Liger for Kashin

A few hours before the attack on Kommersant newspaper journalist Oleg Kashin, I communicated with him on Twitter. On the morning of November 6, I learned from Twitter that Oleg was severely beaten in the courtyard of his house in Zamoskvorechye, and for several days after the operation he will be in an artificial coma. To be honest, I'm still in shock.

A few hours before the attack on Kommersant newspaper journalist Oleg Kashin, I communicated with him on Twitter. On the morning of November 6, I learned from Twitter that Oleg was severely beaten in the courtyard of his house in Zamoskvorechye, and for several days after the operation he will be in an artificial coma. To be honest, I'm still in shock.

You know that we almost never write about events that do not take place in Siberia, but now it is impossible to remain silent. Not only because Kashin is one of the best reporters and interviewers in the country, a talented journalist, publicist and blogger, our colleague, editorial friend and just a good person. And not because it is impossible to cripple a person in the center of Moscow, no matter who he works for. I'll try to explain.

According to the general director of the Kommersant publishing house, Demyan Kudryavtsev, the attackers “wanted Oleg not to walk, write or speak”

The attack on Kashin, no doubt, is connected with his professional activities. A criminal case was initiated under the article "Attempted Murder", but they most likely just wanted to mutilate him. They beat him in the face, legs, fingers - according to the general director of the Kommersant publishing house Demyan Kudryavtsev, "they wanted Oleg not to walk, write or speak." As of 16:02 Moscow time on November 6, Oleg Kashin has a severe craniocerebral injury, the phalanx of the little finger was amputated, and one shin was broken.

Many already associate the beating with the cursed Khimki forest (recently Kashin took an interview by mail with one of the organizers of the protest in Khimki; the day before, one of the defenders of the forest, Konstantin Fetisov, was also beaten half to death), which this year has become, as we remember, a metaphor, symbol and the last straw. In fact, the case with Kashin is the same last straw. At least he should be.

Recently, so many unpleasant events have been taking place in Russia (the first reaction to which always turns out to be obscene), that after each one it seems - well, now, well, after that, something important should definitely happen. The people will rightly be indignant, the criminals will expose themselves, the authorities will begin to correct their own mistakes - in general, the movement will begin from chaos to a happy ending. Naive, right? That's it. Nothing happens. Everyone is dissatisfied with everyone. Reality keeps biting.

Recently, there have been so many unpleasant events in Russia that it seems - well, after that, something important should definitely happen. And nothing happens

Everyone's attitude to reality is different. Someone stupidly swears air and clogs the Internet. Someone is looking for the guilty among policemen, politicians, oppositionists, journalists, Americans, people of other nationalities and other people who are personally suspicious to him. Someone is going crazy. Someone is doing it. And someone is trying to defeat reality, at least by describing it in their texts, and thereby partly helps others to win.

Kashin is one of those who cares. And at the same time, he is a fairly professional and honest journalist in order not to pass off his own reasoning as a description of reality. It is clear that Oleg's friends and colleagues are most worried now. For them (for us) it is theirs. But given the activity and fame of Kashin in the blogosphere, we can say that many more people consider him his own than he himself thinks. Yes, he also has a lot of enemies, but when you consider someone an enemy - your enemy - this is also a strong feeling.

The horror of people who learn about the brutal attack on Oleg Kashin is not least (judging by myself, of course, but nonetheless) due to the fact that some bastards beat their man. And most of the horror is the understanding that these scum, including the person who ordered the assassination, most likely will not be found and jailed. These are the rules of the monstrous Russian reality, about which the workaholic Kashin knows more than the rest of us.

These bastards, including the customer of the assassination, most likely will not be found and will not be imprisoned

I honestly don't know how to write about it. I would like to believe that Oleg will recover, and the attack on him will not remain just another incident with the participation of a journalist in the plots of news agencies. That now something in the country will definitely change in the right direction, because this will be required from those who are responsible in the country for changing direction, an outraged society. If the beating of Kashin does not become the last straw for society, then what else should happen that is so terrible that the nerves finally gave up?

In May of this year, Kashin came to Monstration, and the next day after it, my wife and I took him to the Novosibirsk Zoo. Oleg really liked it, but he was sincerely worried that the famous liger did not come out to us. And I really want Kashin and the liger to still see each other. Oleg, please get well and come.