In Chelyabinsk, a major city in the Urals, unknown individuals assaulted an activist following the announcement of a picket outside the city hall.

In Chelyabinsk, a major city in the Urals, unknown individuals assaulted activist Mikhail Popov after he announced a picket outside the city hall. This was reported by the Telegram channel “Chelyabinsk of the Future.”

According to Popov, on the street he encountered a group of people in camouflage and balaclavas. The group started being rude to his acquaintance. The activist decided to intervene—at that point, the unknown people attacked him.

“They started swearing, telling us to fuck off. Then we sat down on a bench, and they began to approach us, provoke us, and then they attacked my friend. I, naturally, stood up for him, and then they started hitting me in the face. They began boasting that they had come from the war, saying that we weren’t patriots,” Popov said.

After this, the activist went to a trauma centre. Popov believes that they tried to intimidate him—three days earlier, he had announced that he planned to hold a solo picket for an accessible environment outside the administration building.