Russian editor shot and killed in Siberia, investigators say
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Russian editor Dmitry Popkov, 42, was found shot dead in Siberia on Wednesday, May 24, 2017. Investigators are looking into several possible motives, including Popkov’s work.
A Russian editor of a local newspaper was found shot dead in a small Siberian town on Wednesday, and investigators believe the motive for the murder may have been work-related.
Dmitry Popkov, 42, editor of the Ton-M newspaper, was found dead with gunshot wounds outside his home in the city of Minusinsk, the Investigative Committee in the Krasnoyarsk region said in a statement.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The investigators are looking into several possible motives, including Popkov’s work.
“The investigation is following various lines of enquiry regarding this killing, including that it may have been motivated by the victim’s professional activities,” the investigators said in a statement, according to AFP.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Popkov created Ton-M, a rare regional publication that has been openly critical of local authorities and functionaries from the Kremlin-backed United Russia party. “We write what other people keep quiet about,” the paper’s motto states, according to Crime Russia.
Popkov held a brief tenure at the Minusinsk city council before he was stripped of his seat.
Popkov is the second journalist to be slain in Russia in 2017. The first was Nikolai Andrushchenko, who died in April six weeks after being beaten by unidentified attackers in St. Petersburg. Andrushchenko co-founded the Novy Peterburg newspaper, where he wrote about crime and human rights issues.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Associated Press contributed to this report.