted him. Looks like he is trying to make everything look like I'm blackmailing him. Actually, I lead a rather modest life. Probably, if I traded in compromising materials, the situation would be different.
From the very beginning I understood that there were many details that Migunov could use against me: that I drank wine, and that which I initially asked him for a favor. I immediately told about it, so that I could not be caught in a lie and that I was hiding something. At the same time, I did not see him declare that there was no sex at all. Probably, he is trying to turn everything as if everything happened by mutual consent.
My friends and parents are experiencing what happened very hard. Mom often cries - she reads all the posts that they write about me. He says he can not read. My friends and I even thought of complaining to the Facebook administration to be banned. I myself reassure myself that the worst is left behind. It is unlikely that Migunov will rape me again, and the wave of harassment gradually subsides. True, now there is a new problem: Alexey filed a lawsuit against me for the protection of honor, dignity and business reputation. If he wins and I have to pay him a large sum before the end of his life, it is still half the problem. But this will create a precedent. Men will understand that it is possible to sue a woman who has declared violence. They will be able to say: "Just try to utter a word, and I will do like Winkers." If a lawsuit is accepted and a case is filed against me, I will do everything to defend myself. On this depends not only my life, but also many women.
I understand that from a legal point of view, my position is not very strong. It is a pity that I did not go to forensic examination in time. Being a victim of rape, to prove something is very difficult. Although there is no statute of limitations on this crime, the evidence must be fresh - for example, perineal tears or bruises on the inside of the thighs. I was asked many times why I didn’t immediately go to the police. But I did not see any point in this. What would the police say to me if they knew that I was acquainted with the aggressor, and that night I drank it and allowed her to enter my house? And how can I trust those who guard the law on the decriminalization of violence or on the prohibition of “propaganda of homosexuality”?
I still do not fit in the head that I am threatened with a court for having raped me. Even the wording of the claim - on the protection of honor and dignity - sounds mockingly. I have not yet seen the document and do not know how much Migunov estimated his suffering.
It might have been nonsense on my part to oppose such an influential person, but I am not going to back down. Messages constantly come to me: women from different regions thank me for courage. They admit that such stories happened to them. For years they could not admit to themselves that they were subjected to violence. Generally, despite the persecution in the comments, in personal messages I get a lot of support. There was only one vicious message: some unfamiliar man argued that good women are not raped. I did not answer - I just blocked this person.
I am afraid that this whole story will not settle for a long time. Perhaps there are still many problems waiting for me. But at that moment, when I decided to speak openly, I chose my path. Now you will not change anything. This is the responsibility that I took on.