Vadim Kharchenko

Affiliated media: Lichnoye Mneniye, Blogger

Incident date: June 1, 2019

Attack type:

• Attempted murder

Who attacked: Unknown sources

Source: Council of Europe

Location: Russia, Krasnodar Krai, Krasnodar

Additional information:

On 1 June, Vadim Kharchenko, a Krasnodar-based blogger and author of Lichnoye Mneniye (“Personal Opinion”) YouTube channel was assaulted and shot by two unknown men, which he reported in a video posted to his blog. About two weeks before the incident, he had received an anonymous call from an individual, who introduced himself as a policeman willing to provide evidence that local policemen had tortured detainees and fabricated criminal cases against innocent people. Kharchenko agreed to meet the man, who told him that he had to urgently leave town and could only meet near the airport in the late evening. However, no one came to the meeting. On the way back to his car, Kharchenko heard someone call his name and turned around. He heard two gunshots. When he ran towards the shooter and wrestled him to the ground, another person stabbed him in the liver and right arm. When Kharchenko tried to fight the second attacker, the first shot him in the back. Both attackers fled, shouting “Vadim, leave [the town]”. Kharchenko then went to a hospital and documented his injuries – three gunshot wounds, two stab wounds and a concussion.