You're reading: Russian journalist found dead in Kyiv with police suspecting suicide

Alexandr Shchetinin, a Russian journalist who was the founder and chief editor of Novy Region news outlet, was found dead in his apartment in the center of Kyiv on Aug. 27, his 54th birthday.The Kyiv Operativny news outlet has reported that the journalist was found by his friends, who came to his apartment with greetings. His friends called the police. Shchetinin’s body was found on the balcony. He was sitting on a chair with a gunshot wound to the head, and the rubber-bullet handgun was lying under the chair.

“After the search, police officers found the rubber-bullet handgun and a death note. The interior of the apartment was not disturbed and the front door was closed from inside. The criminal investigation on suspicion of suicide was launched,” said the statement published by the police.

Shchetinin was temporarily residing in Ukraine on various occasions since 2005. In 2014 the journalist moved to the country permanently, getting Ukrainian citizenship. In his interviews and Facebook posts, Shchetinin explained his wish to renounce Russian citizenship by his long-term opposition to the current Russia’s government and its ideology.

“It is better to change the citizenship, not the political views. Russia, Rus will stay in my heart forever, but from now their center is in Kyiv,” wrote Shchetinin.

Artem Shevchenko, the Interior Ministry spokesperson told the 112 TV channel that recently Shchetinin showed suicidal intentions, but refused to give any further information before the results of the official investigation.

Novy Region staff told RBC news agency, that Shchetinin had serious financial problems. Because of wage arrears, most of the staff left Shchetinin’s news agency.

Oleg Shro, Russian journalist and former editor of Novy Region has told the Kyiv Post,that Shchetinin could make a suicide, because of the complicated mental condition.

“Novy Region was losing its readers. There were financial problems, that hold the projects plus he had some personal problems,”said Shro.

On Aug. 22, Shchetinin quoted the Facebook post of Sevastopol activist Andrey Vasiliev: “I am scared. Don’t know how to live,” indicating concern of a possible suicide wave among Ukrainian patriots living in Russia-occupied Crimea.

However, some close friends of Shchetinin do not believe that the journalist took his own life.

Crimean Tatar TV channel ATR chief editor Aider Mudzhabayev told the Kyiv Post that he didn’t even hear about the suicide note found by police.

“Sasha was a severe critic of the ruling regime in Russia, he was banned from there, he was active supporter of the Crimean Tatars liberation fight for Crimea. I don’t believe in his suicide, nobody who knew him personally, believes in that,” wrote Mudzhabayev on Facebook on Aug 28.

Mudzhabayev described his friend Shchetinin as a positive and passionate man, who was not desperate and had a lot of plans on how to save his news website.

“ I called him yesterday several times to wish happy birthday. We celebrated his last year’s birthday together. But his phone was unavailable. At 4 p.m. I wrote him on Facebook, but he didn’t respond and hadn’t read it,” wrote Mudzhabayev.