Zhestkov, Alexander Yuryevich

In 2000 he graduated from the Faculty of Journalism of the Ural State University .

He began his journalistic career as a correspondent for the Vesti VGTRK program, the RTR television channel, where he worked from 1997 to 2001. At first he worked in the Sverdlovsk region, in 1998-1999 he was his own correspondent for the program in Saratov . From 1999 to 2001 - a special correspondent for Vesti.

In January 2001, he switched to the REN-TV channel (since 2006 - REN TV) ^[1] .

From 2001 to 2014, he was a columnist for the information programs of REN TV . He worked for the news television programs “ News 24 ”, “ Week ” with Marianna Maksimovskaya ^{[2] [3] [4]} , as well as the program “What happened?” With Mikhail Osokin ^{[5] [6]} . He was involved in covering the work of the country's top officials, worked for many years in the Kremlin’s television pool ^{[7] [8]} , and was a parliamentary journalist in the State Duma of the Russian Federation ^[9] .

In February 2008, during a major Press Conference of President of the Russian Federation V. Putin , in response to a series of questions by Zhestkov about whether the denomination is planned in Russia , Putin uttered a phrase that became famous: “What do you want me to eat land from a pot of flowers? ” ^{[10] [11] [12]} . According to the journalist, since then on his desktop there are flowers in pots ^[13] .

In 2011, he released on the REN TV cycle “Moscow and Muscovites” about life in the city of Moscow in Idaho , USA ^[14] .

In 2013, at a large press conference, answering Zhestkov’s question, Putin first commented on whether the political activities of Alexey Navalny constitute a threat to the authorities ^{[15] [16]} .

As REN TV correspondent, Zhestkov covered the Olympic Games in Beijing ^[4] , Vancouver ^[17] , London ^[18] and Sochi ^[19] .

From September 30, 2014 to March 25, 2016, he was the head of the guest programs of the Mir Television and Radio Broadcasting Company , the author and presenter of the program “The Main Theme with Alexander Zhestkov” (published on Mir and Mir 24 TV channels), in which the stars of politics and show businesses commented on hot topics ^{[20] [21]} . The transfer was distinguished by an ironic style of presentation of the material ^[22] .

From December 2016 to February 2017 - a columnist in the author's information show "True Gurnova " on the NTV channel ^[23] .

At present, he is the head of the press service of VDNH ^[24] .

• "The main theme with Alexander Zhestkov" on the TV channel "MIR"