For the first time in Russia, a street will be named after a murdered journalist, Larisa Yudina.

On June 7, rallies were held in Moscow and Elista in memory of Larisa Yudina, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Sovetsvkaya Kalmykiya Segodnya and leader of the Kalmyk Yabloko, in connection with the fifteenth anniversary of her brutal murder. This sad anniversary has become an occasion to remind again: the masterminds of this crime remain at large. So far, the possible involvement in the murder of the former president of Kalmykia Kirsan Ilyumzhinov has not been investigated. There is still no doubt in Yabloko that it is he who is behind the death of Larisa Yudina.

The editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Soviet Kalmykia Today" Larisa Yudina was killed on June 7, 1998. On this day, by prior arrangement, she went to a meeting with a representative of the company "Aris" (Agency for Development and Cooperation, which included several thousand offshore companies, which became Kalmykia under Ilyumzhinov). During the meeting, she was supposed to be given documents that contained information about corruption in the republic. After this meeting, Larisa Yudina was never seen alive again.

The journalist's body was found in a pond. He had numerous stab wounds, his skull was fractured. The following year, the killers appeared before the court, one of whom was Ilyumzhinov's legal assistant.

In Elista, an action in memory of the deceased was held in the Druzhba park on Victory Square. Colleagues of Larisa Yudina in the newspaper and the party, civil activists and public figures of the republic spoke at the funeral rally. Yabloko leader Sergei Mitrokhin specially flew to the rally.

“The Ilyumzhinov regime is one of the ugliest phenomena in the political history of Russia, representing a disgusting combination of authoritarianism, corruption and crime. The fight against this regime in 1998 cost the life of our colleague Larisa Yudina,” Mitrokhin said, speaking at the rally. He has no doubt that the masterminds of this crime have not yet been found precisely because "Ilyumzhinov has established total control over the law enforcement system of Kalmykia and has connections in the highest echelons of power in Russia."

In Moscow, the event was theatrical in nature. Yabloko set up a table with a chessboard and two chairs in front of the entrance to the Permanent Mission of Kalmykia in the capital. Activists put a portrait of Larisa Yudina on one of them. The journalist made a standard move with white pieces e2-e4. Yabloko invites FIDE President Ilyumzhinov to answer,” one of its participants, Galina Mikhaleva, a member of Yabloko's federal bureau, explained the essence of the action.

“This crime has no statute of limitations. We will remind about it until all those responsible are punished,” says Sergei Mitrokhin. Indeed, until the masterminds are found and held accountable, powerful criminals and corrupt officials across the country know they can physically eliminate their opponents and go unpunished.

Press service of "Apple"

says : ALEXEY SIMONOV , Chairman of the Glasnost Defense Fund,

Larisa Alekseevna appeared in the Glasnost Defense Fund when she had her first insoluble conflicts with the authorities there.

It was only a year and a half before those tragic events. And they moved very fast.

The only force supporting her was the local prosecutor. He tried to comply with what is commonly called the law in relation to her. The law, of course, did not work - this is understandable. But he managed to stop some very dirty technologies by appealing to the law that he was guided by. I can’t say that it was a visual adherence to the law, but he tried not to allow too criminal violations.

What did we do? The regime then was still not Putin's, but Yeltsin's. And there was a reaction to the speeches of the media and human rights activists. True, the reaction of any superiors is to send a letter to those who are complained about. The technology is well-known, loved by everyone and win-win.

For the past six months, in search of funds to continue her work, she has been tossing between the Union of Journalists, Yabloko, and the Glasnost Defense Foundation. Yabloko agreed to help her by making her their Kalmyk representative.

But all attempts to help a small provincial newspaper, which has a big state enemy, were unsuccessful.

Before the death of Yudina, some regular scams were unfolding in Kalmykia, and the extra eye, located on the territory under their jurisdiction, frightened the authorities.

After such a criminal ending, the investigator told us that with a working witness protection program, the customers would have been found. But they were never found.

By the 15th anniversary of those events, we wrote a statement for the second time and, it seems, agreed that the street in the area of ​​​​new buildings in Elista would bear her name.