Two foreign journalists had run-ins with crime in Moscow, with an American journalist reportedly stabbed and a British reporter drugged and then robbed.
Russia has stepped up its campaign to hold a safe and secure football championship this summer with strict security measures that could remain in place after the football tournament wraps up this Sunday.
An unnamed American journalist was allegedly stabbed during an altercation at a Moscow bar, an anonymous law enforcement source told the state-run TASS news agency Monday.
A suspect was detained and the victim was treated for stab wounds, the news agency reported over the weekend.
Meanwhile, a BBC journalist was allegedly drugged and robbed late last week by assailants who were unlicensed taxi drivers, according to Russia’s RBC business portal.
The journalist, a British citizen who came to Russia to cover the World Cup, reportedly lost consciousness inside a car after drinking a coffee offered to him by the driver and an accomplice. When he awoke near the Dynamo metro station in north Moscow, his cellphone and bank card were gone. RBC reports that 550 British pounds ($729) were withdrawn from his account.
The two suspects accused of robbing the BBC journalist were detained by police, and will be held in custody on theft charges until Sept. 7, RIA Novosti reported.
A BBC spokeswoman told the British tabloid Mirror that “the member of staff was OK” and had resumed work.
Includes reporting by Anton Muratov.
