Second Russian reporter severely assaulted

A second reporter who wrote about a controversial road-building project outside Moscow has been badly beaten up. The assault came two days after another leading journalist was attacked, causing a national uproar.

Both men wrote about efforts to stop developers from felling trees in forests near Moscow to make space for roads. An opposition activist who is trying to protect the Khimki forest had his skull fractured in an assault last week.

Road construction is considered one of the more corrupt sectors in Russia, and President Dmitry Medvedev has made reducing Russia's endemic corruption one of his priorities.

Police in the Moscow suburb of Zhukovsky said they were investigating the attack on Anatoly Adamchuk by two men outside his weekly newspaper offices early on Monday. He was taken to hospital with concussion.