Journalist Yulia Latynina leaves Russia for fear of her life

Yulia Latynina, an observer of the "Novaya Gazeta" and the "Echo Moskvy", who criticized Russian authorities in connection with Boris Nemtsov’s murder and unacceptable preferences to the head of Chechnya granted by federal authorities, has explained her departure from Russia by the fear for her life and the lives of her parents.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on July 19, in a Moscow suburb, unidentified hooligans sprayed Yulia Latynina’s house and car with some pungent chemical composition; and on September 3, her car was burned down near Moscow.

"I somehow wasn’t intended to report under bullets," Yulia Latynina said in her programme "Access Code" on the air of "Echo Moskvy" on September 9, explaining her departure from Russia.

According to her story, she and her parents had hoped that the car caught fire by itself, but it turned out that it was burned down.

"I'm scared that the people who did it were ready for human casualties, because it could catch fire when someone was inside," Latynina explained, adding that she was afraid for the lives of her parents who had to extinguish the fire and were in great danger.

According to the journalist, Russia sees "a loss of the state's monopoly on violence." "Actually, I'm not in Russia, and my parents are not in Russia. In the near future, apparently, we will not be in Russia," Yulia Latynina has stressed.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.