Page 22 - bne_newspaper_October_05_2018

Opinion
October 5, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 22
KRUK REPORT:
Civil activism in Ukraine is deadly dangerous
Kateryna Kruk
I never thought I’d have to write about this topic again. Four years after EuroMaidan, activists, who have been one of the driving forces behind the revolution and reform in Ukraine, have become the target of violent attacks.
In less than one year, 55 regional activists have been beaten, attacked with knives or acid and even shot. I don’t like to use dramatic phrases saying that Ukraine is sliding back into the Yanukovych-style state but I keep asking myself a question: why is being an activist in Ukraine dangerous again?
These 55 people come from different regions and different backgrounds. Some of them are journal- ists. Others are local politicians or civic activists. There are only a few features that connect the attacks, but most of them took place in the south of Ukraine against people who are fighting against corruption and represent pro-Ukrainian views.
An attack on Kherson activist Kateryna Handziuk electrified the whole of Ukraine. The 33-year-old advisor to the mayor of Kherson and acting man- ager of the city executive committee was doused with sulphuric acid outside her home in the sum- mer. With 40% of her skin burnt by acid, Handziuk is still in reanimation. Recently, she recorded a video message, saying: “I know I look bad but affairs in Ukrainian police and prosecution look even worse.”
It is hard not to agree with her. At first the attack on her was classified by local police as hooligan-
Acid attack victim Kateryna Handziuk: "I know I look bad, but the police and prospector look worse"
ism and only after a fierce outcry from activists and journalists did the police have to change the classification to “brutal assassination attempt”. The investigation hasn’t finished yet, however, Handziuk believes that police have detained the real perpetrators. Who ordered the attack re- mains unknown.
Handziuk’s case enjoyed a high profile in the mass media and amongst civil activists. Prosecutor general Yuri Lutsenko has directed the case to the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), but promised to keep the case under his personal supervision. In a way, Handziuk became the symbol of the growing number of attacks on activists and the insufficient reaction of law enforcement bodies. There is graffiti scrawled on walls asking: “Who ordered Katya Handziuk [attack]” all around central Kyiv. Now the resonance around this case is being used to focus more attention
on the other assaults.
This attention is especially needed in Odesa, which, based on the number of assaults and very modest efforts to investigate them, is becoming the most dangerous city in Ukraine for activists.
In the last year local activists Svitlana Pidpala, Alina Radchenko, Sergiy Sternenko, Vitaliy Usty- menko, Mykhailo Kuzakon, Hryhoriy Kozma, Andriy Vagapov, Oleg Mykhailyk, and others were attacked. The last one, Mykhailyk, was shot a week ago. He was declared clinically dead, but by a miracle doctors were able to resuscitate him. Although some cases happened a year ago, no