Russian journalist sustained brain injury, fractures during Chechnya attack – Panorama

A distinguished Russian investigative reporter has acquired a mind damage and a number of fractures when she and a lawyer accompanying her have been brutally overwhelmed by unidentified assailants within the Russian province of Chechnya, AP reported on Wednesday, citing her newspaper.

Novaya Gazeta journalist Elena Milashina and lawyer Alexander Nemov have been attacked Tuesday quickly after they arrived in Chechnya to attend the trial of the mom of two Chechen dissidents. Simply outdoors the airport, their car was blocked by three automobiles and a dozen unidentified masked attackers, who beat them with golf equipment and put weapons to their heads. Milashina and Nemova have been evacuated to Moscow for medical therapy later within the day.

Novaya Gazeta stated {that a} medical examination of Milashina confirmed that she has sustained a mind damage and 14 fractures on her fingers together with a number of different accidents. It launched footage of Milashina, displaying each her fingers bandaged, her face injured and her again coated by bruises from the beating.

Milashina stated the assailants threatened to chop her fingers if she refused to present a password to unlock her telephone after which beat her on her fingers with a plastic tube. “It was very painful. It felt like a burn,” she stated in a video launched by Russian rights group Crew Towards Torture.

The attackers additionally shaved her head clear and doused inexperienced antiseptic on her, Milashina stated. She famous that the attackers grabbed their tools, however didn’t contact money and different valuables.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has described the assault as “a really critical assault that warrants energetic measures” from legislation enforcement businesses and famous that President Vladimir Putin was knowledgeable about it.