Fiction
September 2022
The Last Case of Journalist Cronina
by Anastasiia Pika
Aliona Cronina is a young Ukrainian journalist who started working in a highly censored publication, fully controlled by its Russian sponsor. During Euromaidan, she realized that she can no longer be a detached witness to the events and wants to fight Kremlin propaganda and reveal the truth to people. Aliona will build a brilliant career: IT journalist, Ukrainian parliament employee, MI6 intelligence agent — and she will try to thwart the Russian invasion of Ukraine that started on February 24, 2022. The novel consists of four parts, each chapter corresponding to a case file the heroine takes on. The novel is not just about modern Ukrainian history in 2012–2022; it is primarily about the development of Ukrainian journalism and democratic society. The author seeks to answer the question of why neither censorship, nor Putin’s propaganda in the Ukrainian media, nor the attempts to suppress Ukrainian revolutions by force, nor even forced emigration and war can make a dent in Ukrainians’ inner strength and perseverance.
