The Moscow prosecutor’s office announced the initiation of a criminal case after threats to the military correspondent

An unknown person threatened to kill Channel One war correspondent Vladislav Shurygin. A criminal case has been opened in Moscow regarding the threats; the Investigative Committee will look into the situation, reported press service of the capital’s prosecutor’s office.

“By decision of the Zyuzinsky interdistrict prosecutor of Moscow, a criminal case regarding death threats (Part 1 of Article 119 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) received by war correspondent Vladislav Shurygin was transferred to the investigative authorities for a procedural assessment under Art. 144 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (obstruction of the legitimate professional activities of journalists),” the message says.

An unknown person called Shurygin and during the telephone conversation said that he was a “gunner” and was preparing to launch an unmanned aerial vehicle at the military correspondent’s residence address, the prosecutor’s office explained. In addition, the journalist repeatedly received other threatening phone calls.

The supervisory authority noted that Shurygin covers the events of the special operation in Ukraine and regularly reports from the combat zone. The prosecutor’s office regarded the threats he received as an attempt to interfere with the journalist in his professional activities.

Death threats against Russian journalists and war correspondents have been received before. By data The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, the official representative of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, American transgender Sarah Ashton-Cirillo in September made direct calls for the murder of employees of Russian media and organizations that cover the events of the Ukrainian conflict.

“Russia is outraged by yet another manifestation of the terrorist essence of the Kiev regime, which, with the connivance of its Western sponsors, is spreading death threats against Russian journalists, war correspondents, government and public figures,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.