INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Russian investigators on Wednesday said they had launched a criminal investigation after award-winning journalist Yelena Milashina was badly
beaten in Chechnya.Milashina, 45, covers rights abuses in Chechnya, the Caucasus republic ruled for years by Ramzan Kadyrov, a former
week in the restive republic of Chechnya.She is in a "difficult" condition in a Moscow hospital, her editor told AFP earlier in the day.The
Investigative Committee, which probes serious crimes, said in a statement it opened a criminal inquiry into the intentional infliction of
Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, that the investigation had been launched following a preliminary probe
after Milashina said she had been battered and held at gunpoint with Nemov during a work trip to the volatile region in
Her condition is, frankly, difficult: she was really severely beaten," Dmitry Muratov, the editor of Novaya Gazeta, told AFP
reporters.Novaya Gazeta published a video of Milashina in hospital with her head shaven and her hands bandaged
Nemov received a knife wound in the assault.In a video interview, the journalist said around 10 to 15 attackers had beaten her with plastic
She said she had written about the practice before and now experienced it for the first time."It is a powerful weapon," she said in the
linked to her work with Nemov, adding she heard the attackers telling the lawyer: "You defend too many people here."She also said they
shaved her head and poured a green-colored dye over her.The Kremlin and the strongman leader of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, said those
responsible should be identified.On Wednesday, Vladimir Putin's spokesman said it would take time for a full probe to be conducted, and that
The reactions have all been voiced and now all actions are being taken," Dmitry Peskov told reporters.Muratov said Milashina's fingers were
also injured, adding that "her condition is what you'd expect."Since 2000, Novaya Gazeta has seen six of its journalists and contributors
killed, including investigative reporter Anna Politkovskaya, who was shot dead in Moscow on President Vladimir Putin's birthday.
