Russian editor says newspaper plans to arm its journalists

Boris Grits, 48, who holds Russian and Israeli citizenship, center, is escorted by police officers as he arrives at a courthouse in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2017. The Investigative Committee has identified Boris Grits as the assailant of Tatyana Felgenhauer, a top host and deputy editor-in-chief at Russia’s only independent news radio station who was stabbed at the station’s studios on Monday, the latest of a string of attacks on journalists and opposition activists in Moscow. AP Photo

MOSCOW—The editor of Russia’s most prominent opposition newspaper says he intends to arm his staff with guns that fire rubber bullets amid growing concern about attacks on journalists.

Newspaper “Novaya Gazeta” editor Dmitry Muratov discussed his plans two days after Tatiana Felgenhauer of Russia’s only independent news radio station “Ekho Moskvy” was stabbed in her studio.

Muratov told the station on Thursday that the newspaper is buying “traumatic weapons” for its journalists, providing courses on how to use them and taking other unspecified security measures.

“Traumatic weapons” usually refer to pistols that fire rubber bullets.

Several Novaya Gazeta journalists have been killed or died under mysterious circumstances, including renowned Kremlin critic Anna Politkovskaya. She was shot in 2006.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday that citizens can take security measures they think are necessary. /jpv