An investigative reporter looking into corruption and illegal arms dealing in the Russian Army was killed Monday by a booby-trapped briefcase bomb in his office at the Moskovsky Komsomolets daily newspaper.
Dmitry Kholodov, who was expected to testify in the next few days before the State Duma, was fatally injured when he opened the briefcase, triggering the explosive device which wrecked the office, a spokesman for the Federal Counterintelligence Service said. Kholodov, 27, was taken to Sklifosovskogo Hospital by ambulance but pronounced dead on arrival. Another reporter was injured in the blast.
Numerous journalists covering organized crime and corruption have reported death threats over the past few years. But this appeared to be the first time such a threat had been carried out.
Pavel Gusev, editor-in-chief of Moskovsky Komsomolets, accused the Federal Counterintelligence Service, known by its Russian acronym FSK, and the Defense Ministry of being involved in the killing.
"I think it is the first political killing of a journalist in Moscow," Gusev said. "I am sure the clues of the murder will lead to the FSK, to Matvei Burlatov (deputy defense minister and former head of the Western Group of the Russian Army) and personally to (Defense Minister Pavel) Grachev, who is loaded with Mercedes cars which he got in Germany.
"They will not intimidate us. We will write the truth and we will name those people who try to eliminate us," said the editor of the popular, sensationalist newspaper.
Colonel Yury Zhdanov, a spokesman for the Defense Ministry, said by phone: "This is a private and too emotional viewpoint of Gusev. What has happened is a real tragedy. The investigation has already been launched and it will show the final results." He declined further comment.
Sergei Bogdanov, a spokesman for the Federal Counterintelligence Service which is investigating the explosion, gave details of the incident in a telephone interview but declined to comment on Gusev's accusations.
Bogdanov said the incident had occurred at the newspaper's offices on Ulitsa 1905 Goda, in western Moscow, just after 1 P.M.
"There was a homemade explosive device inside the briefcase, wired to go off when it was opened," Bogdanov said.
Gusev said Kholodov, who had written several stories about corruption in the military, had picked up the briefcase at the baggage check at Kazansky train station in central Moscow.
"Dima (Kholodov) told my deputy that he set up contacts with an official in the FSK who is very important and who could give him unique documents about the illegal trade of weapons in the Western Group of the Russian Army," Gusev said.
He said the informer in the FSK had called Kholodov in the morning and told him to pick up a briefcase in the baggage room at the railroad station.
Kholodov "planned to make an appropriate report during hearings" in the State Duma, Gusev said.
Gusev said it took 40 minutes for the ambulance to arrive and that the reporter had died en route to the hospital. Yekaterina Deyeva, another reporter who was in the room at the time, was hospitalized with a concussion and facial burns.
Interfax reported that President Boris Yeltsin had condemned the killing and expressed revulsion over a campaign of "terror" against journalists. Last month two prominent journalists in St. Petersburg were robbed and beaten.
Yeltsin ordered Interior Minister Viktor Yerin to take personal control over the investigation of the incident.
Alexander Metrofanov, a reporter and a friend of Kholodov, said he had seen him a minute before the explosion had occurred.
"We met in the corridor and I saw that he was carrying a briefcase that did not belong him," Metrofanov said.
"We greeted each other and we walked further. I turned to the left and he went to the right into a small room. In a couple of seconds, I heard a powerful explosion."
Metrofanov said Kholodov had covered military subjects and very often joked that "sooner or later" he could be killed or blown up.
Yevgeny Viktint, an employee for the newspaper, said two weeks ago there had been a call from an unidentified man who said a bomb had been planted in the newspaper building. Police with specially trained dogs had searched the office but found nothing, he said.
Dmitry Kholodov, who was expected to testify in the next few days before the State Duma, was fatally injured when he opened the briefcase, triggering the explosive device which wrecked the office, a spokesman for the Federal Counterintelligence Service said. Kholodov, 27, was taken to Sklifosovskogo Hospital by ambulance but pronounced dead on arrival. Another reporter was injured in the blast.
Numerous journalists covering organized crime and corruption have reported death threats over the past few years. But this appeared to be the first time such a threat had been carried out.
Pavel Gusev, editor-in-chief of Moskovsky Komsomolets, accused the Federal Counterintelligence Service, known by its Russian acronym FSK, and the Defense Ministry of being involved in the killing.
"I think it is the first political killing of a journalist in Moscow," Gusev said. "I am sure the clues of the murder will lead to the FSK, to Matvei Burlatov (deputy defense minister and former head of the Western Group of the Russian Army) and personally to (Defense Minister Pavel) Grachev, who is loaded with Mercedes cars which he got in Germany.
"They will not intimidate us. We will write the truth and we will name those people who try to eliminate us," said the editor of the popular, sensationalist newspaper.
Colonel Yury Zhdanov, a spokesman for the Defense Ministry, said by phone: "This is a private and too emotional viewpoint of Gusev. What has happened is a real tragedy. The investigation has already been launched and it will show the final results." He declined further comment.
Sergei Bogdanov, a spokesman for the Federal Counterintelligence Service which is investigating the explosion, gave details of the incident in a telephone interview but declined to comment on Gusev's accusations.
Bogdanov said the incident had occurred at the newspaper's offices on Ulitsa 1905 Goda, in western Moscow, just after 1 P.M.
"There was a homemade explosive device inside the briefcase, wired to go off when it was opened," Bogdanov said.
Gusev said Kholodov, who had written several stories about corruption in the military, had picked up the briefcase at the baggage check at Kazansky train station in central Moscow.
"Dima (Kholodov) told my deputy that he set up contacts with an official in the FSK who is very important and who could give him unique documents about the illegal trade of weapons in the Western Group of the Russian Army," Gusev said.
He said the informer in the FSK had called Kholodov in the morning and told him to pick up a briefcase in the baggage room at the railroad station.
Kholodov "planned to make an appropriate report during hearings" in the State Duma, Gusev said.
Gusev said it took 40 minutes for the ambulance to arrive and that the reporter had died en route to the hospital. Yekaterina Deyeva, another reporter who was in the room at the time, was hospitalized with a concussion and facial burns.
Interfax reported that President Boris Yeltsin had condemned the killing and expressed revulsion over a campaign of "terror" against journalists. Last month two prominent journalists in St. Petersburg were robbed and beaten.
Yeltsin ordered Interior Minister Viktor Yerin to take personal control over the investigation of the incident.
Alexander Metrofanov, a reporter and a friend of Kholodov, said he had seen him a minute before the explosion had occurred.
"We met in the corridor and I saw that he was carrying a briefcase that did not belong him," Metrofanov said.
"We greeted each other and we walked further. I turned to the left and he went to the right into a small room. In a couple of seconds, I heard a powerful explosion."
Metrofanov said Kholodov had covered military subjects and very often joked that "sooner or later" he could be killed or blown up.
Yevgeny Viktint, an employee for the newspaper, said two weeks ago there had been a call from an unidentified man who said a bomb had been planted in the newspaper building. Police with specially trained dogs had searched the office but found nothing, he said.
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