Russian editor sacked after school siege coverage

A respected Russian editor was sacked today after his newspaper published pages of photos of wounded and dead children and other victims of the school hostage crisis.

Ekho Moskvy radio and other Russian media said the exit of Raf Shakirov, 44, from Izvestia was was connected with the newspaper’s Saturday issue, which contained the photos.

The reports could not immediately be confirmed.

Izvestia had published some of the most thorough and probing accounts of the crisis, and it was one of the earliest Russian media outlets to cast doubt on the government’s estimate that about 350 hostages were being held captive in the school.