so if they weren't the attackers ..... was it just cardboard cut-outs of them attacking the Italian?
No, it wasn't, the attackers were real but they weren't the Russians but then you'd know that if you'd read the OP properly.
"The Phuket News reports that three Kazakh men forced their way into the home of an Italian man in the northern sub-district of Chergntalay at around 11pm on Sunday, September 3. The man was bound and gagged, violently beaten for hours, and robbed of personal possessions valued over 12 million baht ... They are believed to have fled the country on an Emirates flight to Dubai on Monday morning, September 4".