At least 20 Russian journalists are killed each year, says Oleg Panfilov, the director of the Center for Journalism in Extreme Situations in Moscow, but many of these deaths are the result of air crashes, traffic accidents, domestic violence and robberies, as opposed to political motivations. The total figures of journalist deaths therefore are often discrepant, he says, which can damage ‘the credibility of watchdogs’ conclusions about media freedom in Russia‘.
In an attempt to shed some light on the topic, a new report released by the International Federation of Journalists reviews the deaths of more than 300 Russian journalists since 1993 in an attempt to show what percentage of these deaths are work-related. The full list of names can be viewed online.