"Caucasian Knot" correspondent beaten up in Elista

Several men have attacked and beaten up Badma Byurchiev, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, in Elista (the capital of Kalmykia), the journalist himself reported, linking the attack with his professional activities.

The attack was committed on September 8, when Byurchiev was returning home. "They surrounded me and began beating me on the head from all sides. I fell under a tree. They hit me several more times on the head from above. And then the attackers ran away," Badma has told.

He has suggested that the attack had to do with his oppositional or journalistic activities. "In the end, one of the attackers asked obscenely: 'Will you (write, speak) any more?' ... My friends suggest that the beating was connected with the publication in my Telegram channel 'Zangezi Chronicle', in which I played a joke on [the head of Kalmykia, Batu] Khasikov," Badma Byurchiev has noted.