So as not to perform

The sound engineer of the opposition Internet radio “First Voice Portal” Alexander Stepanov was brutally beaten on the night of February 7 in Vladimir. As his wife writes on his blog, he was walking to the store when three unknown men approached him and asked if he was Alexander Stepanov. When Stepanov answered in the affirmative, they told him: “You bitch, let’s stop speaking against United Russia” (“United Russia” - EZh). After that, Stepanov was struck several times in the temple and eye, and he fell. Stepanov shouted “Police!”, and the attackers ran away. Stepanov’s wife recalls that one of her husband’s last online appearances was related to criticism of the head of the election headquarters of the regional branch of United Russia, Mikhail Babich. In his blog, Stepanov wrote, in particular: “We want people like you not to be anywhere near the power structures of the city and region. And it doesn’t matter what city you are from. It's just about your party affiliation. The party carrying out the genocide of the Russian people."