8/31/20
MOSCOW -- Yegor Zhukov, a prominent Russia blogger and activist known for his open criticism of the government, has been hospitalized after two unknown attackers beat him near his Moscow home. Zhukov's political organization, known as Zhukov's Team (Komanda Zhukova), said on Facebook that the activist was attacked late on August 30 after he took part in a talk show with Maksim Kats on YouTube during which he shared his views regarding the ongoing protests in neighboring Belarus, where thousands of demonstrators have been challenging the official results of the August 9 presidential election that gave incumbent President Alyaksandr Lukashenka a landslide victory. Zhukov's colleague, Yevgeny Ovcharov, told the Ekho Moskvy radio station that Zhukov was attacked at around 10 p.m. near his apartment block in Moscow.In a photo posted by his colleagues on Facebook, Zhukov appears with deep bruises and lacerations on his face.
During the talk show, Zhukov called the protests in Belarus "a textbook example" that "should be thoroughly studied by those who want to achieve democratic change by peaceful means." Zhukov, 22, was handed a three-year suspended sentence in December on extremism charges that he and his supporters have called politically motivated. Zhukov was arrested in August 2019 amid protests in Moscow to demand free and fair municipal elections. Dozens of people have been fined or given jail sentences over the rallies. In his final court appearance on December 4 before his sentencing the next day, Zhukov made a statement harshly criticizing Russia's current political system for creating economic inequality for its citizens.
