TODAY: Shocked reactions to Kashin beating pour in as CCTV footage circulates; second journalist attacked; Medvedev vows to find perpetrators. Moscow authorities refuse to sanction Day of Wrath protest; further blow for opposition parties.  New head of NATO’s Moscow information office; Islamic identity in Russia

Following the weekend’s brutal attack on Kommersant journalist Oleg Kashin (footage of which has been broadcast on Life News), the Independent reports that another journalist, Anatoly Adamchuk, who also covered the controversial Moscow-St Petersburg highway, has been attacked by two men outside his office.  President Dmitry Medvedev has pledged to punish those responsible for the Kashin attack, even if they are senior officials.  ‘It’s just words, nothing will be solved’.  A Washington Post editorial is similarly skeptical: ‘This would be encouraging – except for the fact that those responsible for past beatings and murders of Russian journalists and civic activists have never been held accountable, despite similar presidential pledges’.  See here for the Union of Journalists of Russia’s idea for an open-ended protest.  The European Commission has voiced ‘a very profound concern’ over the number of attacks on journalists in Russia, whilst the US has called it ‘a heinous crime’.  RFE/RL considers the possible culprits.  The first deputy of United Russia has argued that ‘business conflicts’ will have prompted the attack, as opposed to clashes with the political authorities.  The Russian Presidential Council for Civil Society Institutions and Human Rights has prepared amendments to the nation’s Criminal Code to reinforce punishments for those blocking journalistic activities.