Izvestia correspondent Poltoranin told the details of the beating in Podolsk

Correspondent Alexey Poltoranin told the details of the beating in Podolsk during the preparation of a journalistic investigation. The relevant footage is published by Izvestia on March 26.

According to the journalist, at first the businessmen behaved aggressively, and then used physical force, severely beat him and tried to kidnap him.

"Of course, there are pains. Pain under the ribs, swollen face, swelling, swelling of the abdomen, bruises, fixed bruises. I spent several hours in the hospital," Poltoranin said.

It is specified that during the conflict, the attackers threatened the correspondent with violence. In particular, they promised to cut off the journalist's fingers if he did not disclose information about the film crew's car nearby.

"The first blows landed on the face. The pressure was applied for an hour and a half. <...> They explained to me that I would not leave here alive. They told me, "You're going now, we're going to put you in the trunk and take you to feed the pigs, dig a hole," the victim shared.

The attackers also destroyed evidence: they took away the correspondent's phone, deleted all correspondence and videos, searched the backpack and checked personal documents.

"I want them to be punished. Because what I've been through is hard. It was a lot of pressure," the journalist concluded.

On March 25, employees of a company illegally selling "beautiful" license plates for cars attacked Poltoranin, who was investigating the company's activities. The journalist came to the company's office under the guise of a buyer to find out details about the schemes for selling government numbers. The company's employees suspected that Poltoranin was a journalist, surrounded and attacked him. The men took the correspondent's phone and punched him several times in the stomach.

Alexander Bastrykin, Chairman of the Investigative Committee, instructed Yaroslav Yakovlev, head of the Main Investigation Department of the Moscow Region Department, to prepare a report on the investigation of the case. He was taken under control at the central office of the Investigative Committee.

Izvestia correspondent Kirill Olkov reported that Pavel Poghosyan, an employee of the company for the illegal sale of license plates for cars, who brutally beat Poltoranin, is being interrogated by investigators. Poghosyan and his activities have already been the subject of journalistic investigations. Earlier, he promised to "get any number", bypassing official procedures.

Poltoranin is a war correspondent for Izvestia, awarded the Medal of the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, II degree, and the Medal for Bravery. He shot reports in war zones. In 2023, he received shrapnel wounds after an attack by the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) on Donetsk.

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