Press Freedom Barometer for January 2014

Press Freedom Barometer for January 2014 

January of 2014 became the worst month for freedom of press in Ukraine for the entire period IMI has been conducting the monitoring. This month, the highest number of assaults and beatings of journalists has been recorded – 82 cases (for comparison, during the entire year of 2012, 65 assaults were recorded). Also, 13 cases of cyber-crimes against journalists and media outlets and 13 cases of threats and intimidations of journalists have been recorded. This data was presented in the monthly monitoring «Press Freedom Barometer» by the Institute of Mass Information.

Also, IMI registered 11 cases of obstruction to lawful professional journalist activities, 8 cases of arrests, 5 cases of censorship, 2 cases of political pressure and 1 case each of body search, hindering access to public information, and pressure on bloggers.

This month, IMI had to introduce a new category in the Press Freedom Barometer – «Journalists that had to go into hiding or to leave the country.» Three such cases have been recorded in January.

In January, as well as in December and November, the trend of beatings and assault on representatives of media outlets, both Ukrainian and foreign, who were covering the EuroMaidan events, continued.

The predominant majority of journalists suffered during or in the result of performing of their professional duties, starting from January 19, when on Hrushevskoho Street in Kyiv the violent confrontation between protest rally participants and law enforcement officers began.

For instance, IMI recorded 17 cases of journalists being wounded with bullets fired by police on Hrushevskoho Street. Also, there were 2 cases, when Berkut fighters were targeting journalists’ cameras, but they managed to hide in time and the bullets missed. Due to the confrontations on Hrushevskoho Street, many journalists sustained injuries from explosions of sound and flash grenades or poisoned by the tear gas. At least a dozen journalists’ equipment was damaged or completely destroyed - video cameras, photo cameras, tablets, thumb drives and so on. The category «Assaults» also includes many cases of physical aggression against journalists by police, Berkut fighters; hired thugs were attacking representatives of media outlets, as well.

Besides, IMI recorded journalists, who were injured due to other actions, for instance, when police and protesters were pushing each other in a line fight, or by cobble stones both sides were throwing at each other.

In December journalists had an impression that Berkut fighters were hitting them with their truncheons intentionally, and in January journalists had reasons to believe that the shot fired at them were no less intentional. In particular, one such case happened to the Radio Liberty journalist Ihor Iskhakov, who recorded how an officer of the law-enforcement agencies was aiming right at him. The 1+1 TV channel’s journalist TV channel Natalia Pisna pointed out that she was wearing the luminescent PRESS vest, when a bullet hit her in the leg.

In January, cyber crimes included DDoS-attacks on websites of media outlets, which were covering the events of EuroMaidan and confrontations on Hrushevskoho Street. Among those targeted by hacker attacks were the websites of Telekrytyka, the Channel 5, the 1+1 TV channel, and Ukrainska Pravda. Also, hacker attacks forced some regional websites offline – Mukachevo.net and Zakarpattia Online, which were actively covering the events of EuroMaidan, as well.

Among the cases of obstruction, in January there were several recorded cases of prohibition to film EuroMaidan in Donetsk. Journalists with TV cameras were not allowed to the building of Obolon court, where the court session was supposed to decide on the preventative measure for detained participants of AutoMaidan. In Mykolayiv and Kherson, supporters of the Party of Regions were messing with local journalists and preventing them from making photos and recording video. And the command post prohibited Channel 5 to film the rally in support of the president Victor Yanukovych in Mariyinsky Park in Kyiv, as it accused the TV channel in a biased coverage of the events in the country and incitement of hatred.

PHYSICAL AGGRESSION

Arrests – 8

1. Police suspected Spilno.tv camera operator of providing gas for Molotov cocktales and detained him

20.01.2014 In Kyiv, Volodymyr Karagiaur, a camera operator of the online TV channel «Spilnobachennia», was detained by police at a gas station and accused of providing gasoline for explosive compounds the rally participants were using during the confrontation with law enforcement officers on January 19 on Hrushevskoho Street. This was reported by the member of the online TV channel's team Bogdana Babych. According to Babych, Karagiaur was responsible for the «Spilnobachennia»'s generators and went to the gas station to procure fuel for them. The article he is detained under can get him a 10 year prison term for participation in mass disorders. On January 27, Dniprovsky rayon court of the city of Kyiv changed Karagiaur's pre-trial restriction from detention in the pre-trial detention facility to home arrest.

