Ksenia Larina, a journalist working for the liberal-leaning Ekho Moskvy radio station, is fleeing Russia after her colleague was stabbed in the throat earlier this week.
Ekho Moskvy radio host Tatyana Felgenhauer was attacked by a Russian-Israeli citizen, who is believed to have mental health issues, on Monday this week.
The attack followed a program on state television in which Felgenhauer was branded as a traitor who cooperated with Western NGOs. Many commentators have blamed the attack on a generally hostile atmosphere towards journalists who are critical of the Kremlin.
Ekho Moskvy's Yulia Latynina also fled Russia in September after suffering several attacks.
Alexei Venediktov, the editor-in-chief of Ekho Moskvy said he had asked his employee to leave Russia following a broadcast hosted on state television by journalist Vladimir Solovyov, one of the Kremlin’s chief propagandists.
“I took the decision to evacuate Ksenia Larina, and she will leave the country for at least six months, until she is guaranteed safety,” he told the opposition-leaning Dozhd TV channel. “Because the next stab in the throat might come after the program by Solovyov. There is no other way for me to protect my journalists.”
The editor-in-chief of Russia’s investigative newspaper Novaya Gazeta said in response to the attack on that Felgenhauer he would arm his staff.
“Do you want people to fight, stab [journalists] and know that these [journalists] are defenseless and unarmed? Neither the authorities nor law enforcement will stand up for them,” Dmitry Muratov said.
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