An organiser of St Petersburg project Play.Event who uses the pseudonym Mya told SOTAvision on November 5 about alleged pressure on attendees and the police response following an attack on an event on October 18.
According to the organiser, around 30 masked people burst into a meeting at a yoga studio, prevented guests from leaving and left one attendee with a broken arm. Organisers link the attack to people claiming to represent the Russian Community group (Russkaya Obshchina). The group's representatives previously described their intervention differently; neither account can be treated as an independently established account of the incident.
Mya alleges that a local police officer referred to the Russian Community's connections and that police tried to persuade the injured woman to withdraw her complaint. She says the complaint was ultimately accepted, with the case materials expected to be forwarded to the Investigative Committee. These statements are the organiser's account, not confirmed findings of an investigation into police conduct.
The organisers intend to pursue complaints with prosecutors and the Interior Ministry.