Russia
After a raid in Chechnya: journalist in Moscow
After the attack in Chechnya, journalist Yelena Milashina was taken to Moscow by colleagues. photo
© Uncredited/Novaya Gazeta Europe Novayagazeta.eu/AP/dpa
Russian investigative reporter Milashina and a lawyer were violently attacked in Chechnya. To be on the safe side, they were taken to North Ossetia and now to Moscow for treatment.
Russian Nobel Peace Prize winner and journalist Dmitry Muratov has announced his in Chechnya attacked and injured colleague Yelena Milashina brought back to Moscow by plane from the Caucasus. Milashina and lawyer Alexander Nemov, who was also injured, were flown out on Wednesday night and taken to a Moscow hospital. This was reported by the former editor-in-chief of the dissolved Kremlin-critical radio station Echo Moskvy, Alexei Venediktov, on Telegram. In photos, Milashina and Nemov can be seen in a small machine, along with Muratov and Venediktov.
Muratov is the editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta, a medium that is critical of the Kremlin and works in exile abroad, for which investigative journalist Milashina has been working for years and also reports from Chechnya.
Milashina: Attackers wanted to cut off index fingers
Unknown persons brutally beat Milashina and Nemov on Tuesday on their way to the Chechen capital Grozny when they wanted to attend a court verdict there. According to the human rights organization Memorial, Milashina and Nemov were mistreated and their documents and equipment were destroyed.
The attackers also tried to cut off her index finger to unlock her cell phone, Milashina says in a video taken during the flight. The perpetrators gave up their plan just because the device didn’t recognize their fingerprint at the moment.
After the attack, Milashina and Nemov were taken from Chechnya to a hospital in the neighboring Caucasus republic of North Ossetia. Chechnya’s ruler Ramzan Kadyrov had already threatened Milashina with death in 2020. Kadyrov leads the Islamic republic in the North Caucasus with an iron fist. Human rights activists repeatedly complain about the most serious crimes, including murder, torture and persecution.