Russian state media have responded to the death of a Russian journalist, whose suicide note blamed government authorities for her actions, by alleging she was a member of a cult and speculating without evidence of longstanding mental health issues.
Russian journalist Irina Murahtaeva, who wrote under the pseudonym Irina Slavina, died on October 2 by setting herself on fire in front of the local interior ministry office in the western Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod. In a note, Slavina wrote, “I ask you to blame the Russian Federation for my death.”
Pro-Kremlin and Russian state media have extensively covered Slavina’s death. Their major claims:
- Irina Slavina was a member of a sect. The state news agency TASS interviewed an “expert” source from the All Russian Professional League of Psychotherapists, Victor Makarov, who said the way she killed herself is “connected with sects.” Makarov continued to say that most often only “fanatical people” behave this way, and “when we talk about fanatical faith we’re talking about a sect.” The statements traveled widely across the Russian press and social media, with the pro-government newspapers Gazeta.ru and Komsomolskaya Pravda also pushing this theory, along with smaller pro-government outlets.
- Irina Slavina had been suicidal for a long time. The state-affiliated RIA Novosti news agency reported that Slavina had written suicide-themed posts on Facebook in the past, quoting a message from more than a year ago. An article published today on RIA’s website under the headline “suicide as terrorism,” claimed Slavina had shown suicidal behavior for a while. The author of the piece alleges that Slavina’s colleagues and friends “clearly did nothing to help the suicidal woman” and even asks about “the role they played in her taking the final step.”
- Slavina was mentally ill. The online news outlet Vzglyad wrote on October 3 that Slavina’s death is far from a political act but rather the “sad picture of an unbalanced woman with long-standing suicidal tendencies.” The following day Vzglyad ran a piece with the headline: “Irina Slavina was burned by psychosis.” The allegation has been repeated elsewhere in the Russian media. The radio station of Komsomolskaya Pravda ran a story asserting that the main reason behind her death was that she was mentally ill.
Extensive research has shown that media can play an important role in preventing suicide. Suicide prevention organizations typically warn against oversimplifying or speculating on the reason for the suicide.
