WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT. The man appeared to not care with video footage showing the injured child lying motionless on the floor as his attacker walked away
A helpless toddler – believed to be a refugee from current attacks on Iran – was thrown headfirst to the floor by a stranger in the arrivals hall at an airport and is now fighting for his life in hospital.
The 18-month-old boy is now in a coma after suffering skull fractures and spinal injuries in the appalling attack, which was caught on CCTV. The youngster, wearing a pair of dungarees, had been waiting near a suitcase, while his pregnant mum was collecting their pushchair from staff.
The man, a 31-year-old Belarusian tourist named Vladimir Vitkov who is a father to a child the same age, can be seen suddenly picking up the boy, before hurling him to the ground in the Moscow airport.
The attacker – described as a “monster” by a Russian official – apparently checks to see if anyone is watching and before lurching forward, grabbing the child, throwing him hard on the floor in the arrivals section of Russia’s busiest airport – Sheremetyevo airport in Moscow, which sees more than 40 million passengers and over 300,000 planes per year.
The boy had just arrived in Russia, having fled Iran with his mother, coming via a tortuous route through Afghanistan, Russian news reports say. The suspect had flown to Moscow from Cyprus or Egypt, the same day.
He was arrested at the scene and blood tests showed traces of cannabis and now faces an attempted murder charge.
Moscow Region Children’s Ombudswoman Ksenia Mishonova said: “A drug-addled monster grabbed a toddler in the arrivals hall and threw him on the floor with all his might.
“All this is incredibly difficult to bear. I hope the detained monster will receive the full severity of the law. I wish the child a speedy recovery. May the parents have the strength to survive this.”
According to the Russian Investigative Committee the man was unable to explain his actions. He was asked by officers if he had been in trouble with the police before and replied: “I made mistakes like that.”
Vitkov has a daughter the same age as the boy thrown to the ground, local media is reporting. A female friend said she was “in shock” from his alleged actions.
The committee said: “A man, while in the airport arrivals area in a state of drug intoxication, grabbed a child and, lifting him, threw him to the floor with considerable force.
“The boy was hospitalised in a medical facility for assistance. The man’s criminal actions were stopped by eyewitnesses of the incident.”
