- Date
- 01/01/1995
- First
- Vladimir
- Surname
- ZHITARENKO
- Sex/Age
- M, 52
- Incident
- crossfire
- Motive
- J
- Place
- outskirts
- Job
- journalist
- Medium
- Federal District Plus
- Chechnya
- Street, Town, Region
- Grozny, Chechnya
- Freelance
- no
- Local/National
- national, Krasnaya zvezda
- Other Ties
- Cause of Death
- crossfire, sniper
- Legal Qualification
- no information
- Impunity
- No Information
Colonel Vladimir Zhitarenko, a special correspondent for the armed forces newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda (Red Star), was killed in Chechnya on 1 January 1995.
According to official sources he died during a mortar attack on a paratroops base, 6 km from Grozny. The centre for public relations of the RF Ministry of Internal Affairs says he died after being shot twice in the neck by a Chechen sniper. Journalist Oleg Blotsky says that Vladimir Zhitarenko was killed by a Russian sentry because he did not know the correct password.
Born in 1942, Zhitarenko graduated from the military-political college in Lvov. He had worked for Krasnaya Zvezda since 1974.