An Armenian diaspora group in Russia says a young Armenian man has died near Moscow one week after being assaulted and beaten by Russian ultranationalists, RFE/RL’s Armenian Service reports.
Levon Mukanian, deputy chairman of the Union of Armenians in Russia, told RFE/RL on May 17 that Grigor Usnian, 22, and his two friends were attacked by a group of Russian men in the village of Novy Byt in Moscow Oblast on May 8.
Usnian was hospitalized with serious head injuries in the town of Chekhov and died on May 15.
His two friends, who were also hospitalized, are in a serious condition but doctors say their lives are not in danger.
They told police a group of men aged between 20-25 years attacked them suddenly and for no apparent reason.
Mukanian also told RFE/RL that the Union of Armenians in Russia has asked a well-known Moscow lawyer, Manuk Shamirov, to monitor the investigation into the attack.
Mukanian said Usnian worked at a construction site in Moscow Oblast. His mother and a disabled sister, who lost a leg in Armenia’s massive 1988 earthquake, live in Armenia.
The Union of Armenians in Russia helped transport Usnian’s body to Armenia for burial.
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