Valerie Charnavus, 43, who came to the United States from Russia four months ago and lives in Bensonhurst, was bashed in the head with a baseball bat and knocked unconscious, police said. He suffered multiple skull fractures and was in critical condition late yesterday at Elmhurst Hospital Center in Queens.

Charnavus' friends, also Russian, were either beaten with fists, struck with the bat or stabbed, police said. One did not require medical treatment, but the others were hospitalized and listed in stable condition.

Charnavus' sister, speaking at the hospital as she tried to reach family in Russia, said that her brother was undergoing surgery and that "there are stitches all over his head."