Meduza correspondent Ivan Golunov has neither eaten nor slept for more than 24 hours, his attorney Dmitry Dzhulai said told journalists. “He is having a hard time following what’s going on. He’s in very bad shape,” Dzhulai said. He added that Golunov would soon be transported to Moscow’s Krylatskoye police station for the night.
Members of Moscow’s Social Monitoring Commission (ONK) later examined Golunov and found no remaining signs of beatings apart from abrasions on his back. The organization’s lead secretary, Ivan Melnikov, relayed the Meduza correspondent’s version of events to Interfax: Golunov said he was given a medical inspection after his arrest and asked to remain in the hospital because “he felt safer” there. He then held onto a bench and fell to the floor as police attempted to “pull him” away.
Human rights activist Pavel Chikov posted photographs of Golunov’s injuries earlier in the day. The journalist’s testimony in the police report against him indicates that he was pulled and fell to the floor while holding onto a chair and asking repeatedly to speak with an attorney. According to that testimony, Golunov hit his head when he fell, and police proceeded to drag him across the floor while kicking him in the chest and hitting his face.