Grigory Revzin, an architectural columnist for Kommersant newspaper, says he was beaten up late Saturday night by "some khachi" in central Moscow.
"I was walking up Kharitonievsky Pereulok and got punched in the face by some khachi [a Russian ethnic slur word for Caucasians]. Just like that. Had to beat the offenders off, so my wallet and documents remained intact. This has not happened to me for a long time, at least for 30 years," he wrote on his Facebook page under a photograph of himself with a heavily bruised jaw.
In later comments, Revzin apologized for his use of obscene language. He failed to identify the nationality of his offenders, but said that they most likely came from the North Caucasus.
Well-known for his sharp criticism of the architectural policies of former Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov, Revzin has recently begun to address wider political issues. Despite this shift, he does not attribute the beating to politics.
Responding to numerous comments on his Facebook post, Revzin insisted that this was a typical petty-crime story and that no conspiracy theories should be made. Speaking to Ekho Moskvy radio, he said that he does not intend to file a complaint with the police.
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