In a postscript to Russia’s lively but probably meaningless presidential debate last week, the only female candidate in the race, former reality TV host Ksenia Sobchak, was assaulted outside a Moscow hotel, thrown to the ground, and doused with water on Sunday.
The assailant reportedly shouted, “this is for Zhirinovsky!” to make it clear Sobchak was attacked in revenge for throwing a glass of water at fiery nationalist candidate Vladimir Zhirinovsky during the debate. She did this because Zhirinovsky called her an idiot after she interrupted his vicious argument with a third candidate. Zhirinovsky called her much worse names after she hydrated him.
The man who attacked Sobchak on the street and threw water on her turned out to be a staffer form the Moscow city council, according to a statement posted on Sobchak’s website. Her Twitter account later named him as Alan Duzev, an aide to Moscow City Duma member Aleksey Shaposhinikov. She complained that Moscow police did not respond to the incident, so private security forces had to restrain the attacker.
Business Insider points out that, on the day Sobchak was attacked, the high temperature in Moscow was about 20 degrees Fahrenheit, so getting doused with water must have been an especially unpleasant experience.