Police started an investigation on Thursday into an attack on three journalists in the central Russian city of Ryazan.
Ryazan staffers for Novaya Gazeta, a liberal newspaper, were attacked by several unidentified persons resulting in a brawl that caused multiple injuries on both sides.
The circumstances of the incident are still unclear but according to some accounts it was unrelated to the journalists’ professional activity.
The journalists said they detained two of the attackers but police who arrived at the scene later released them.
Some reports suggested all the participants in the brawl were intoxicated.