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Attackers of Russian reporter, lawyer remain unidentified – Chechen rights commissioner

As Mansur Soltaev clarified, they were traveling in a car without license plates

MOSCOW, July 4. /TASS/. The people that assaulted reporter Yelena Milashina and lawyer Alexander Nemov remain unidentified as they used a car without a license plate, said Mansur Soltayev, the human rights commissioner in Chechnya.

"The assailants haven’t been identified yet. As far as I know, they used a car without a license plate. This is a very unpleasant case, and we are more than surprised about it. I believe that this is yet another dirty provocation aimed mostly at staining the image of the Chechen Republic as well as compromising the local leadership and law enforcement agencies," he said on Telegram.

"Since the very beginning of the special military operation in Ukraine, the civil society, the entire Chechen people have been supporting the efforts of the Russian President, the Russian Army and the volunteer community in achieving the special operation’s goals. In this regard, a separate negative informational campaign against the Republic of Chechnya has been initiated, which continues to this day," Soltayev added.

According to the commissioner, Yelena Milashina’s visits to the republic "are not welcomed by the majority of the society."

"People still remember her activities of spreading knowingly false information about many citizens. The affected people have repeatedly complained about the information coming from the Novaya Gazeta that harmed their honor and dignity," the ombudsman said.

"We do not believe people and organizations that, in their servility to the West, are ready to betray everything just to harm their own country. The Republic of Chechnya and its Head Ramzan Kadyrov are strong because they defend Chechnya and do not let it be used for anti-Russian purposes. By doing this, they arouse the hatred of all ‘liberals’ and ‘democrats’ in Russia and the West," Soltayev concluded.

Milashina and Nemov were assaulted by unidentified assailants in the southern Russian region of Chechnya. The victims have now been taken to a hospital in another southern Russian region, North Ossetia. According to North Ossetian human rights commissioner Tamerlan Tsgoev, both suffered multiple fractures and the lawyer was also stabbed. Russian human rights commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova has reached out to the Chechen Investigative Committee, Interior Ministry and prosecutor’s office in connection with the incident. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the incident as "a very serious attack requiring very vigorous action" and said that the president had been briefed about the assault.