Press Release, 16.03.2021

Photo: The law enforcement forces in Grozny, Chechnya. Photo by Said Tsarnayev / RIA Novosti

On 15 March, Novaya Gazeta published another part of the investigation into extrajudicial killings of Russian citizens living in the Chechen Republic. With reference to the publication, this was also reported by other media, in particular, RBC.

Nikolai Rybakov, Chairman of the Yabloko party, appealed to Igor Krasnov, Public Prosecutor General, and Alexander Bastrykin, Chairman of the Investigative Committee, with a demand to conduct a check on the facts set out in the published investigation and initiate a criminal case based on the results of the check.

The verification process must be carried out by the central divisions of the Public Prosecutor General’s Office, the appeal emphasises.

It should be noted that yesterday Novaya Gazeta reported that its Moscow office became a target of a chemical attack. The Ministry of Emergency Situations, the police and the FSB worked on the spot, however, there has been no official information on the nature of the gas yet.

This is not the first time that Novaya Gazeta has been attacked. In April 2017, the editorial office received a letter with an unknown white powder inside and congratulations on Easter. The card came from a post office in Grozny, Chechnya.  In July 2017, Yulia Latynina, journalist of Novaya Gazeta, experienced same attack with unknown noxious gas, similar in smell, that was sprayed in her car and over the windows and doors of her whole house near Moscow. She reported that eight people including her parents and neighbours’ children were poisoned, saying it irritated eyes and upset stomachs.

In October 2018, unidentified persons brought three cages with sheep wearing “Press” vests to the Novaya editorial office. A few days earlier, unidentified persons had planted a funeral wreath at the editorial office with threats against journalist Denis Korotkov, after which a basket with a severed ram’s head was found there, with threats addressed to the entire editorial office.