Exiled journalist Evgeny Safronov, 38, fled Russia amid Vladimir Putin’s crackdown on press freedom – and has now been found dead after falling from the window of his flat
Exiled Russian journalist Yevgeny Safronov, 38, has been found dead after ‘falling out of a window’(Image: Social media/east2west news)
A journalist who fled Vladimir Putin after a crackdown on the free press in Russia has been found dead after a mystery window fall.
Evgeny Safronov, 38, originally from Krasnoyarsk in Siberia, was discovered on Tuesday morning outside a block of flats in the Hauts-de-Seine suburb of Paris. French police confirmed the journalist had fallen from a window – but said an investigation has been opened to establish the exact circumstances of his death.
It has since emerged that Evgeny had reported recieving death threats and suffered a cyberattack shortly before his death – telling friends his phone had been “infected” and his accounts “stolen”.
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According to French broadcaster BFMTV, Mr Safronov sent a message to relatives describing how his phones, social media accounts and messaging apps had all been compromised. He wrote: “All my accounts have been hacked. My Telegram account has been stolen.
“All my mobile phones and applications have been cloned. My text messages and phone conversations have been intercepted. My phone has been infected by hackers.”
He insisted: “I have never worked for Russia’s interests and I have never been recruited by anyone.” A friend who spoke to him said: “He wasn’t himself.”
Mr Safronov worked for Open Media, an outlet founded by Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky, until the end of 2024. He fled Russia in 2021, after Open Media was designated a “foreign agent” by Russian authorities – a label widely criticised as a tool used to silence independent journalism.
During his career, Safronov regularly reported on pressure against journalists, court cases linked to protests involving Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, and growing restrictions on free speech under Putin’s rule In February 2021 he was briefly detained while attempting to cover a court hearing linked to Navalny, who died in a Russian prison in 2024.
After leaving Russia, Evgeny spent time living India and Turkey, before eventually securing a French visa and moving to Paris around six months ago. Friends say he struggled to rebuild his life after what he described as an unfair dismissal from Open Media, which had itself relocated to Europe.
Another Russian journalist based in Paris wrote that Mr Safronov had told him he feared surveillance and intimidation, though it remains unclear whether these fears were grounded in real threats or the result of severe distress. According to Le Figaro, investigators found a chair next to the window inside the flat and a stash of medication in the bin.
Police sources told the newspaper that letters written in Russian were also discovered at the scene. His roommate, also Russian, was in the flat at the time but was reportedly in a state of shock and unable to explain what had happened. He was taken to hospital under police escort.
A police source said Mr Safronov “may have been the target of Russian threats”, though prosecutors stressed it is too early to determine the cause of death. At least 15 prominent Russian oligarchs, officials, and critics of Vladimir Putin have died in unexplained falls from windows, balconies, or cliffs since the invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022 – with the incidents now often darkly referred to as ‘Sudden Russian Death Syndrome’.
Last year saw the deaths of Artur Pryakhin, the out-of-favour head of Russia’s anti-monopoly regulator, and Andrey Badalov, vice president of state-owned oil company Transneft, who both died in falls from windows in Moscow.