Russian journalist Oleg Kashin, who was severely beaten by unidentified assailants earlier this month, said on Monday he has no idea who attacked him.
Kashin, who works for the respected Kommersant daily, was attacked near his house in Moscow on November 6. He suffered severe head and leg injuries and had to be put into an induced coma. The journalist still remains in hospital.
Kashin said in an interview with the Dozhd (Rain) TV channel and Kommersant FM radio station that there were many people he suspected of being behind the attack.
"This [suspects] includes the Khimki [forest], the Russian Youth and the Young Guard. But I cannot point to anyone and say, yes that is the one. I honestly don't know."
It is widely assumed that Kashin was targeted in revenge for his writing on sensitive social issues, including pro-Kremlin youth groups and plans to build a road from Moscow to St. Petersburg through a centuries-old Khimki oak forest.
The journalist said he intends to continue his work.
"I have been a journalist for a long time and cannot say that something radical happened to me this year...I did as I have always done," Kashin added.
"I absolutely do not want to become a permanent speaker at freedom of speech conferences or any kind of a demonstrator, I want to do my job," Kashin said, adding that he hoped his health would still allow him to work normally.
The incident was just the latest in a long stream of attacks on journalists in Russia, which has one of the poorest journalist safety records in the world. President Dmitry Medvedev vowed that whoever was behind the attack "will be punished regardless of their position, place in society or accomplishments."
With at least 35 journalists murdered between 2000 and 2009, the International Press Institute places Russia fifth in its ranking of countries most dangerous for journalists, after Iraq, the Philippines, Colombia and Mexico.
MOSCOW, November 29 (RIA Novosti)
