"Caucasian Knot" correspondent attacked in Sochi

In Sochi, Svetlana Kravchenko, a correspondent of the "Caucasian Knot", was attacked during performance of her professional duties. The culprits took away her video camera.

"On March 16, at about 2 p.m., I was approached by Alexander Vlasov, who presented a collective statement of his neighbours living at No. 7 Sokolov Street and at No. 61 Kurortny Avenue. The statement read that unidentified builders were illegally erecting high-rise buildings in Kurortny Avenue. Together with Vlasov we went to the construction site aiming to film a video report," Ms Kravchenko told the Moscow correspondent of the "Caucasian Knot".

According to her story, in the public territory, behind the fence of the ongoing construction, near the entrance to the state TV studio, some middle-aged man of medium height in a black leather jacket and black trousers took away her camera.

"He rushed to me and pulled my video/photo camera out of my hands. I was just filming a video at the moment. I asked him to give me my camera back and said that he was committing a crime – obstructing a journalist's work and robbery," said Svetlana Kravchenko.

The police station of the Tsentralny District of Sochi told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that an inquiry was underway. "The application has been accepted; the place of the incident was examined," said Alexander Lyutik, a senior police on duty officer of the Tsentralny District of Sochi.

According to his story, "the other party has been established and questioned. They argue that there was a conflict, and the opponents allegedly insulted each other. However, these people deny that they took away the camera."