2. Police detained and later released Radio Liberty journalist Dmytro Barkar

20.01.2014 In Kyiv, officers of the law-enforcement agencies detained the Radio Liberty journalist, Dmytro Barkar. After 8 p.m. Barkar together with the video operator Ihor Iskhakov went to record the events on Hrushevskoho Street. During the several minutes of the pause in the confrontations between protest rally participants and police, they came close to the line of law enforcement officers. After that, the broadcast of Radio Liberty stopped. As it became known later, they were both detained and beaten. Later Barkar was released.

3. Police detained and later released Radio Liberty video operator Ihor Iskhakov

20.01.2014 In Kyiv, officers of the law-enforcement agencies detained the Radio Liberty video operator Ihor Iskhakov. After 8 p.m. Barkar together with the video operator Ihor Iskhakov went to record the events on Hrushevskoho Street. During the several minutes of the pause in the confrontations between protest rally participants and police, they came close to the line of law enforcement officers. After that, the broadcast of Radio Liberty stopped. As it became known later, they were both detained and beaten. Later Iskhakov was released.

4. Svoboda Journalist Andriy Loza accused of organizing mass riots

20.01.2014 In Kyiv, On the eve of January 20, during the confrontations on Hrushevskoho Street law enforcement officers detained the member of the All-Ukrainian Association «Svoboda» and journalist of its newspaper in the city of Artemivsk (Donetsk oblast) Andriy Loza. He is accused of organizing mass riots (Article 294) and is under arrest. He may be sentenced to 10 to 15 years in prison.

5. Lviv photographer Marian Havryliv kidnapped and left out in the fields

22.01.2014 During the events on Hrushevskoho Street, Berkut fighters fired shots at protesters and journalists, captured several men, including Lviv photographer Marian Havryliv, took them to a prison van, took away their cell phones and clothes, brought them half-naked in the field outside of the city, threw them in the snow and beat them. Havryliv had an extra phone hidden and he called his brother and told him they were kept in the unheated prison van in an unknown place. Later the information emerged that Havryliv was kept in Obolon rayon police department, and he ins under an investigation. Obolon court decided that he would be kept under arrest for two months.

6. Detained TV Prykhovana Pravda journalist facing 8 years in prison

23.01.2014 On the eve of January 20, in Kyiv on Hrushevskoho Street the TV «Prykhovana Pravda» journalist Anton Kudinov was detained by Berkut fighters. According to the TV channel, he was captured when he came up bearing a white flag to Berkut negotiate a ceasefire. Before that, he was broadcasting live for the TV channel «Prykhovana Pravda» together with the operator Oleg Veremeyenko. Kudinov is being accused under part 2 Article 294 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (mass riots). After Berkut captured him they brutally beat him, and currently he is deprived of medical assistance despite his poor medical condition. On January 23, Solominaksy rayon court of Kyiv decided to put him under arrest for two months for the period of the pre-trial investigation. And later Kudinov was released to stay on home arrest.

7. In Cherkasy, local journalist Oleg Ogilko detained and brutally beaten

23.01.2014 On the eve of January 23, Oleg Ogilko, the chief and film operator of Cherkasy local website 0472.ua, was covering the events near Cherkasy Oblast State Administration when unidentified men in civvies detained and savagely beat him. They threw him face down in a puddle along with more than 50 other people, mostly youth, who were also beaten with truncheons and kicked. He sustained a contusion of both kidneys, a swelled head, bruising and traces of beating all over his body.

8. Berkut fighters detained and beat Lenta.doc director

23.01.2014 Berkut fighters beat and detained the editor of the project Lenta.doc Andriy Kiseliov, who was covering the confrontations in the capital as a part of the assignment from the editorial office of Lenta.ru. Kiseliov made a call from the police truck and informed about his detainment.

