Russia Opp. leader attacked with cake

Moscow, Feb. 10: A prominent Russian Opposition figure says he has been attacked with a cake. Mikhail Kasyanov told the Russian news agency Interfax that about 10 men of “non- Slavic appearance” entered a Moscow restaurant where he was dining Tuesday night and slammed a cake in his face. Kasyanov, who is chairman of the Opposition “PARNAS” party, said the men also shouted insults.

Other threats recently made to Kasyanov cast the event in a darker light.

Earlier this year, Ramzan Kadyrov, the leader of Russia’s Chechnya republic, called Russian Opposition figures “enemies of the people” and later posted a video on Instagram that shows Mr Kasyanov in the bull’s eye of a rifle. The Kremlin on Wednesday downplayed the attack as a “hooligan stunt” and denied it was linked to a threat from Chechen leader Kadyrov.

Mr Kasyanov asked security services and investigators to carry out a formal probe into Kadyrov’s post as a death threat.

President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the restaurant incident was unrelated to Kadyrov’s threat, however. “Here you should not equate anyone with the Chechen leadership,” Mr Peskov told journalists.

“We are talking about a hooligan stunt, which of course should be condemned,” he said, adding that any questions should be addressed to the Federal Guard Service.