Larisa Yudina

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Larisa Yudina was a journalist and the editor of the opposition newspaper, Sovietskaya Kalmykia Sevodnya (Soviet Kalmykia Today). She was found dead on 8 June 1998, with multiple knife wounds and a fractured skull, in Elista, the capital of the Republic of Kalmykia.

Members of the liberal Yabloko party, to which she belonged, and human rights advocates maintain that the killing was politically motivated. Prior to her death, she had published articles accusing Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, the president of Kalmykia, of corruption. Three men were convicted in connection with the murder, but the names of those who ordered the killing remain unknown.

Because her newspaper was banned in Elista, she had it printed elsewhere and personally delivered it by car to Elista for distribution. It was during one of these trips that she was murdered. Two men who confessed to the murder, and were imprisoned, were aides to Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. However, no proof has been found that Kirsan himself ordered the crime.