Nikolai Andrushchenko, a prominent Russian anticorruption reporter who died last year after being beaten up, was among 18 journalists commemorated in Washington on June 4 for being killed while pursuing their work.
In a ceremony held at the Fallen Journalists Memorial Wall at the Newseum -- a museum dedicated to journalism and press freedom -- Andrushchenko, 73, was honored along with Daphne Caruna Galizia, 53, a Maltese investigative journalist who was killed last year by car bomb after she wrote articles about widespread corruption in the Mediterranean country.
The honorees lost their lives pursuing the news in far-flung places around the world, including Iraq, Syria, Mexico, the Maldives, India, Colombia, Denmark, the Philippines, and South Sudan, as well as Malta and Russia.
The 18 singled out for honors were meant to represent all 46 journalists killed around the world in 2017. The memorial lists names of 2,323 journalists who have died for their work since 1837.
Andrushchenko, a co-founder of the weekly newspaper Novy Peterburg, was found unconscious with what colleagues described as head trauma on March 9, 2017. He never regained consciousness and died on April 19.
Novy Peterburg editor Denis Usov said Andrushchenko had been attacked previously in incidents he linked to articles that the newspaper had written about corruption in the city.
Those articles reported extensively on connections between St. Petersburg city officials and organized criminal syndicates.
Andrushchenko was a member of the St. Petersburg city council from 1990 until 1993.
He became a renowned journalist as a result of his investigative reporting about human rights issues in Russia, organized crime, and police brutality.