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.