A journalist who took aim at Russian officials and promised to release details of “gigantic corruption” was found dead near a roadside over the weekend, but the circumstances of his death remain shrouded in mystery.
“It will be almost impossible to determine whether foul play was involved Rybin’s death or whether he died of heart disease as some Russian media outlets claim,” Rebekah Koffler, a strategic military intelligence analyst and the author of “Putin’s Playbook,” told Fox News Digital.
Alexander Rybin, 39, was found near a highway some 130 miles outside the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, where he had spent time reporting on the Russian invasion.
The official cause of death was that he died from “cardiomyopathy” after an autopsy, The Sun reported, citing Russian state media.
Some outlets have described Rybin as a pro-Kremlin journalist, but in the last few weeks of his life he had grown highly critical of officials in the region.
He blamed rampant corruption for the slow rebuilding of the city and Donetsk region.
In one of his last reports, Rybin reported that Mariupol had “gigantic money” and “gigantic opportunities for corruption.”
Hellbound and Down 