STRASBOURG, January 26. /TASS/. Managing officials of the Russian Communist party (KPRF) Gennady Zyuganov and First deputy head of the Communist Party Ivan Melnikov were attacked near the PACE building.

Both Zyuganov and Melnikov, who are members of the Russian delegation to PACE, expressed surprise and anger over the fact that nobody was near the building of the Council of Europe to shield them from the assaulters.

Talking to journalists, Melnikov confirmed that both were attacked."We were kicked and pushed around," Melnikov said. He described the assaulters as " two Russian-speaking men who uttered the word "Ukraine" in connection with something Melnikov could not make out," he said. He expressed surprise over absence of security measures that the local law enforcers ought to have ensured.