Journalists forced to go into hiding or flee the country – 3

1. Portnikov fled Ukraine

21.01.2014 A well-known journalist Vitaliy Portnikov fled Ukraine. As Portnikov shared with Ukrainska Pravda, from his Russian sources he received information that the Ukrainian authorities wanted to make a new Georgiy Gongadze (a Ukrainian oppositional journalist killed in 2000, supposedly for his staunch anti-establishment stance to intimidate others) out of him. He also pointed out that on Tuesday three unidentified athletic-looking men tried to enter his apartment. According to Portnikov, he was warned about the danger he was in immediately after his meeting with the ambassadors of the EU countries, where together with the opposition he informed them about the problems in the country, in particular, assaults on journalists. Later Portnikov informed that he was staying in Poland.

2. In Donetsk, previously threatened journalist gone missing

27.01.2014 The editorial office of the portal of non-political news NGO.donetsk.ua was searching for their journalist Kateryna Zhemchuzhnikova, who was actively participating in EuroMaidan in Kyiv and Donetsk and covering events there. Earlier she already received several threatening text messages. There was no contact with her for some time, later she contacted her colleagues and told them that she went into hiding because of threats and had to flee the city.

3. Because of threats, Sumy journalist hiding his family

29.01.2014 A Sumy writer, editor-in-chief and publisher of the newspaper "Panorama" Yevhen Polozhiy made a statement that because of the threats he is receiving regularly, he has been hiding his family, a wife and two small children, already for a week. Yevhen Polozhiy had been receiving phone threats from unidentified persons for several days before that. He explained he saw no sense in turning to police for help, and believed that if anything would happen to him it would be a responsibility of the local leaders of the Party of Regions, who listed his name on the local Party of Regions website among other so-called opposition supporters and extremists.

Threats and intimidations – 13

1. Vitaliy Portnikov claims he is being followed

02.01.2014 In his interview for "Videoteka" about the bottom-line of the year 2013, the journalist and essayist Vitaliy Portnikov claimed that he was followed by two outdoor surveillance cars.

2. Impound lot owner in Zhytomyr threatens to kill ’20 Khvylyn’ journalist

11.01.2014 The owner of a private territory, on which due to unknown reasons an impound lot of the state enforcement service is located, was chasing the journalist of Zhytomyr newspaper 20 Khvylyn Vladyslav Puchych while threatening to kill him. A local dweller Liudmyla Borovska came to the 20 Khvylyn editorial office for help as despite the court decision the officers of court would not release her car to her demanding a bribe. The car owner together with the 20 Khvylyn journalists went to the impound lot where her car was kept. They were met by thuggish-looking men who turned out to be officers of court. One of these men started to push the journalists and other people present and insisted he would talk only to the car owner alone. The 20 Khvylyn journalist was trying to learn the surname of the man who did not want any publicity for this case, but he just assaulted the journalist. The assailant, whose name was Sergiy Kravchuk, turned out to be a representative of the private entrepreneur V.Sh. Nyva, who due to unknown reasons is in charge of the impound lot of the state enforcement service. An investigation and operational group was summoned, which received the statement of impeding journalist activities and threats.

3. Stogniy receives threats after story about road accident in Dnipropetrovsk region

18.01.2014 The TV-presenter and author of the program «Nadzvychaini Novyny» on the ICTV TV channel, Kostiantyn Stogniy receives phone calls with threats after he recorded a story about a road accident. He refused to take the story off air. The story was about the court letting a young woman, who was driving a car drunk and ran over two people, killing one and maiming the other for life, go with a 'not guilty' verdict. The program team reviewed other closed cases of the investigator of her case and found a lot of similar cases when people, mostly bureaucrats, whose guilt was backed by evidence, ended up not guilty in court. After the story was aired the local prosecutor's office started revision of the case.

4. Donetsk journalists receive threats for covering events of local EuroMaidan

20.01.2014 Unidentified persons threaten Donetsk journalists, Denys Kazansky and Kateryna Yakovlenko, who are actively covering events of the local EuroMaidan. They received threats in social networks regarding themselves and their families from an account of a non-existent person. Local civil activists and politicians of Donetsk oblast, who organized the local EuroMaidan, including a civil journalist Kateryna Zhemchuzhnikova, also received threats.

