The West turns a blind eye to murders of Russian journalists even when they are hailed as “success” by Kiev, Moscow has said
FILE PHOTO: Russian foreign ministry’s spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova © Sputnik / Russian Foreign Ministry
Russian journalists are facing constant death threats from “the Kiev regime and its abettors,” the Russian Foreign Ministry’s spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, said on Telegram in the wake of the death of a prominent Russian war blogger, Vladlen Tatarsky. The man was killed in an improvised explosive device blast earlier on Sunday.
Tatarsky was a “danger” and “provoked hatred of the Kiev regime” with his professional activities, Zakharova claimed. She expressed condolences to the family of the man, who, like many other Russian war reporters, kept working courageously to inform the world on what was really happening on the ground in Ukraine.
Russian reporters are being “persecuted, literally branded with special labels on digital platforms owned by American internet monopolies and are subjected to a witch hunt in the western media,” Zakharova said, adding that international rights groups and relevant organizations simply “silently ignore” this issue.
None of the killings of Russian reporters have ever sparked so much as compassion in the West, while voices in Kiev often describe them as a “success,” the spokeswoman claimed.
“A lack of reaction in the White House, on Downing Street and in the Elysee Palace… speaks for itself,” she added.
The war correspondent was killed in a blast that rocked a St. Petersburg café, where he was giving a talk and meeting with followers. At least 30 other people were injured. Russian authorities are still investigating the details of the incident, and have not officially commented on who might be behind the explosion.
Tatarsky, who gained prominence in Russia as a war blogger and reporter, joined the Donbass militias in the wake of the Maidan coup in 2014 and served with the local forces until 2019. Kiev put him on a sanctions blacklist in January 2023.
