Russian journalist has her hair shaved off and fingers broken in attack on work trip to Chechnya

A leading Russian investigative journalist has been brutally attacked while on a work trip to Chechnya – a republic of Russia ruled by Vladimir Putin ally Ramzan Kadyrov, whom the reporter previously described as a “terrorist.”

Elena Milashina, 45, and lawyer Alexander Nemov – also brutally beaten – were stopped by armed and masked men when they arrived in the regional capital of Grozny to attend a trial related to human rights abuses.

The pair reportedly received death threats and had guns pointed at their heads, while Milashina’s head was shaved and her fingers broken in a brutal attack on the brave journalist.

The reporter, who works for the now-banned independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta, also suffered an internal head wound, fainted several times and was doused in green dye during the vicious attack.

Nemov, 35, was stabbed with a knife and suffered leg wounds, said human rights group Team Against Torture, but still plans to go to the trial the couple had traveled to the state to attend.

Chechen Republic Human Rights Commissioner Mansur Soltaev visits Elena Milashina, a journalist for the now-banned independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta

Lawyer Alexander Nemov and Elena Milashina get into an ambulance at the Grozny hospital

Kadyrov – sanctioned in the West for alleged human rights abuses – is one of Putin’s strongest supporters of the war with Ukraine.

He previously labeled Milashina a terrorist, one of those who are said to have been “always destroyed” in his republic.

Rumors have been circulating about his health in recent days amid claims that he is suffering from acute kidney or liver problems.

Human rights organization Memorial said in a statement on Telegram: “They were brutally kicked, including in the face, threatened with death, a gun was put to their head and their equipment was taken away and destroyed.

As they were beaten, they were told, “You’ve been warned.” Go away and don’t write anything’.

Chechnya is a republic of Russia governed by Ramzan Kadyrov, an ally of Vladimir Putin (pictured), whom the reporter previously described as a “terrorist”

They were hospitalized and the prominent investigative journalist will be transferred to another Russian region for further treatment.

The pair were in Chechnya to attend a court case involving Zarema Musaeva, the mother of persecuted Chechen activists, Abubakar and Ibragim Yangulbaev.

She was abducted from the Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod in January 2022 and transferred to a provisional prison in Grozny.

She was charged with ‘using force against a police officer’ and faces more than five years in prison for what are seen as politically motivated charges.

Milashina works for Novaya Gazeta, Russia’s largest independent news outlet headed by Dmitry Muratov, a Nobel laureate.

Then First Lady Michelle Obama, left, and then Secretary of State John Kerry, right, honor Russian human rights activist, journalist Elena Milashina, with a Secretary of State’s International Women of Courage Award in 2013

A statement from the newspaper today read: “Several masked people severely beat Elena and Alexander, took their phones and demanded that they lift the block, and destroyed their equipment and documents. They beat them with clubs and kicked them with their feet.

“Elena Milashina has a closed head wound and several broken fingers on her hands. The doctors are not sharing the results of her MRI scan. Elena has fainted several times.

Lawyer Nemov was beaten and stabbed with a knife. However, he still plans to attend the court hearing.

Russian Human Rights Commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova agreed to intervene in the situation at the editor’s request,” Novaya Gazeta wrote.

The media rights organization Reporters Without Borders said it was “appalled by the savage attack” on Milashina.

Last year, the outlet’s media license was revoked, a move Muratov said was politically motivated.

Since 2000, six of its journalists and associates have been murdered, including investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya.