Before Ukraine, Putin waged war on journalism

A story of two women, a shared profession, and friendship

I’ve had a picture for three decades that captures instant connection, the kind that happens rarely. It shows me, then a 32-year-old opinion writer, a few moments after meeting Kira, an ambitious, energetic Russian reporter attending a journalists' exchange in New England. We were sitting on the steps of a home on the Connecticut shore during a sweet su…