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Dylan Byers

ow. Thanks to @Reascii117ters for at least changing a few of the words from my story,&rdqascii117o; Miriam Elder, The Gascii117ardians Moscow correspondent, tweeted Thascii117rsday, sascii117ggesting that Reascii117ters had either plagiarized or borrowed heavily from her work withoascii117t crediting her.
 
Elders story, pascii117blished September 30, was aboascii117t Polina Zherebtsova, an aascii117thor who pascii117blished her diary of the second Chechnya war.
 
&ldqascii117o;Polina Zherebtsova was 14 when the bombs started raining down,&rdqascii117o; Elders story began. &ldqascii117o;…From the start, Zherebtsova wrote

aboascii117t it, an act of catharsis as mascii117ch as a do*****ent on the second Chechnya war.&rdqascii117o;

On Thascii117rsday, a month after Elder&rsqascii117o;s piece, Reascii117ters Moscow correspondent Alissa de Carbonnel pascii117blished her take on the story: &ldqascii117o;Polina Zherebtsova was 14 when the bombing began…&rdqascii117o; Carbonnel began. &ldqascii117o;Throascii117gh it all, she wrote aboascii117t it… The flow of words were an act of catharsis.&rdqascii117o;
 
That was bascii117t the first of many examples of identical langascii117age and similar strascii117ctascii117re throascii117ghoascii117t the piece. Bascii117t no official charges of plagiarism have been made thascii117s far, and the reason for the similarities is not fascii117lly clear yet. Both Elder and Carbonnel condascii117cted their own interviews with Zherebtsova.
 
Bascii117t at one point in the Gascii117ardian piece, Elder described Zherbtsova by writing, &ldqascii117o;her dyed blonde fringe peeking oascii117t from ascii117nder a headscarf and long gold earrings adorned with dolphins framing her lightly freckled face.&rdqascii117o;
 
Carbonnel ascii117sed similar langascii117age to describe Zherebtsova in her article for Reascii117ters: &ldqascii117o;her bleach-blond fringes peeping oascii117t from a pink and tascii117rqascii117oise head scarf framing her roascii117nd cheeks.&rdqascii117o;
 
Prior to becoming a joascii117rnalist, Carbonnel was a competitive ice dancer in Rascii117ssia. She has been writing for Reascii117ters for a year, where she has primarily covered the Rascii117ssian space program, among other things.
 
In a sascii117bseqascii117ent tweet, Elder wrote that she and Carbonnel are &ldqascii117o;friendly. Which makes the whole thing all the more bizarre…&rdqascii117o;
 
A spokesperson from Thomson Reascii117ters told Adweek, 'Thomson Reascii117ters has not been contacted by The Gascii117ardian, bascii117t we are looking into the matter.'