Top Russian journalist Alexander Rybin, 39, found lying dead on roadside after blasting Putin for ‘gigantic corruption’

A TOP Russian journalist has been found dead after vowing to release new details of Putin’s “gigantic corruption”.

The body of Alexander Rybin, 39, was discovered by a roadside near Shakhty, in Russia’s Rostov region. 

The body of Alexander Rybin, 39, was discovered by a roadsideEast2West

He is the latest in a number of mysterious media-linked deaths amid Putin’s war against Ukraine. 

Rybin died after a visit to occupied Mariupol in which his on-air report criticised the Putin regime for its slowness in rebuilding the war-blitzed city which the dictator sees as a holiday location for Russians on the Azov Sea. 

The reporter – who had backed Putin’s annexation of the Donbas – revealed an influx of immigrants to undertake the reconstruction and huge money pumped in from Russia.

He never got back to the capital. 

Officially, the cause of death was given as “cardiomyopathy” following an autopsy, according to the Russian state media.

His bank cards and valuables had not been removed.  

Rybin had fought in Luhansk for pro-Putin forces from 2014 to 2015 – but became disillusioned with the so-called “Russian Spring”.

He had travelled widely reporting for a variety of Russian media including pro-Putin outlets.

On December 30, he told viewers from Mariupol: “There is gigantic money here, there are gigantic opportunities for corruption.

“My personal impression –  I’m not accusing anybody of anything …is that there is a gigantic corruption going on in Mariupol, which the Russian army occupied with heavy fighting in Spring 2022.

“The year 2023, in my opinion, is in no way easier for the residents of Mariupol than what was happening in 2022, unfortunately.”