Two environmentalists from a beleaguered ‘foreign agent’ watch group are attacked and robbed in Krasnodar

Two environmentalists were attacked in Krasnodar on December 29. Three men in masks reportedly beat up Viktor Chirikov and Andrey Rudomakh, the director of the “North Caucasus Ecological Watch” group, stealing the activists’ computers, video cameras, and documents. The attackers used brass knuckles and pepper spray. Police have opened a felony investigation into the attack.

In September 2016, when North Caucasus Ecological Watch was added to Russia’s foreign agent registry, the group’s activists were attacked in Adygea, while trying to help put out wildfires. Masked men armed with guns, clubs, and knives raided their sleeping quarters and attacked.

Evgeny Vitishko, an activist from North Caucasus Ecological Watch, was previously sentenced to prison for writing “Sanya [Alexander] is a thief” on the fence of Krasnodar Governor Alexander Tkachev’s summer home. Vitishko’s act was a protest against environmental violations by Olympic construction projects in Sochi.