Russian State TV Journalist Shoved To Ground By Official On Camera

A Russian official was caught on tape knocking a TV journalist to the ground (see the tweeted video below) after the reporter asked about the alleged corruption connected to the bureaucrat’s new mansion.

The pro-Putin official, Sergei Zaitsev, head of the Shirinsky district in Khakassia region of Siberia, responded with violence when Ivan Litomin, a journalist for a state television channel, asked about whether money earmarked for the rebuilding of sewage systems for homes destroyed in 2015 wildfires had been used to build the official’s own home.

After repeatedly telling the reporter to leave, Zaitsev got up from his desk and shoved the reporter to the ground. Local news accounts indicate the reporter asked, “Why are you pushing me?”  

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The official says “Why the hell are you linking my house and the sewage?”

The reporter appears unharmed and even smiling as he’s ushered out of the office.

A reporter for the Spanish newspaper El Pais, among others, tweeted footage of the exchange:

Sergei Zaitsev, alto cargo de la región rusa de Jakasia, golpea a un periodista de la TV pública de Rusia.
No le gustó su pregunta sobre la desatención a las víctimas de un incendio en la zona. Y menos otra sobre su lujosa mansión. pic.twitter.com/68ee6YPv9i

— 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑎 𝑆𝑎ℎ𝑢𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑜 (@mrsahuquillo) May 27, 2019