An anti-corruption activist has been beaten to death in a town outside Moscow. Late on February 11, masked assailants attacked Dmitry Gribov, the regional head of the Combating Government Corruption Center, crushing his head with metal rods. The incident reportedly occurred in Vinogradovo, north of the capital.

Viktor Kostromin, one of Gribov’s colleagues, says he thinks the murder is linked to a past traffic dispute where Gribov was also attacked. The anti-corruption activist apparently spent two years trying to get a criminal case launched against the assailants, who also set fire to his vehicle. Recently, police started investigating one of the attackers, and the trial was scheduled to begin this week.