In the Russian region of Chechnya, armed masked men attacked a well-known Russian journalist and a lawyer in the early hours of Tuesday, according to the journalist’s employer and human rights organizations. The incident took place as Yelena Milashina, an acclaimed investigative journalist working for Novaya Gazeta newspaper, and Alexander Nemov, a lawyer, were traveling to the capital city of Grozny from the local airport for a court hearing.
The court hearing was reportedly related to the case of a woman they believed was facing unjust persecution. Milashina and Nemov are currently hospitalized in Grozny, as confirmed by Novaya Gazeta, a reputable independent publication based in Moscow.
Describing the attack, Milashina recounted the harrowing experience to a Chechen human rights official, Mansur Soltayev, at the hospital in Grozny. She stated that they were forcibly stopped, their driver was pinned down and thrown out of the car, and armed men entered the vehicle. They were threatened at gunpoint, their hands were tied, and they were physically assaulted.
The banned Russian human rights group Memorial released a statement on Telegram, asserting that Milashina and Nemov were subjected to brutal beatings, including blows to the face, death threats, and threats with a gun pointed at their heads. The attackers also confiscated and destroyed their equipment, while warning them to leave and refrain from reporting on the incident.
According to Novaya Gazeta, the duo was en route to attend the sentencing of Zarema Musayeva, a woman who is the mother of three exiles known for criticizing the Head of the Chechen republic, Ramzan Kadyrov. Musayeva had been detained by Chechen forces in January the previous year and faced charges of assaulting a policeman and fraud, which she denied. Critics view the case as retaliation against her sons and husband, who fled the country. Musayeva was found guilty by the court and sentenced to five-and-a-half years in a penal colony.
The Memorial described the injuries sustained by Milashina, stating that her fingers were broken, and she occasionally lost consciousness. She had bruises all over her body. A photo released by the Committee Against Torture depicted Milashina sitting on a hospital bed with her face covered in green dye, presumably thrown by the attackers, and her head shaved by them. Reports also indicated that her left arm was bandaged, and several fingers were broken. Nemov was reported to have been stabbed in the leg and claimed that the attackers used three cars to block their vehicle.
Both the journalist and lawyer were taken to a hospital in Grozny but are expected to be transferred to Moscow for further medical treatment. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that Russian President Vladimir Putin had been informed about the “very serious attack” and that an investigation would be conducted with “energetic measures.”
It is worth noting that Milashina had previously been forced to leave Russia temporarily in February of the previous year due to death threats from the Chechen leadership. Novaya Gazeta, her employer, also had its license revoked during that time. Milashina has extensively covered human rights abuses in Chechnya for years, a subject that has been denied by Kadyrov.
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