ULAN-UDE, Russia -- The chief editor of the opposition website Asia-Russia Today has been severely beaten by unknown attackers.
The assault on Yevgeny Khamaganov took place late on July 12 in Ulan-Ude, the capital of the republic of Buryatia, in southeastern Siberia.
A member of the Buryat National Movement for Democracy and Freedom, Dorzho Dugarov, said on July 13 that Khamaganov, an ethnic Buryat, had been hospitalized with a broken neck.
Dugarov said the attack was politically motivated and that it followed numerous threats against the chief editor.
Khamaganov, a member of the opposition Yabloko party, is well-known for his articles criticizing policies of the federal government and President Vladimir Putin.
Mongol-speaking Buryats make-up less than a half of Buryatia’s population of some 1 million people.