Famous journalist Oleg Panfilov has passed away

Famous journalist, publicist, and writer Oleg Panfilov has passed away at the age of 66. This was reported by his wife Oksana Maslak on her Facebook page.

Photo: Internet

The cause of the sudden death of the well-known journalist is not yet known. His acquaintances reported that they had been in constant contact with him until yesterday evening. He did not complain about his health. About two weeks ago, Oleg Panfilov reported that he had contracted the flu and had a fever, but according to his friends, he had recovered.

Oleg Panfilov was born on September 7, 1957, in the city of Leninabad (now Khujand) and graduated from the Leninabad State Pedagogical Institute.

Since 1974, he worked as a journalist at TV Tajikistan. From 1979 to 1989, he was a research fellow at the A. Donish Institute of History, Archaeology, and Ethnology of Tajikistan. From 1991 to 1996, he worked as a correspondent for the Independent Newspaper in Russia.

In Russia, he served as the head of the Moscow bureau of the Committee to Protect Journalists and as the director of the Emergency Journalism Center of the Union of Journalists of Russia. He also collaborated with Radio Free Europe from 1994 to 2010 and from 2014 to 2019.

In September 2008, he obtained Georgian citizenship. Since 2009, he had been living permanently in Georgia and was a professor at Ilia State University. Until 2012, he worked at the First Caucasian Channel, established at the initiative of then-President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili. He was a recipient of the Order of Honor (Georgia).

Panfilov is the author and co-author of 54 books and the screenwriter of 8 films, and he has received several awards.

This year, his book “Ukraine and Georgia – Why Together?” was published in Ukraine. In Georgia and Ukraine, he also published “Anti-Soviet Stories” and books about the 2008 war – “Unknown War. What Happened in Georgia in August 2008.” He is also the author of a book about Tajik journalists titled “Tajikistan: Journalism in the Civil War, 1992-1997.”

Oleg Panfilov also made a significant contribution to achieving peace in Tajikistan.

The editorial team of Azda tv expresses condolences to the family and friends of the well-known journalist and considers his passing a great loss for journalism, science, and literature.