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A Blow to the Head
Russia Profile,
11/08/2010A disturbing 90-second video clip depicting Saturday’s brutal assault on Oleg Kashin, a prolific but controversial Russian journalist, has contributed to such public outcry in Russia that the country’s president himself has ordered a swift investigation into the beating. It is widely believed that Kashin was attacked for his highly-regarded, hardnosed reporting, but similar cases have seldom spurred action from Russia’s top political brass. Still, a mere 50 hours later a second journalist, Anatoly Adamchuk, was attacked in the Moscow Region and his friends link the attack with his reporting on the Khimki Forest, which many suggest was also the pretext for the assault on Kashin.
Liberal Smoke Screen
Russia Profile,
11/16/2010Russian billionaire Alexander Lebedev has issued a raft of explanations for why masked police really came to his National Reserve Bank with semi-automatics two weeks ago, costing him millions of dollars in spooked clients. According to the banking and media tycoon, he may have been targeted because of liberal-minded coverage in his Novaya Gazeta paper. He even surmises the raid could have been a warning from the FSB not to court WikiLeaks, after the watchdog threatened to gather secrets on Russia. In reality, though, the pretext was far more simple – money, say analysts.
The Art of War
Interview by Rosemary Griffin
Russia Profile,
12/02/2010Russian guerilla art group Voina (War) have caused controversy over the last two years with a number of shocking and often grotesque actions aimed at the Russian establishment. But the group suffered a setback this month, when two members were charged over a protest against the police that took place in St. Petersburg in September. Another member of the group is now reportedly hiding in Estonia. With little support from their fellow artists in Russia, does this spell the end for the anarchic collective?
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KASHIN, Oleg Vladimirovich
Journalist
01/04/2011
Oleg Kashin (Олег Владимирович Кашин) is a Russian journalist born June 17, 1980 in Kaliningrad. While writing for Russian daily Kommersant in 2010, he was severely beaten. The attack is widely believed to have been a response to his work.
Kashin studied sea navigation in university, graduating from the Baltic State Fishing Fleet Academy in 2001. During his studies and for a further two years following graduation Kashin contributed to the Kaliningrad edition of Komsomolskaya Pravda. In the mid 2000s he moved to Moscow to work for the Moscow edition of the same paper. He then moved to Kommersant, focusing on Russia's rising youth movements. In 2005 Kashin backed dismissed director general of Kommersant Andrei Vasiliev, leaving the paper and contributing for a wide range of other russian media including Bolshoy Gorod, Izvestiya and Vzglyad.
In 2009 Kashin rejoined Kommersant, returning to his beat covering youth movements. The following year, on November 6, he was assaulted while returning home in Moscow. Hospitalised with severe injuries, the attack galvanised Russian journalists and activists alike, and a series of protests were held in the Russian capital. A number of theories emerged as to who was behind the attack, with the most likely being revenge from one of the youth movements he covered, or retaliation for reporting about plans to build a highway through the Khimki forest on the outskirts of Moscow. Other journalists and activists working on issues relating to Khimki have been attacked.
Related links:
A Beating on my Beat (12/10/2010, Oleg Kashin, New York Times)
Oleg Kashin's Horrible Truth (11/06/2010, Julia Ioffe, Foreign Policy)
