- Anna Tsareva, deputy editor of the pro-Putin newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda, was found dead by her father in her Moscow home
The 35-year-old deputy editor of Vladimir Putin's 'favorite propaganda newspaper' has been found dead at her home in Moscow.
Anna Tsareva, the deputy editor of the pro-Putin newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda, was found by her father after he became concerned that he had not seen her for several days.
Police have opened an investigation into her death, online news outlet Baza reported.
Initial reports said there was no evidence of a break-in at her apartment, nor any “signs of a violent death.”
It is known that she had developed an unspecified acute respiratory virus infection and had been running a high fever for several days.
However, Shot media reported today that it is suspected that she died of 'acute heart failure'.
Anna Tsareva, the deputy editor of the pro-Putin newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda, was found dead by her father after he became concerned that he had not seen her for several days
Police have opened an investigation into the death of Anna Tsareva
In September 2022, her boss Vladimir Sungorkin, 68, (pictured with Putin), editor-in-chief and director general of Komsomolskaya Pravda, died of an apparent heart attack.
Her body was found by her father, who was concerned because she had not been in contact since Sunday. He entered her apartment on Bolshoy Tishinski Avenue in central Moscow.
Tsareva is said to be in charge of content on Komsomolskaya Pravda's website, including stories about Putin's war against Ukraine.
It is the largest news website in Russia with 83.9 million readers as of October 2023.
She was deputy editor-in-chief for six years.
In September 2022, her boss Vladimir Sungorkin, 68, editor-in-chief and director general of Komsomolskaya Pravda, died of an apparent heart attack. But his death was deemed suspicious after medics found signs of asphyxiation.
He is often included in a list of dozens of premature or mysterious deaths since the start of Putin's war.
Sungorkin fell unconscious while on a tour of the Russian Far East, minutes after suggesting to his group that they “find a beautiful place somewhere… for lunch.”
Anna's body was found by her father, who was concerned because she had not been in contact since Sunday
Anna Tsareva, 35, (right) deputy editor of Putin's favorite propaganda newspaper 'Komsomolskaya Pravda' found dead in Moscow
Colleague Leonid Zakharov said: 'Three minutes later Vladimir started choking. We took him out for some fresh air, he was already unconscious… Nothing helped.
'The doctor who did the initial examination said it was apparently a stroke. But this is the first conclusion.'
Sungorkin has been sanctioned by the West because of the war.
He was branded by the European Commission as “one of the main actors in foreign information manipulation and interference activities or as propagandists who often speak out about Ukraine, create misinformation and manipulate facts.”
He was accused of “spreading and legitimizing aggressive anti-Ukrainian and anti-Western propaganda of the Putin regime under the direct authority of the Kremlin in one of Russia's most popular media outlets.”
The committee said: 'The newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda has also been described by President Vladimir Putin as his favorite newspaper.'
The editor “is therefore responsible for supporting actions and policies that undermine the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine.”
KP was the largest newspaper in the USSR and – after the fall of the Soviet Union – Russia.
Tsareva previously worked as deputy editor-in-chief at the then independent radio station Echo Moscow under the highly respected editor-in-chief Alexey Venediktov.
She also had a stint at state news agency TASS.