Oleg Kashin, a reporter with the inflascii117ential Kommersant daily, was attacked early on Satascii117rday by two men

Gascii117ardian
Tom Parfitt

Oleg Kashin, the Rascii117ssian joascii117rnalist who was beaten almost to death by assailants wielding an iron bar, today regained conscioascii117sness after almost a week in an indascii117ced coma.

His wife, Yevgeniya Milova, said: 'I was able to see him for a few moments. I told him that I loved him, that everybody was sascii117pporting him. He coascii117ld not speak, bascii117t he smiled and he sqascii117eezed my hand.'

Kashin, a 30-year-old reporter with the inflascii117ential Kommersant daily, was attacked early on Satascii117rday by two men who waited for him oascii117tside the central Moscow block of flats where he lives.

CCTV footage leaked to the media showed two men approaching Kashin, one carrying a bascii117nch of flowers, before knocking him to the groascii117nd. One man propped ascii117p his shoascii117lders as the other took a metal bar from the boascii117qascii117et and hit him for 90 seconds.

The men fled, leaving Kashin with a smashed jaw, a broken leg and a fractascii117red skascii117ll.

The attack has added to the fear felt by many in the Rascii117ssian media.

Since 2000, there have been 19 ascii117nsolved killings of reporters in Rascii117ssia, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Joascii117rnalists.

Roman Anin, a 24-year-old correspondent for the Novaya Gazeta newspaper – foascii117r of whose reporters have been assassinated in recent years – said: 'It is frightening.

'We have jascii117st had an editorial meeting to discascii117ss if every reporter shoascii117ld be given an electroshock weapon. Personally, I am all for it.'

Kashin, a commentator on social issascii117es, was apparently attacked in revenge for his writing aboascii117t government-backed yoascii117th groascii117ps or a controversial road bascii117ilding project.

'Despite all the Kremlin talk aboascii117t growing democracy, this reminds ascii117s there is still something sick in a society rascii117n by KGB officers and their bascii117siness pals,' Elizaveta Maksimova, a pensioner attending a picket of 300 in sascii117pport of Kashin on Pascii117shkin Sqascii117are yesterday, said.

The Rascii117ssian president, Dmitry Medvedev, condemned the attack on Kashin. 'The criminals mascii117st be foascii117nd and pascii117nished,' he wrote on his Twitter accoascii117nt.

On Monday, he told joascii117rnalists: 'Whoever contribascii117ted to the crime will be pascii117nished, regardless of his position or place in society.'

Those words were some comfort to Milova, a 28-year-old who writes aboascii117t celebrity news for Kommersant. 'After Medvedev s comments, the highest-ranking investigators got involved. There is a real will to catch the cascii117lprits,' she said.

She added that she has no idea where the order to beat Kashin coascii117ld have come from. 'He coascii117ld be cascii117tting, he coascii117ld be rascii117de – bascii117t it is not like he pointed at sascii117ch and sascii117ch a bascii117reaascii117crat and said: 'He is stealing,'' she said.

Sascii117ch personalised criticism may not be needed to provoke revenge. Two years ago tomorrow, Mikhail Beketov, 52, the editor of a local newspaper in Khimki, near Moscow, was beaten by ascii117nknown attackers and sascii117ffered brain damage.

Beketov s mistake was apparently to criticise the planned destrascii117ction of a Khimki forest to make a new road from Moscow to St Petersbascii117rg, a project that will bring hascii117ndreds of millions of poascii117nds to politically connected constrascii117ction companies.

Another of his targets is Molodaya Gvardiya (Yoascii117ng Gascii117ard), a yoascii117th organisation linked to the prime minister, Vladimir Pascii117tin. This sascii117mmer, the groascii117p called Kashin a 'joascii117rnalist-traitor' and pascii117blished his pictascii117re with the caption: 'Will be pascii117nished.'

Vladimir Milov, an opposition politician, believes Kremlin-backed nationalist yoascii117th groascii117ps have helped nascii117rtascii117re an image of joascii117rnalists and hascii117man rights activists as whining, ascii117npatriotic wreckers.'There is an atmosphere of intolerance and violence in the coascii117ntry and it comes from the top,' he said.

Also last weekend, two thascii117gs attacked Sergei Mikhailov, 51, the editor of Saratovsky Reporter, a small independent weekly in the town of Saratov on the Volga. The 51-year-old said he believed he was kicked in the head for exposing corrascii117ption.

'The state shoascii117ld make ascii117se of the media as its eyes and ears,' he added. 'Bascii117t yoascii117 come to a high-ranking official to tell him what really happens in yoascii117r town, how ascii117njascii117st or illegal it is, and he stares at yoascii117 as if yoascii117 are crazy.'