Masha Gessen, who was fired as editor of the Vokrug Sveta magazine for refusing to cover President Vladimir Putin's hang-gliding stunt with cranes earlier this month, has been appointed head of the Russian service of U.S.-government-funded RFE/Radio Liberty.

"I was offered the candidacy for the director's post of the Russian service of Radio Liberty back in January," Gessen said on her Facebook page Friday. "I refused because I had just started my job with Vokrug Sveta and planned to stay there a long time."

This month, she told executives at Radio Liberty, where she had been working as a consultant, that she had left Vokrug Sveta, and they offered her the director's position late Thursday.

Putin invited Gessen to the Kremlin last week and tried to help her get her job back, but she refused.

(MT)

Related articles:

• Putin Invited Gessen to Kremlin to Help Her Get Her Job Back
• Vokrug Sveta Tight-Lipped on Gessen's Departure
• Gessen Fired Over Putin Snub, She Claims