5. Berkut fighter targeted journalist wearing "Press" vest

20.01.2014 On Hrushevskoho Street in Kyiv, a Berkut fighter targeted the editor-in-chief of the Bureau of journalist investigations “Svidomo” Maria Zemlianska. She was wearing the “Press”vest and an ID badge. According to Zemlianska, together with her colleague Maksym Opanasenko she was standing on the fence of the stadium “Dynamo” and filming how law enforcement officers were acting, responding to Molotov cocktails, keeping defense and firing back. At some moment they withdrew and started to scan the vicinity, and then one of them pointed his gun at her. He did not seem to indent to fire, just to scare her, but his colleagues stopped him and pulled him back. At this moment Zemlianska's colleague pushed her down the fence out of harm's way.

6. Unidentified men tried to get into Vitaliy Portnikov's apartment

21.01.2014 Unidentified athletic-looking men tried to enter Vitaliy Portnikov's apartment. They entered the hallway without calling the apartment first on entry phone and rang the doorbell.

7. Kerch.FM editor threatened for leaflets with information about «Kolesnichenko-Oliynyk's law»

23.01.2014 The editor-in-chief of the online media outlet «Kerch.FM» Iryna Sedova, received threats from unidentified persons, who suggested she stop spreading leaflets with information about the «Kolesnichenko-Oliynyk's law». According to Sedova, the phone call was made from a land line number by a man she did not know. She has no intention of going to police as she does not trust them.

8. "Radio Bar" on "Yevropa Plus" (107 FM) closed due to threats of arson

25.01.2014 The public studio «Radio Bar» of the radio station «Yevropa Plus», its joint project with «Hromadske Radio», was closed down. The director general of the TV and Radio Company «Yevropa Plus Kyiv» Denys Kubriak made this decision after anonymous threats of arson. Those anonymous persons expressed their dissatisfaction with the journalists' position and their cooperation with «Hromadske Radio». Kubriak explained that despite popularity of the venue safety of the staff and visitors was paramount and that «Yevropa Plus» would inform their audience when it would be open again.

9. Hired thugs threatened Uriadovy Kurier journalist during confrontations in Dnipropetrovsk

26.01.2014 In Dnipropetrovsk, during confrontations in the building of the Oblast State Administration hired thugs were threatening Natalia Belovytska, a journalist of the newspaper "Uriadovy Kurier". She was making photos of them changing clothes, they saw it, came up to her, tore her bag, threatened to beat her and took away her thumb drive. She called police but nobody came.

10. Unidentified man, calling himself captain of Security Service of Ukraine, threatened Prestupnosti.Net journalists with "red terror"

26.01.2014 The journalists of the editorial office of the online media outlet “Prestupnosti.Net” were threatened with "red terror" (notion from the Soviet history – means punitive actions used by Bolsheviks against those they deemed class enemies and counterrevolutionaries) by a man, who introduced himself as a captain of Mykolayiv and Kyiv Security Service of Ukraine Yuri Levashov. He insisted they stop covering EuroMaidan events. According to the media outlet, in the heat of the events near Mykolayiv Oblast State Administration this man called twice to the editorial office' phone and threatened to organize "red terror" to journalists. In his second call he threatened to get the online media outlet closed and his editor-in-chief imprisoned.

11. In Kherson Party of Regions supporter threatened journalist of "Khersonski Visti"

27.01.2014 In Kherson, a participant of the Party of Regions rally near the Oblast state ої administration threatened the journalist of "Khersonski Visti" Yevhen у Prykhodko, who was streaming live from the site. The older man aggressively asked the correspondent what he was doing there, did not belive he was a journalist, demanded to show the badge and kept threatening him with beating. His friends took him away from the journalist.

12. Unidentified men searched apartment of Ukrainsky Tyzhden journalist looking for fire arms

29.01.2014 Unidentified men searched the apartment of the Ukrainsky Tyzhden journalist Oleksander Mykhelson. They did not have an order, did not introduce themselves and did not let him see their names in their IDs. They said they saw his photo with a firearm and that they knew he was a radical; they ignored his badge and did not let him use his cell phone.

For the context, in November Oleksander Mykhelson, Anastasia Bereza, Denys Bigus and another two dozens journalists participated in the self-defense training with short-barreled guns that the Ukrainian Firearm Association held for journalists. The photo of Mykhelson holding a firearm was a shot from the story of «Videoteka» and was published on Telekrytyka and in Facebook.

13. In Donetsk, online terror campaign against independent journalists launched

30.01.2014 A new website "Vesti.ua.info" appeared; it offers the list of independent journalists of Donetsk, who write for "Novosti Donbassa", "NGO Donetsk", and "Radio Liberty", as well as bloggers. This was reported by Espresso TV. In particular, the website published the home addresses of journalists.

