“The obvious question is why are they doing it? Do they believe Putin is vulnerable?”
Probably a huge variety of reasons. Despite whatever their reason some are brave, some are suicidal, and some are just stupid. I’m reminded of the Moscow woman writer and commentarist on state TV who regularly talked and wrote about the bad things Putin was doing. One day she opened her door to see who had knocked and the man shot her in the head and walked away. Her friends were outraged. I was thinking the woman must have had an IQ lower than the temperature in a coal mine in winter. Who could be raised in Russia and think it was safe to criticize Putin? The only thing dumber would be to let Hillary Clinton know you had the evidence to send her to prison.
You come across like you approve of the reporter being murdered for speaking out against Putin.