On 1 February 2024, local online media outlet Venik (based in the Russian city of Izhevsk), claimed that its journalist Alexander Skvortsov was recently kidnapped by unknown culprits, then released on the following day. According to Venik, the kidnappers seized Skvortsov near his home on the night of January 28 and placed him inside a car. They also covered his eyes and mouth, as well as tied his hands.
Once the group arrived to an unknown location, which Skvortsov suspected was a cellar, assailants allegedly beat him without leaving traces, as well as threatened to attack his relatives and fellow colleagues. The assailants reportedly also told Skvortsov “not to touch” Zala Aero, which is a Russian company producing drones for a variety of clients, including the Russian Ministry of Defence, with unmanned drones being a instrument widely used by both sides in Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Skvortsov was released on the day following his kidnapping, with Venik reporting that police refused to register a complaint that the media outlet tried to file on the case. While the incident was reported on by Russia’s largest independent news outlet, Meduza, no independent confirmation of the events cited by Venik was available at the time of writing.