The website's goal is to fight those “devils”, who try to indoctrinate the readers with Bandera's and American propaganda, hatred and distrust to the current legitimate authorities. The authors encourage their readers to inform them about other "traitors" and add them to the list.

Beatings and assaults – 82

1. Olena Bilozerska injured near Kyevo-Sviatoshynsky court

11.01.2014 On the eve of January 11, the journalist of the Informational Agency "Poriad z Vamy" Olena Bilozerska was injured when covering the events near the building of Kyevo-Sviatoshynsky rayon court, after it declared the decision in the case of "Vasylkiv terrorists." She was wearing an orange vest with large letters “Press” on her back, and was holding a big video camera; when she was looking for a vantage point somebody pushed her in the back so hard she flew several meters. Her hands are bruied from the fall. According to people who helped her up, the man who pushed her was tall and wide but in the dark they did not see much more than that.

2. Berkut fighters attacked Lb.ua news photographer near Kyevo-Sviatoshynsky court

11.01.2014 The Lb.ua photoreporter Maksym Levin was covering the events near the building of Kyevo-Sviatoshynsky rayon court, after it declared the decision in the case of "Vasylkiv terrorists," when he was attacked by Berkut fighters; four of them were hitting him with truncheons and kicking him even after he told them he was a journalist, and smashed his camera and flare (according to him, it was done intentionally).

3. Near Kyevo-Sviatoshynsky court, Berkut beat Tsenzor.Net journalist

11.01.2014 According to LB.ua, on the eve of January 11 the Tsensor.net journalist Oleksiy Chernyshov was covering the events near the building of Kyevo-Sviatoshynsky rayon court, after it declared the decision in the case of "Vasylkiv terrorists," when he together with other journalists and protest rally participants was attacked by Berkut fighters and severely beaten. His back was injured. An ambulance was called for him, but he refused to go to hospital. He intends to submit a complaint to the police.

4. In Kharkiv, hired thug hit journalist who was covering EuroMaidan

12.01.2014 in Kharkiv, a supporter of the Party of Regions hit in the stomach Oleksander Nikulshyn, the journalist of the 057.ua website, when he was making photos at the All-Ukrainian Forum of Maidans. According to Nikulshyn, a group of hired thugs and supporters of the Party of Regions arrived to the site of the rally. Some of the men were behaving aggressively and started to meddle with his work. They were not happy with the journalist making photos of them, started threatening him and one of the men approached him and hit him in the stomach two times. After that, the attacker's friends pulled him away, and Nikulshyn was taken away by EuroMaidan participants. Nikulshyn submitted a complaint about the incident to Kyivsky rayon police department of Kharkiv.

5. Kharkiv journalist claims he was beaten by Berkut. Police denies everything

12.01.2014 The Kharkiv correspondent of the media outlet "Ukrainsky Prostir" and online TV channel "Malva-ТV" Roman Cheremsky claims that Berkut fighters beat him and smashed his video camera when he was downtown filming the story about AntiMaidan. He approached buses with no number plates and darkened windows, near which Berkut fighters were standing, and they commanded him to stop filming. He did not obey, so one of the fighters came up to him from behind, tasered him in the neck, hit him in the kidneys several times, pushed him in the bus and demanded that he and other journalists stopped filming them. Other officers smashed his camera and took the thumb drive. Later Cheremsky filed a complaint with the police. Local police denies there was any manhandling of the journalist and explained that it was the journalist himself at fault as he tried to enter the bus with Berkut fighters inside, who explained to him that they were on duty protecting the public order.

6. On Hrushevskoho Street, flash bang grenade was fired into Russian news photographer' face

19.01.2014 In Kyiv, during the confrontations on Hrushevskoho street, Yevhen Feldman, a Russian news photographer of the newspaper ‘Novaia Gazeta’ (Russia) was injured by a flash bang grenade. According to his twitter message, he was standing with his camera in his hands not far from the police line, and he had an impression they shot at him deliberately. The grenade hit him in the nose, broke his gas mask and went off under his feet. He ended up with a bloodied nose. According to him, earlier a lot of grenades were thrown at the crowd of journalists.

