A court in Moscow has scheduled April 18 for the start of a trial for a man accused of stabbing an Ekho Mosky radio journalist in the neck.
Judge Yelena Abramova on April 9 also extended the pretrial detention of the defendant, Boris Grits, until September 26.
Tatyana Felgengauer, a program host and deputy editor in chief at Ekho Moskvy, survived the October 23 knife attack.
Grits is accused of entering the radio station's headquarters in a Moscow office building, blinding a security guard with a spray, and attacking Felgengauer.
He was detained by security guards at the building and later arrested by police.
Investigators said Grits told police he had been in "telepathic contact" with Felgengauer for five years.
Russia's Investigative Committee says psychological and psychiatric evaluations have shown Grits suffers from paranoid schizophrenia.
State media have long targeted Ekho Moskvy, as well as Russia's other few remaining independent media outlets, for critical reports about President Vladimir Putin's government.
Earlier in October, shortly before the attack on Felgengauer, state-run Rossia-24 TV issued a report claiming Ekho Moskvy received payments from Western nonprofit organizations to "destabilize society."
On October 27, Ekho Moskvy chief Aleksei Venediktov said one of his leading producers, Ksenia Larina, fled Russia due to concern for her safety.
Larina's departure followed a similar move in September by Yulia Latynina, host of a weekly program on Ekho Moskvy, after threats and a suspected arson attack on her car.
