While the Ukrainian civil war continues into its second year,  the danger not only lingers for military personnel and civilians caught up in the war zone, but also for Ukrainian and Russian journalists who have been labeled as “opposition” press inside the two countries as the recent death of Alexander Shchetinin has shown.

Mr. Shchetinin a well-known critic of Vladimir Putin was found in his apartment at midnight on August 28^th, with a gunshot wound to his head and a gun lying next to him suggesting  suicide but friends of his suggest something more sinister given Mr. Putin intolerance toward dissenting journalist and the number of deaths since 2004. “Alexander was sitting on a chair, with a gunshot wound to his head, the gun was lying under the chair”, news organization Kyiv Operatyvni said 

The intense skepticism toward the suicide accusation comes as a number of opposition activists, lawyers, politicians and journalists have been killed under suspicious circumstances since 2004, spiking after the civil war in Ukraine began in late February 2014.

Under Vladimir Putin’s current term, 6 journalists have been either shot or stabbed to death, and all of these cases have exposed the link of corruption between the Russian government and business along with the possible exposing of critical evidence that would have linked Mr. Putin’s government to the war in Ukraine.

“According to credible sources, the case has been classified as suicide, as Alexander sent an email to one of his loved ones where he said he wanted to kill himself”, Kyiv Operatyvni continued in its statement.

During the time frame of 2012 to 2014, 5 journalists were killed in Russia. Two were killed in 2012, one killed in 2013 and two were killed in 2014. All 5 journalists were victims of violence and individuals have been arrested for their deaths. Although there have not been any credible links to link Mr. Putin to these deaths. The link that has them connected is that they have been critical of Mr. Putin and the Russian government.

There have been other notable cases of people who have been critical of Putin being killed dating back to 2006, starting with former KGB officer, Alexander Litvinenko (who was a critic of alleged Putin corruption), being poisoned in London. The second notable critic of Mr. Putin being killed is Boris Nemtsov a former deputy in the Russian government and a notable critic of Russian involvement in the Ukraine. Mr. Nemtsov was shot near the Kremlin while walking with his girlfriend in February 2015. He played a crucial part in planning anti- war demonstrations throughout Russia.

According to Reporter’s without border, Russia ranks 148^th in the world press freedom index out of 180 countries, with describing the country atmosphere of journalist as a “Stifling atmosphere for Independent journalists.”  In contrast, Finland ranks number 1 on the list, while the United States ranks 41^st on the list.

“My last meeting with him was the day before yesterday”, Ilya Yashin, who is an associate of Mr. Nemtsov said regarding the murder. He said he had information providing the participation of the Russian military and Russian soldiers in the Ukraine conflict”, Ms. Yashin continued, indicating her belief that he was murdered for attempting to expose Mr. Putin’s role in the Ukraine civil war.

Mr. Shchetinin was the founder of the Novy Region news agency and he also called Mr. Putin a “personal enemy.”

In the end, if Russia and Mr. Putin identify itself as a “democracy”, it should allow for open discontent among the critics of the government and of Mr. Putin without fearing for their lives.

Links to sources:

1. MSN.com Link: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/russian-journalist-critical-of-vladimir-putin-found-dead-on-his-birthday/ar-AAibr8M?li=BBmkt5R&ocid=spartandhp
2. The Telegraph Link: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/11441919/Kremlin-critics-killed-during-Vladimir-Putins-leadership.html
3. The Telegraph, Boris Nemtsov Link: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/11441466/Veteran-Russian-opposition-politician-shot-dead-in-Moscow.html
4. Reporters without Borders Link: https://rsf.org/en/russia
5. Business Insider List of Dissident’s Killed Link: https://www.businessinsider.com/here-are-6-other-russian-dissidents-who-also-died-mysteriously-in-recent-years-2015-2