If you criticize Putin in Russia your life is at risk:
Dmitry Muratov, the editor-in-chief of the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta, who won a Nobel Peace Prize in 2021 for publishing pieces critical of the Russian Government and President Vladimir Putin, was attacked during a train trip on Thursday.
Muratov shared photos of the aftermath of the attack on Telegram. The attacker, who remains unknown, coated Muratov and his entire private train cabin with red paint. The paint had acetone in it, and Muratov wrote along with the picture “My eyes burned terribly.”
The journalist’s attacker apparently shouted, “Muratov, here’s to you for our boys,” which likely sounds like a pro-war phrase where “our boys” are Russian soldiers, as Novaya Gazeta had been publishing pieces critical of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. However, this independent outlet had already temporarily shuttered before the attack.
It is believed these 16 high profile critics have been murdered by Putin:
- Anna Politkovskaya
- Denis Voronenkov
- Mikhail Lesin
- Boris Nemtsov
- Paul Klebnikov
- Boris Berezovsky
- Stanislav Markelov and Anastasia Baburova
- Sergei Magnitsky
- Natalia Estemirova
- Sergei Yushenkov
- Yuri Shchekochikhin
- Yevgeny Khamaganov
- Nikolai Andrushchenko
- Nikolay Alekseevich Glushkov
And let’s not forget the victims that barely got away:
Russian President Vladimir Putin has labelled poisoned ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal a “traitor” and a “scumbag”.
In a speech, he complained that the media were treating Mr Skripal as “some kind of human rights defender”, insisting he had betrayed his country.
Mr Skripal and his daughter survived an attack in Salisbury, which the UK says was carried out by two agents of Russian military intelligence.
But a British woman died in another poisoning that police say was linked.
UK authorities believe Mr Skripal’s door in the southern English city was targeted with the nerve agent Novichok.
It was sprayed from a modified perfume bottle that was later picked up and given to Dawn Sturgess, who died in July, they say.
And Let’s not forget Putin’s most prominent critic, Alexei Navalny. He also survived a horrific attack:
On 20 August 2020, Russian opposition figure and anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny was poisoned with a Novichok nerve agent and was hospitalized in serious condition. During a flight from Tomsk to Moscow, he became violently ill and was taken to a hospital in Omsk after an emergency landing there, and put in a coma. He was evacuated to the Charité hospital in Berlin, Germany, two days later. The use of the nerve agent was confirmed by five Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) certified laboratories.
The 99 Percenters 