7. Vesti correspondent injured in his eye and in his arm

19.01.2014 In Kyiv, on Hrushevskoho Street, another journalist, Viacheslav Veremiy, a correspondent of the section ‘Kyiv’ of the newspaper ‘Vesti’, was injured by a flash bang grenade. It went off right under his feet. He reported by phone that a chip hit his left eye, and his left arm was injured. He was sent to the site under the editorial assignment to cover the events there. He was take to hospital and scheduled for an eye surgery.

8. Nizhyn journalist injured in his leg on Hrushevskoho Street

19.01.2014 During the events on Hrushevskoho Street in Kyiv, the editor of Nizhyn online media outlet ‘Uezdnye Novosti’ Igor Volosiankin was injured in the legs. He was seen being treated by medics on the live stream by Chernigiv freelance camera operator Sergiy Zosimenko. Volosiankin was first hit by several flash bang grenades going off behind his back, and later was injured in the legs by grenade chips. Now he is in a safe place. The journalist has reasons to believe that law enforcement officers were throwing flash bang grenades at representatives of media outlets intentionally.

9. Police officers intentionally shot at Spilno.tv operator with non-lethal weapons

19.01.2014 The ‘Spilno.tv’ reporter and camera operator Anatoliy Lazarenko was injured, while broadcasting live, with a rubber bullet shot by police officers. They were intentionally targeting journalists with non-lethal weapons. According to Anatoliy, it was obvious the Berkut fighter was targeting him, as the journalists’ sector is known to everybody and as a rule it is not targeted either by shots or by flash bang grenades. When medics were treating him he told them he did not expect to be shot by police, and they confirmed that he was not the first journalist they treated tonight.

10. Operator of Spilno.tv injured by flash bang grenade

19.01.2014 In Kyiv during the events on Hrushevskoho Street, the camera operator of Spilno.tv, Yanek Falkevych, was injured: his brow was cut by a chip from a flash bang grenade.

11. On Hrushevskoho Street suffered ала operator Spilno.tv Галина Садомцева

19.01.2014 In Kyiv the during events on Hrushevskoho Street, Galyna Sadomtseva, a coordinator and streamer for Spilno.tv, was injured by grenade chips – in the face and in the legs.

12. Radio Liberty journalist filmed how he was targeted by police officer

19.01.2014 In Kyiv on Hrushevskoho Street, Igor Iskhakov, a journalist of “Radio Liberty”, was injured by an explosion of a flash bang grenade during the confrontations between protesters and police officers. He sustained numerous bruises and contusions. Before this, he managed to film how an officer of the law-enforcement agencies was aiming right at him.

13. On Hrushevskoho Street, Komentari news photographer was injured

19.01.2014 In Kyiv on Hrushevskoho Street, Oleksander Brams, a news photographer of the magazine “Komentari”, was injured. His shoulder is dislocated and he has several grenade chips in his leg. During the attack there was some brawl, he was thrown down the banister and kicked around a little. He also pointed out that due to shock he was disoriented, someone from news photographers helped him up, and he went to the House of Trade Unions, where an ambulance took him to hospital.

14. On Hrushevskoho Street, Golos Ukrainy news photographer was injured

19.01.2014 In Kyiv on Hrushevskoho Street, Oleksander Klymenko, a news photographer of the newspaper "Golos Ukrainy", was injured. A grenade exploded under his feet around 9 p.m., as a result, he had a hole in his cheek and a hole in his leg. At the hospital, a doctor pulled a piece of his pants and three plastic grenade chips from the leg would.

15. Svoboda journalist injured by flash bang grenade

19.01.2014 In Kyiv, during the confrontations between protesters and police officers a flash bang grenade shot by police officers injured Volodymyr Tyshchenko, a journalist of the website and newspaper of the All-Ukrainian Association «Svoboda». A grenade chip hit him in the leg. And on January 20, in the morning he was hit with a rubber bullet. He stood among the group of journalists wearing luminescent PRESS vests, and during his three hours with them police threw at them more than five flash bang grenades.

16. Berkut fighters dropped Channel 5 camera operator down from bus, tore his badge and threw in prison truck

19.01.2014 In Kyiv on Hrushevskoho Street, Berkut fighters were rocking the bus, on which journalists and photographers in PRESS vests were standing, and Denys Savchenko, a camera operator of Channel 5, fell down. They caught him, tore his PRESS badge and pulled him to the prison truck. Now he is at home with a broken leg, he cannot walk.

