Russian man, brutally beaten by Dagestanis in Moscow metro, to be awarded

The man who stood up for the defence of a young woman in the Moscow metro and was brutally beaten will be decorated with a medal for "Valor and Courage", Alexander Bastrykin, the head of the Investigative Committee, said. 

The man, who was named as Roman Kovalev, "having shown an active civic position and courage, despite the numerical superiority of the attackers, did not stand aside," Bastrykin said. 

The incident took place on October 4 in a train carriage, which was traveling from the Izmailovskaya station to the Pervomayskaya station of the Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya line of the Moscow metro. The victim told the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper that three young people were making noise and swearing, and then started threatening a young woman who reprimanded them. Kovalev stood up for her, and the men attacked and beat him. Roman Kovalev was hospitalised as a result of the attack: he suffered two fractures of his nose and a serious eye injury.

The attackers were detained. Representatives of the Office of the Public Prosecutor of Moscow said that they were arrested for a month, before December 5. According to RIA Novosti, the detainees, aged 21-26, are previously convicted natives of Dagestan.

The police opened a hooliganism case. Later, the case was qualified as an attempted murder. Law-enforcers sent a petition to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to deliver the case to the Investigative Committee. One of the attackers continued to kick Kovalev on the head "after the victim was on the floor in his own blood."

In addition, investigators said, the attackers were suspected of using violence against a police officer (Article 318 of the Criminal Code). During the arrest, one of the attackers threatened the officer with an object that looked like a knife, and another one pulled out a pepper spray.

Dagestan authorities condemn the attackers 

The behaviour of the young men, who took part in the fight in Moscow, is "unworthy of real Dagestanis," Enrik Muslimov, the Minister for National Policy and Religious Affairs of Dagestan said. His statement was published by Dagestani publication Lezgi Gazette.

“The Ministry of National Policy and Religious Affairs of the Republic of Dagestan condemns such behaviour unworthy of real Dagestanis and sincerely sympathises with families and friends of those young men, who, we are sure of that, are now infinitely ashamed of their behaviour,” he said.

According to Muslimov, the incident with the participation of the natives of Dagestan in Moscow evoked aversion and condemnation among the people of Dagestan. He called the Dagestani society "healthy" and stressed out that the majority of the population of the region did not accept such "low, cowardly and dishonest" behaviour.

“It is very unpleasant that by their actions such irresponsible people discredit the Dagestani youth, dishonor their name and their families,” the minister added.