Russia Demands US Stop Police Brutality Against Media Workers

"We demand that the US authorities immediately take measures to prevent the situation in which journalists become the targets of police abuse. We state with concern that the situation with media rights in the US is getting worse day-by-day," the ministry said in a commentary circulated on Tuesday, TASS reported.

Moscow is outraged by the incident in which Sputnik producer Nicole Roussell received wounds while covering mass protests in front of the White House, seeing it as an unfriendly move from the US.

The ministry said that rubber bullets had been fired at the journalist, "including with the use of a special frag grenade for dispersing protesters", although she had showed her press card and identified her as a media worker.

"We urge the concerned international agencies and human rights NGOs to react to this incident," the ministry said in its commentary.

The US plunged into a series of protests and riots happening daily across many states following the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis, Minnesota after a police officer knelt on the black man’s neck.

On May 26, all four police officers who took part in the arrest were fired, one of them was taken into custody himself on charges of third-degree murder and manslaughter.