A Russian Nobel Peace Prize-winning newspaper editor says he had red paint and acetone dumped on him on a train.
Dmitry Muratov is the editor of Novaya Gazeta, one of the last Russian outlets to be critical of President Vladimir Putin and his war in Ukraine.
He posted on Telegram about the assault, saying it happened while he was travelling from Moscow to Samara.
The man responsible reportedly shouted: ‘Muratov, here’s one for our boys’ as he dumped the paint on the journalist.
‘My eyes are burning terribly,’ Mr Muratov said in his video.
Novaya Gazeta last Thursday announced that it was suspending operations because it had received two formal warnings from the Russian media regulator Roskomnadzor.
The newspaper’s team has since launched Novaya Gazeta Europe, making its base in Europe so it can avoid censorship.
Roskomnadzor has ensured Russian media call the war in Ukraine ‘the special operation’.
Moscow passed a law on March 4 threatening reporters with a jail sentence of up to 15 years for publishing information deemed to be ‘fake’ by the Kremlin.
‘Fake news’ can include any mention of Russian forces harming civilians or suffering losses on the battlefield.
Novaya Gazeta has had to remove a lot of war reporting from its website.
The exact reasons for the warnings are unclear, but Roskomnadzor told state news agency Tass the newspaper had failed to identify an unnamed non-governmental organisation as a ‘foreign agent’. This is also required by Russian law.
Long-time editor Mr Muratov shared the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize with Maria Ressa, a journalist from the Philippines.
He said he would auction off his Nobel Peace Prize to raise money for Ukrainian refugees on March 22.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].
For more stories like this, check our news page.
Source: Read Full Article
