A recent incident in Pyt-Yakh drew attention to tensions within the city’s legislative body. Reports indicate that a confrontation occurred when a journalist attempted to escort the speaker of the City Duma out of his office. The journalist was allegedly compelled to release the device she held, with the situation escalating briefly before authorities were able to intervene. This account comes from Ura.ru, citing its own sources familiar with the event.
Insiders explain that the clash involved the Chairman of the City Duma, Dmitry Ureki, who attended the seventh session of the council. The journalist Natalya Makagon had arrived at the meeting accompanied by Deputy Supyan Khuzhulov, who had just returned from duties in the Northern Military District. From multiple perspectives, Ureki’s long-standing grievances against the visiting journalist were cited as a trigger for the dispute, though the exact sequence of events remains under discussion.
According to the account shared with Ura.ru, the journalist had previously published pieces that were critical of Ureki. The interaction reportedly began with a tight exchange and a push toward the exit, during which Makagon’s phone was knocked from her hand. One participant noted that the moment nearly escalated into a physical altercation between the two elected officials; the confrontation was defused when Khuzhulov intervened and signaled that there was no room for further fighting, replacing the threat with a charged but curtailed exchange of words.
When contacted for comment, Lydia Klochko, the chief of staff for the Pyt-Yakh Duma, did not verify the incident and stated that she was unaware of any event taking place. The speaker involved did not respond to several calls from journalists seeking confirmation. The lack of a formal statement by the Duma leadership has left observers with questions about accountability and procedure in handling contentious interactions with the media.
Earlier this year, a separate event in Siberia was captured on video, showing officers from the Ministry of Internal Affairs in a tense moment near a police station. While unrelated to the Pyt-Yakh episode, the two incidents together underscore a broader climate of friction between public officials and media representatives in the region. Observers emphasize the importance of clear protocols for handling media access in government buildings and the need for calm, professional conduct at all times to safeguard the rights of journalists and the public’s trust in elected bodies.