- Date
- 02/06/2001
- First
- Victor
- Surname
- POPKOV
- Sex/Age
- M, 55
- Incident
- crossfire
- Motive
- J
- Place
- (car)
- Job
- journalist
- Medium
- Federal District Plus
- Chechnya
- Street, Town, Region
- Alkhan-Kala, Chechnya
- Freelance
- yes
- Local/National
- national, Novaya gazeta
- Other Ties
- human rights activist
- Cause of Death
- died in hospital; wounded in Chechnya
- Legal Qualification
- no information
- Impunity
- No Information
Victor Popkov, a freelance correspondent with "Novaya gazeta", died at the Vishnevsky military hospital in Krasnogorsk on 2 June 2001 as consequence of severe injuries received in Chechnya six weeks earlier.
On the morning of 18 April the car in which Popkov was travelling was halted as it left Alkhan-Kala where he had spent the night. Shots were fired at point blank range, two hitting Popkov in the head. Also seriously wounded was Dr Rosa Muzarova with whom Popkov was visiting mountain villages, distributing medical and other aid to those in need, especially children, from the Civil Assistance charity. Popkov and his companion were transferred first to Grozny, then to Vladikavkaz and finally to Moscow.
Popkov was a well-known figure in Chechnya where since 1995 he had worked as a human rights activist, securing the release of many captured soldiers. In April 2000 he interviewed Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov, for which "Novaya gazeta" received a warning from the Ministry for the Press.