ST. PETERSBURG, Russia -- A Russian journalist, who is also a member of the opposition Yabloko party’s press service in St. Petersburg, has been attacked and severely beaten by unknown individuals.
The Yabloko party said that Pyotr Ivanov, who works as a reporter for the SOTA news website, was attacked by two assailants near his apartment block in the late afternoon on May 30.
According to Yabloko, the attackers knocked Ivanov down and started punching him in the head. They shouted threats and took a picture of the beaten journalist before they left the scene.
They left a bottle with a green liquid at the site. Ivanov suggested that the attackers most likely planned to splash the liquid on his face, a method used to intimidate opposition politicians and independent journalists in recent years.
Ivanov was able to call an ambulance, which came and took him to a hospital. He suffered a concussion in the attack as well as cuts and contusions to his head.
Yabloko party's branch in St. Petersburg issued a statement saying the assault will be officially registered with the police and that it expects the incident to be fully and thoroughly investigated.