A Nobel-Prize winning critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin has reportedly been attacked with 'paint and acetone' on a train.
Dmitry Muratov, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, and editor of independent Russian paper Novaya Gazeta, has been covered in "red paint" and "acetone" by unknown attackers.
He was in the train compartment when he was doused with paint that was "laced with" the chemical acetone, Russian outlet Meduza reported.
English-language Meduza managing editor, Kevin Rothrock, said: “Aboard a train to Samara, somebody attacked Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Novaya Gazeta editor-in-chief Dmitry Muratov with red paint laced with the solvent acetone.”
Mr Rothrock added that the attackers yelled: “This is for our boys!”
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In a statement on the Novaya Gazeta website, Mr Moratov said: “They poured oil paint with acetone in the compartment.
“Eyes burn terribly. Train Moscow-Samara.
"Oily smell all over the car. Departure has already been delayed by 30 minutes.
“I'll try to wash off. He shouted: 'Muratov, here's to you for our boys.'"
Mr Muratov is an outspoken critic of Putin and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
On March 22 he said he would auction off his Nobel Peace Prize to raise money for Ukrainian refugees fleeing the war.
His paper is often seen as a dissenting voice to the Kremlin and it announced shortly after the invasion of Ukraine began that it would stop publishing until the end of the war.
This decision came after a number of warnings from the Russian press regulator which has forced the outlet to remove content on occasions.
In February, the paper said: "We are suspending the publication of the newspaper on our website, social media networks and in print until the end of the 'special operation on Ukraine's territory'.”
The attack comes after Russia was booted from the UN Human Rights Council after a vote following horrific scenes of death and slaughter reported in Bucha.
The suspension was led by the US and came after harrowing reports from the northern town, recently liberated from Russian troops.
Russia was kicked out after a vote this afternoon was approved with 93 votes in favour, 24 against and 59 abstentions from member countries.
The resolution expressed “grave concern at the ongoing human rights and humanitarian crisis in Ukraine”.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, put forward the proposal earlier this week following horrifying accounts from Bucha of Russians torturing and murdering Ukrainian citizens.
In Bucha, the mayor said more than 300 dead bodies had been found, and some of these had died with their hands bound behind their backs.
Videos released by Ukrainian soldiers showed them driving through the town, having to slalom around the bodies that litter the road.
In light of the horrific stories, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken claimed that Russia was on a “deliberate campaign to kill, to torture, to rape”.
Speaking to reporters as he flew to Brussels, he said: “As this Russian tide is receding from parts of Ukraine, the world is seeing the death and destruction left in its wake.
“What we've seen in Bucha is not the random act of a rogue unit. It's a deliberate campaign to kill, to torture, to rape, to commit atrocities.
“The reports are more than credible. The evidence is there for the world to see.”
