Editor of Putin's 'favourite propaganda paper' found dead months after her boss

13 December 2023 , 13:47

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Anna Tsareva, 35, before her death (Image: social media/e2w)

The 35-year-old deputy editor-in-chief of Vladimir Putin’s "favourite" newspaper has been found dead at her home in Moscow.‌

Anna Tsareva's body was discovered at home by her Dad and initial police reports say there was no indication of a break-in to her apartment. Police have opened an investigation into the death of the deputy editor of pro-Putin Komsomolskaya Pravda [KP], a high-flying Russian journalist, reported Baza online news outlet.‌‌

It is known she had developed an unspecified acute respiratory viral infection and had suffered a high fever for several days. However, Shot Media reported today that it is suspected she died of “acute heart failure”.

Tsareva was reported to be in charge of content on Komsomolskaya Pravda’s website, including stories about Putin’s war against Ukraine. It is the biggest news website in Russia with 83.9 million readers in October 2023 and she had been deputy editor-in-chief for six years.

In September 2022, her boss Vladimir Sungorkin, 68, editor-in-chief and director general of KP, died of a "heart attack" after showing signs of suffocation. His death has been seen as suspicious. He is often included among a list of dozens of untimely or mysterious deaths since the start of Putin’s war. Sungorkin fell unconscious on a tour of the Russian Far East minutes after suggesting his group "find a beautiful place somewhere… for lunch."

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Colleague Leonid Zakharov said: "Three minutes later, Vladimir began to suffocate. We took him out for fresh air, he was already unconscious… Nothing helped. The doctor who did the initial examination said that apparently, it was a stroke. But this is the initial conclusion." Sungorkin has been sanctioned by the West over the war.

Vladimir Putin meets late editor-in-chief and director general of Komsomolskaya Pravda Vladimir Sungorkin (KP.ru/e2w)

He was branded by the European Commission as "one of the main actors in foreign information manipulation and interference activities or propagandists who often speaks out on Ukraine, creating misinformation and manipulating facts." He was accused of "disseminating and legitimising aggressive anti-Ukraine and anti-Western propaganda of the Putin regime under direct Kremlin authority in one of Russia's most popular media outlets."

The commission stated: "The newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda has been described also by President Vladimir Putin as his favourite newspaper." The editor "is therefore responsible for supporting actions and policies which 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 at then staunchly independent Echo Moscow radio station under highly-respected editor-in-chief Alexey Venediktov. She also had a stint at the state news agency TASS.

Will Stewart