The former director-general of the Internews Foundation in Russia, Manana Aslamazian, has died at the age of 70 in the Armenian capital, Yerevan.
Journalist Viktor Muchnik wrote on Facebook that Aslamazian died after being hit by a car on August 31.
"Manana was a big friend and our mother. The matriarch of Russian journalism. I even do not know anyone who did more for all of us than she did," Muchnik wrote.
Aslamazian was the laureate of the 2002 Media Manager of Russia Award. She was also a recipient of the Russian Television Academy’s special Award for Personal Contribution to Russian Television's Development.
In 2002, she became a member of the staff of Russia's National Association Of Radio and Television Broadcasters.
Five years later, she was excluded from the association after authorities launched a criminal case against her, accusing her of "foreign-currency smuggling" for having 9,500 euros in her possession when she entered Russia from France, which at the time had a value above the $10,000 limit.
Aslamazian said at the time that she was not aware of the exchange rate between the euro and the U.S. currency.
Aslamazian left Russia then, and the Internews Foundation stopped functioning shortly after that.