A memorial plaque appeared in MK in honor of special correspondent Olga Bozheva

A memorial plaque to the unit of special war correspondent Olga Bozhyeva was unveiled on Tuesday, February 6, at the editorial office of the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper. Olga Bozhyeva was one of the most professional and respected employees of the newspaper for more than 20 years.

Olga Bozhieva’s colleagues, her friends, and family gathered for the unveiling of the memorial plaque at the editorial office of the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper. In addition, there were a lot of military personnel and representatives of the aviation industry there that day.

“This memorial board will perpetuate the memory of our journalist, our colleague, for many years to come. This is a beautiful woman with unique work experience, including in the Russian Armed Forces. She enjoyed enormous respect from those who knew her because she wrote impeccably about the Russian army,” said MK editor-in-chief Pavel Gusev during the ceremony. “She paid especially much attention to aviation.”

The editor-in-chief of MK noted that Olga was not just an honest, but also a principled journalist, which requires a lot of courage.

“Olga got into the most difficult problems. I sometimes told her: “Olya, what are you doing? It’s just dangerous.” She answered: “Pavel Nikolaevich, but it’s true. We need to help. The service and life of pilots, people, and the creation of new equipment depend on this.” Therefore, we decided that the name of Olga Bozheva should be immortalized, we must preserve her memory as a unique journalist and person.”

Honored Military Pilot of the Russian Federation, retired Major General Vladimir Popov, said that he had known Olga for 25 years: “I met Olya when she worked for us in the press service of the Air Force, when she was in contact with “Red Star” and then, when we already met in the editorial office of Moskovsky Komsomolets… Protecting the interests of my subordinates, friends, comrades in arms, our aviators was her life’s work. It takes courage to protect another. You need to be able to understand a person, to put yourself in his position. She could do it all. In professional conversations she was always strict and focused. At the same time, there was a feeling that this was the journalist who would always understand, support, lend a shoulder.”

Former Deputy Minister of Aviation Industry of the USSR, designer Viktor Chuiko said that every issue of Moskovsky Komsomolets, which contained Olga Bozheva’s material on aviation topics in the aviation industry, “went around the tables and was hotly discussed.”

“During the preparation of the material, Olga checked the facts for a long time and carefully, talked a lot with specialists,” shared Viktor Chuiko. “We in the aviation industry believe that she was, in some way, our collaborator.” Your job is not easy, especially today. And Olga had courage. About a year and a half ago, at a high level, a decision was made to transfer the entire design bureau from Moscow to the location of the serial plants – in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Novosibirsk, etc. After Olya’s article, Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov bluntly said: “We won’t do such stupidity”… It was always a pleasure to work with Olya. Because she had the talent to delve into a topic, listen to professionals and draw her own conclusions. It was impossible to impose other people’s conclusions on her. Olya’s passing is a big loss for all of us. This is also a loss for the aviation industry, where she was a specialist of the highest level.”

According to Viktor Chuiko, many achievements of the aviation industry are partly due to the MK special correspondent: “The domestic aircraft industry, for which Olya was so passionate, is being revived. So in all aircraft, avionics, there is her share of labor and participation.”

The representative of the Ground Forces, Major General Sergei Markovchin, conveyed warm words about the MK special correspondent from the Commander-in-Chief, Army General Oleg Salyukov. The Deputy Commander-in-Chief noted that Olga Bozhyeva found the right words “about routine soldier service” in her materials. “She told us what and how we do and why we are the strongest and kindest army in the world,” the general said. – It is clear that we, the ground forces, always liked how she idolized the sky and envied her love for airplanes and parachute jumping. At the same time, we also felt her love for our troops. “Moskovsky Komsomolets is a powerful and unique team, and I am sure that the memory of Olga Bozhyeva will live on and you will continue her work.”

The editor of the law enforcement department, Sergei Valchenko, in turn, said that his wife Olga Bozhieva remained true to her principles even under the most difficult life circumstances. Somehow, at the beginning of the cash-strapped 2000s, Olga was offered a position in the press service of a military plant and was invited for a good salary. “I still thought to myself: “Well, we’ll finally live.” But several weeks pass, and Olga says she is quitting. She could not work where she had to fawn and please. She said: “I’ll lose myself there.” She quit and never received the money. And she stayed at Moskovsky Komsomolets because she appreciated that, thanks to the editorial policy, she could convey to the reader her point of view, and not someone else’s. Olga was a freedom-loving person.”

And Olga considered MK a family. “She said,” he recalled, “that MK is a family with family relationships, so people work here for a long time, often in families. And I felt it myself, especially when trouble happened. Therefore, thanks to Pavel Nikolaevich, the editorial board and everyone who is helping to survive this grief.”

The author and performer of a military song, representative of the Union of Russian Paratroopers, reserve colonel Mikhail Kalinkin dedicated a poem to Olga, which contains the following lines:

“This is your share

To fight for the country all my life,

Our comrade Olya…”