Seven Novaya Gazeta journalists, including Yuri Shchekochikhin, Anna Politkovskaya and Anastasia Baburova, have been murdered since 2000, in connection with their investigations.[4]
In October 2021, Novaya Gazeta's editor-in-chief Dmitry Muratov was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, alongside Maria Ressa, for their safeguarding of freedom of expression in their homelands.[5]"
...
> Igor Domnikov was well known in Novaya Gazeta among his colleagues for his witty essays and acerbic tone. He was attacked on his way to his Moscow apartment, near the doorway, on 12 May 2000. Hit with a hard object, presumably a hammer by an unknown assailant, he was lying unconscious in a pool of his own blood when found by a neighbor; Igor Domnikov was delivered to a hospital with skull and brain injuries, underwent surgery, but remained in a coma. He died from the injuries on 16 July 2000. 5 members of a gang were arrested in August 2007 on suspicion of murder and were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 18 years to life for the murder as well as other crimes.[40] On 11 March 2015, Former Deputy Governor of Lipetsk Oblast Sergei Dorovskoi was charged by Investigative Committee of Russia with inciting the murder, but Sergei Dorovskoi was never punished because of the statute of limitations.[41][42] Investigations have found that Igor Domnikov had written a series of reports about life in the Lipetsk region in 1999–2000, where he criticized the local government for corruption, which was the motive for Sergei Dorovskoi to incite others to kill the journalist.[43]
So the answer to your question is a loud and clear "yes!"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_journalists_killed_in_...
(On a very sad side note, the fact that this is an actual Wikipedia list that exists speaks volumes.)
The same way you figure out the equivalent question to anything else: you do some research.
There is no Russia-specific taint when it comes to journalism. The same thing goes for any outlet.