A young boy is fighting for his life after receiving serious injuries as a result of being thrown to the ground by a stranger at the airport. The boy was traveling through a Moscow airport with his mother, and in the second she had her back turned, Vladimir Vitkov, a complete stranger, allegedly attacked. Authorities are still unclear on what motivated the man to do such a thing. He has admitted drug use before the attack, but more questions remain to be answered. Now, the man is being called out for his behavior and is awaiting charges.
CCTV footage of 31-year-old Vladimir Vitkov apparently attacking the boy in a Moscow airport has gone viral. According to Metro UK, the 18-month-old boy and his pregnant mother had just arrived in Russia from Iran. In the footage, Vitkov, a nuclear power plant construction worker from Belarus, can be seen watching the little boy.
He then picks up the boy and forcefully throws him to the floor. Another man can be seen rushing over and picking up the boy. The boy’s mother had gone to get his stroller, and left him for just a few seconds, news.com.au reported.
Vitkov was quickly taken into police custody and seemed to confess to the crime, Metro UK reported, citing other news reports. When being questioned by police, he said, āI attempted to murder a child ā¦ at Sheremetyevo Airport.ā
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— NoHoldsBarred (@AussieSteve64) June 24, 2025
A Belarusian citizen attacked a child at the Sheremetyevo airport Khimki city Moscow Oblast, Russia.
The footage shows a male picking up the child & throwing him onto the concrete.
The child suffered a fractured spine & cranial injury.
He is in a coma in the hospital. pic.twitter.com/TmjRjO2MOx
He couldnāt give police any explanation, however, as to why he attacked the boy. He said he ādidnāt knowā why he committed the heinous act but admitted he was āunder the influence of drugs,ā per Metro UK. He was found to have cannabis in his possession, and traces were found in his bloodstream. According to Mash, an online Russian newspaper, he had consumed three bottles of whiskey prior to the flight, Metro UK reported.
āThis was a stoned drug addict, a monster. I cannot call this person anything else. I believe he is not sick at all,ā Moscow region childrenās ombudswoman Ksenia Mishonova reportedly said. āHe is an absolute monster, a criminal who should be judged in the most severe manner for what he did.ā She also said it was a āmiracleā the boy didnāt suffer brain damage. He is currently in a medically induced coma, she revealed.
Dr. Tatyana Shapovalenko, chief doctor at the Roshal Childrenās Centre in Moscow gave more insight into the boyās injuries. āThe child was admitted with a severe craniocerebral injury. He has an open fracture of the skull bones, a fracture of the base and vault of the skull, a subdural haematoma,ā she said, per Metro UK. Currently, he does not need surgical treatment.
The DailyMail reported that Vitkov is under investigation for attempted murder.
