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Law enforcers in civilian clothes attacked Russian activist Roman Taganov while he was walking with his seven-year-old son and beat up him last March in Adygea. Federal Security Service and Center «E» officers videotaped the incident from two angles. The activist's wife Ekaterina published the footage on her Telegram channel.
At the same time a criminal case for violence against a police officer was opened against the activist himself, and on March 17 he was placed under house arrest. Ekaterina claims she has just learned that her son's yellow hat and blue jacket were probably the reason for the attack by the law enforcers. Previously, the family thought that the husband was harshly detained because of the green ribbon he wore to draw attention to environmental issues.
«We couldn't even guess and in no way connected the colors of our son's clothes to the attack, but it turns out it's that simple. A child in a blue jacket and a yellow hat caused a fit of patriotism in the oprichniks. Now it is clear why the sadistic attackers poured out their souls about their friends who had died in Donbas. It seems to me that was the silliest thing that could have happened, because they really thought that the husband had chosen his son's clothes that way on purpose, even though there simply were no other clothes to wear.»
The woman told Mediazona that both videos became available to her after her familiarization with the materials of the case. The first video was shot by an FSB officer from a car parked nearby, the second by a senior operative for particularly important cases of the Center for Counteraction to Extremism and Terrorism, who attacked the activist.
The family moved to Adygea from Novosibirsk, where Roman was nominated to the Council of Deputies in 2020. In Adygeya, he was an election observer for the Communist Party, raised environmental issues and participated in the Mayak movement, collecting signatures for the resignation of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov. The movement explained Taganov's prosecution by his anti-war stance.
Earlier, Adyghe activist Kase Kik left Russia after being tortured by security forces for an attempt to listen to a Ukrainian language song in a cafe. Before that, in June in St. Petersburg, unknown assailants beat anti-war activist Oleg Klimenchuk. According to the man, the attack happened near his house on June 14. One of the attackers said: «For how much did you sell yourself, bitch? If you come out again, I'll kill you!» and «You don't have to call the cops, I'm a cop myself.» In late May, SOTA journalist Peter Ivanov was beaten in St. Petersburg. Two perpetrators ambushed him in front of his apartment building, threw him on the ground and hit him on the head. After that, the attackers photographed Ivanov and asked, «Will you stop your bullshit?» After that, the attackers fled. Since the beginning of the war, Ivanov had been covering anti-war protests in St. Petersburg.