Russia detains suspect in beating of Russian Academy of Sciences scientist Nikita Zezin. He died shortly after.

A thirty-eight-year-old Yekaterinburg resident is now in custody, charged with hooliganism, over the beating of Nikita Zezin, a corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences who died in the hospital days after the attack. Meduza reports the confrontation began on July thirteenth when Zezin and his deputy, Alexander Shanin, found children driving all-terrain vehicles through experimental crop fields, called their parents, and arranged to bring them to the institute — but four SUVs arrived instead, and one of the drivers attacked both men. Officials listed a heart attack as Zezin's cause of death, though his relatives believe the beating triggered it.

Listen to this story

Hear this and more stories in a personalized audio briefing.

Open The Chonkerton