The incident with United Civil Front representative Nikolay Nikolayev who was kidnapped from Minin Square and beaten after the rally end on February 4 is followed by quite unexpected events.

On February 13 Nikolayev was summoned to the Investigative Committee to provide clarifications regarding the crime report he had lodged. According to Nikolayev, while he was talking to the investigator, a man entered the room and introduced himself as police major Stepanov, Anti-Extremism Centre officer. Nikolayev recognized him as one of his abductors (he is present in the pictures taken during the incident). After that Nikolayev went to the Anti-Extremism Centre under the Nizhny Novgorod Regional Directorate of the Interior to testify as a witness.

We would like to remind you that, according to Nikolay, around 16.40 in Stolle Cafe unknown persons who introduced themselves as Federal Security Service (FSB) officers forced him in a passenger vehicle and drove away. While in the car, Nikolay was several times hit with an elbow and threatened.   

Having applied to the Interregional Committee Against Torture, Nikolayev lodged a crime report with the Nizhegorodsky District Department of Internal Affairs, had his injuries documented at the Kanavinsky district first-aid station, and on February 6 was examined in the Nizhny Novgorod Regional Forensic-Medical Bureau, where they found numerous bruises and abrasions on his body. Also on February 6 Nikolayev lodged a crime report with the Russian Investigative Committee.  

It is also worth noting that on February 12 unknown perpetrators broke the Committee’s YouTube account and deleted the video featuring Nikolayev giving the details of his abduction.