Russian journalist and founder of New Region, a Russian news website, Alexander Shchetinin has been found dead with a gunshot wound in the head at his own flat in Kyiv, a suicide note left beside him, the Kyiv police spokesperson said on Sunday.
“A forensic medical expert’s preliminary conclusion is that the death occurred between 8 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. It transpired that the Russian Federation native, born 1962, had lived in Kyiv for several years and been director of a news website,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
During a scene inspection the police found the bullet casing, a non-lethal pistol with cartridges, and a suicide note. The apartment doors were locked and there were no signs of a break-in at the house.
Information about the event was duly registered and a criminal inquiry opened under Article 115 part one (premeditated murder) of the Ukrainian Criminal Code, with the additional “suicide” classification. The police are conducting the inquiry.
For his part, Artem Shevchenko, director of the communications department at the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, wrote on his Facebook page that he could understand his colleagues’ suspicions about it being a murder. “Preliminary data suggest that the crime picture is characteristic of a suicide, although I personally understand my colleagues’ suspicions: the man was a Russian journalist, who moved to Ukraine and radically changed his views and the New Region – News’ editing policy from pro-Russian to pro-Ukrainian,” Shevchenko said.
Earlier, the Kyiv Operative portal said on Facebook that Shchetinin’s body was found on the balcony by his friends who came to congratulate him on his birthday: “Alexander was sitting on a chair with a gunshot wound to his head (the pistol lay underneath the chair)”.
