Russian Nobel peace laureate and journalist Dmitrz Muratov said journalist Elena Milashina is in a "difficult" condition in a Moscow hospital.Award-winning Russian journalist Elena Milashina, who was beaten by unknown armed attackers in Chechnya, was flown out to a Moscow hospital on Tuesday night.

Also Read | Fraud in Mumbai: Fraudsters Dupe Tamil Nadu-Based Auto Mechanic of Rs 11 Lakh on Pretext of Tripling His Money, Victim Left Homeless After Being Scammed.

Russian Nobel peace laureate and journalist Dmitrz Muratov, who helped with the transfer, said that she is in a "difficult" condition.

Also Read | West Bengal: I Was Offered Deputy CM’s Post by Trinamool Congress Before Joining BJP, Claims Opposition Leader Suvendu Adhikari.

"Milashina is in Moscow in hospital. Her condition is, frankly, difficult: she was really severely beaten, beaten with a stick," Muratov, the editor of her paper, Novaya Gazeta said.

"Her condition is what you'd expect," he added.

Photos released on Telegram showed injured journalist Milashina along with assaulted lawyer Alexander Nemov, in a small plane together.

Milashina and Nemov were brutally beaten up while they were on their way to attend the court verdict in the Chechen capital Grozny yesterday.

'Full investigation would take time'

Milashina works for top independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta, which lost its license in Russia, and Nemov is a lawyer with the human rights group, Crew Against Torture.

The Kremlin said that the person responsible for the attack should be identified.

President Vladimir Putin's spokesperson on Wednesday said that it would take more time for a full probe to be conducted, adding that investigators were carrying out their work.

"Let's just wait. The reactions have all been voiced and now all actions are being taken," Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

What happened in the attack?

The pair were traveling to the Chechen capital Grozny when several cars blocked their vehicle as it left the airport. Masked assailants physically attacked them and broke their equipment. Both were subsequently hospitalized in Grozny, and later taken to Beslan.

A spokesperson for Crew Against Torture told DW that Milashina and Nemov were "beaten and very seriously injured."

"Elena Milashina's head was shaved and covered in green dye. She was kicked in the face and slips in and out of consciousness," Natalia Kurekina told DW. "Several fingers are broken on both hands."

Nemov, meanwhile, received a deep cut to his leg. "He finds it hard to walk, but is improving. But Elena Milashina is in a very bad way," she added.

Crew Against Torture shared photos of Milashina in a hospital with her hands in bandages.

After the attack, both were initially hospitalized in Grozny, and later taken to Beslan in neighbouring Caucasus republic of North Ossetia.

Milashina was the target of a similar attack at a hotel in Grozny in 2020. She is not the only Novaya Gazeta journalist to face threats and attacks.

ara/jcg (AFP, dpa)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 05, 2023 09:30 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).