Natalya Alyakina

Focus and RUFA

June 17, 1995, in Budyonnovsk, Russia

Alyakina, a journalist with dual Russian-German citizenship who was working for the German weekly magazine Focus and the radio news service RUFA, was killed by a Russian soldier. Russian army officials had given her permission to cross an army checkpoint leading into the southern city of Budyonnovsk, where she was going to report on a mass hostage taking by Chechen rebels, but she was shot shortly after passing through the roadblock.

Medium: Print, Radio

Job: Broadcast Reporter, Print Reporter

Beats Covered: War

Gender: Female

Local or Foreign: Foreign

Freelance: No

Type of Death: Crossfire/Combat-Related

Suspected Source of Fire: Military Officials