Skier explains beating teenager, saying he misidentified age

The skier who attacked a child, Yakov Shusharin, explained his aggressive behavior and told his version of events. He said he did not recognize the teenagers as children and became angry because he thought the boys intentionally initiated the collision.

«With my peripheral vision, I saw two young men on the slope, quite grown-up, as it seemed to me then, rushing on a snowmobile towards us, purposefully knocking down my wife. In a fit of rage, I hit the person who knocked down my wife several times with my fist in the head and torso area. My wife may have been pregnant—we are trying to conceive a second child, and for me this was a stressful situation,» Yakov said in a video that can be viewed above.

It all happened on Saturday, January 17, when 13-year-old Vlastimir went with a friend to «Uktus» (a ski resort in Yekaterinburg) to sled down the hill on snowmobiles. While sliding down the mountain again, the boy saw people standing on the slope. But he noticed them late and did not have time to dodge to avoid a collision, so he crashed into a woman.

«I didn»t think I hit a child; when I saw the news, I decided to go to the police and tell what happened. I wasn«t hiding anywhere, probably, here are all my explanations. I got a haircut before work because I work with clients this week, I have meetings at several enterprises. During the winter holidays, I was growing out my hair and mustache,» the detainee added.

The injured boy is meanwhile in the hospital; he was diagnosed with a concussion and a broken nose.