Russian Journalist Tatiana Felgenhauer Stabbing Is 'Attack On Freedom Of Speech, Union of Journalists Says

A Russian journalist was stabbed during work hours Monday in Moscow.

Tatiana Felgenhauer, a well-known Kremlin critic, was stabbed in the neck by an intruder. Felgenhauer was immediately rushed to the hospital, where she was put into an artificial coma and remains in stable condition.

The attacker, Boris Grits, 48, blinded a security guard with pepper spray before he rode an elevator to the editorial office where Felgenhauer was wrapping up her popular show, "Morning Turn."

Grits was detained and interrogated by police. According to a report by Echo of Moscow, (translated from Ekho Moskvy), ties between Grits and Felgenhauer were not made, but an investigation is still underway.

“The attacker didn't yell anything, everything was calm and silent. He came up, hugged her and inflicted the injury,” deputy editor Sergei Buntman told the news outlet Meduza.

Investigators will present their case to a jury Tuesday, and will possibly charge Grits with attempted murder.

The Union of Journalists of Russia regarded this attack as an attack on freedom of speech and said journalists need to keep their security in mind when sharing a controversial opinion.

This attack on Felgenhauer is not the first attack against Russian journalists. In 2012, Russian journalist Kazbek Gekkiyev suffered a fatal gunshot wound. His attackers, according to a spokesman for the Investigative Committee, committed this crime “as a warning to other journalists who report on the fight against bandits."

In June 2009, the International Federation of Journalists documented the deaths and/or disappearances of more than 300 journalists in the country since 1993.

Felgenhauer was out of her coma Tuesday according to a report by the Moscow Times.

The reporter was conscious and cracking jokes after only one day from being attacked. A note from Felgenhauer was tweeted by the account Vorobievaya Tuesday.

The letter translated from Russian read, "All all all! Thank you for your support and love, guys. Everything will be fine with me. It’s pretty cool to breathe through a tube. Also, I had a full night’s sleep for the first time in 16 years on the radio. I will be with you soon — we’ll hug! Tanya F."

The attacker pled guilty to attempted murder charges Tuesday and was placed under arrest until December 23, according to a Moscow Times report.

Grits said he had no intention to kill Felgenhauer, and psychiatric problems are suspected.

Though the attacker had his own personal motives, colleagues of Felgenhauer say the blame goes to the nation-wide negative outlook on journalists, "pointing to a general atmosphere of hostility toward journalists who are critical of the Kremlin."