You're reading: Roma activist hospitalized after Zaporizhia knife attack

Anzhelika Belova, a Zaporizhia-based activist for the rights of Roma people, was injured in a knife attack by an unidentified assailant on Oct. 24. 

The attack took place close to Belova’s home in the city. She is in stable condition in hospital after surgery although she has not regained consciousness yet, Naoufal Hamdani, president of an ethnic minorities association in Zaporizhia Oblast, told the Kyiv Post. 

Belova heads Lacho Drome, a Roma center in Zaporizhia. She is married to Kostyantyn Belov, a leader of a local anti-corruption movement. 

Hamdani said Belova was attacked around 12.00 p.m. in the hallway of the building where she lived. Belova was coming back from grocery shopping, and the attacker allegedly followed her from the supermarket into the building where he stabbed her several times, Hamdani said, citing her husband’s words. 

Local police are searching for the assailant and the motive for the attack is so far unclear.