One of Russia's leading newspapers, Kommersant, says that its offices in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg have been ransacked and the local branch's director threatened.
Kommersant said on April 1 that unknown individuals broke in the offices overnight and smashed the computers of Editor In Chief Nikolai Yablonsky and the chief accountant.
The attackers left a written message on the desk of the director of Kommersant-Ural, Sergei Plakhotin, saying: "You will die, schmuck."
Plakhotin told the E1 online news portal the hard drives of his and Yablonsky's computers were missing, adding that his team had no conflicts with anyone.
The journalists said the attack may be related to a book about police efforts to fight against criminal groups in Yekaterinburg that was written and published with the participation of Kommersant staff.
Kommersant Newspaper's Offices In Yekaterinburg Ransacked
Editor In Chief Nikolai Yablonsky reportedly had his computers smashed.