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MOSCOW, RUSSIA - Award-winning Russian investigative journalist Elena Milashina, who was badly beaten this week in the restive republic of Chechnya, is in a "difficult" condition in a Moscow hospital, her editor told AFP on Wednesday.
International media advocates and rights groups voiced concern after Milashina said she had been beaten and held at gunpoint with a lawyer during a work trip to the volatile region in southern Russia.
"Milashina is in Moscow in hospital. Her condition is, frankly, difficult: she was really severely beaten," Dmitry Muratov, the editor of her paper, Novaya Gazeta, told AFP reporters.
Novaya Gazeta published a video of Milashina in the hospital with her head shaven and hands bandaged. Milashina was attacked along with Alexander Nemov, a lawyer, who received a knife wound.
In a video interview, the 45-year-old journalist said around 10 to 15 attackers had beaten her with plastic pipes.
Milashina, who has for many years covered rights abuses in Chechnya, said authorities routinely used such pipes to attack detainees in Chechnya. Milashina 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 video, smiling. "It really hurt."
The attackers, who demanded she reveal her phone password, also threatened to break her fingers.
Milashina said the attack was linked to her work with Nemov, saying she heard the attackers telling the lawyer: "You defend too many people here."
She also said the attackers 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, Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman said that it would take time for a full probe to be conducted, and 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.
Muratov said Wednesday that Milashina's fingers were also injured, adding, "Her condition is what you'd expect."
Milashina has covered rights abuses in Chechnya, the Caucasus republic ruled for years by Kadyrov, a former warlord.
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 Putin's birthday.