17. "24"TV channel camera operator injured by flash bang grenade

19.01.2014 In Kyiv, Oleksander Kovalevskiy, a camera operator of the «24» TV channel, was injured by an explosion of a flash bang grenade. After the grenade exploded, his ear started bleeding. He was examined by doctors, who told him the injury was minor.

18. Editor of Krytyka website injured by grenade chips

19.01.2014 In Kyiv on Hrushevskoho Street, Danylo Yevtukhov, the senior editor of the website of the 'Krytyka' magazine was injured by an explosion of a flash bang grenade near the entrance of the Dynamo stadium. His eyelid was cut. At the same time, he was hit by a rubber bullet in the arm.

19. On Hrushevskoho Street brick from protest rally participants hit back of photographer's head

19.01.2014 In Kyiv on Hrushevskoho Street, during the confrontations between protesters and police officers Roman Pilipey, a freelance photographer, was injured — he was hit in the back of the head with a brick thrown by rally participants. He believes he was hit by mistake as protesters were throwing bricks at police to keep them from advancing. The injury was minor as he had a thick hat and a hood over his head. He had the wound stitched.

20. 1+1 TV channel camera operator injured from explosion of gas grenade

19.01.2014 On Hrushevskoho Street, Ivan Liubysh-Kirdey, a camera operator of the "1+1" TV channel and freelance photographer for the newspaper "Day", was injured by a gas grenade, which went off under his feet tearing his pants, shoes and cutting his legs superficially, and had a lungful of gas.

21. ICTV camera operator's eye injured by bullet

19.01.2014 In Kyiv on Hrushevskoho Street, a rubber bullet hit in the eye Volodymyr Zinchenko, a ICTV camera operator, who was covering the confrontations between protesters and police officers. This happened at 11.30 p.m., when he came closer to the site of conformations to get a better vantage point. He is at hospital after the surgery. He risks losing eyesight.

22. Journalist of Ukrainian Youth Informational Agency hit by four bullets, one still in his head

19.01.2014 In Kyiv on Hrushevskoho Street, Pavlo Ivanov, a journalist of Ukrainian Youth Informational Agency, was injured. He was hit by four bullets fired by police. Three stuck in his helmet, and one more is still in his head. Doctors do not know how to keep his eyesight.

23. Hromadske TV camera operator hit by bullets in leg and stomach

19.01.2014 In Kyiv on Hrushevskoho Street, Vlad Bovtruk, a camera operator of Hromadske TV, was injured when covering the confrontations. Rubber bullets hit him in the leg and the stomach.

24. Spilno.tv camera operator and reporter injured on Hrushevskoho Street

19.01.2014 In Kyiv on Hrushevskoho Street, Anton Berezhnoy, a Spilno.tv camera operator and reporter, sustained a big bruise on his shoulder and two broken fingers.

25. Spilno.tv streamer injured on Hrushevskoho Street

19.01.2014 In Kyiv on Hrushevskoho Street, Tymur Ibragimov, a Spilno.tv streamer, sustained two cuts from chips of flash bang grenades. He was together with a group of journalists near the stadium entrance when several grenades exploded near them and several people were injured.

26. Spilno.tv camera operator sustained leg burns

19.01.2014 In Kyiv on Hrushevskoho Street, Tymur Bedernychek, a camera operator of Spilno.tv, sustained numerous burns of both legs from a flash bang grenade.

27. Spilno.tv camera operator injured by chip of flash bang grenade

19.01.2014 In Kyiv on Hrushevskoho Street, Bogdana Babych, one of the founders of the project Spilno.tv, was injured in the leg by a chip of a flash bang grenade.

28. Bullet hit tablet of Hromadske TV journalist

19.01.2014 In Kyiv on Hrushevskoho Street, a shot hit the tablet of Bogdan Kutepov, a journalist of Hromadske TV. A tablet with a PRESS sticker did not break but the bullet left a trace. He believes that if it were a lead bullet, not a rubber one, it would have gone directly through the tablet.

29. On Hrushevskoho Street, Antykoruptsiyne Biuro Ukrainy news photographer poisoned by gas

19.01.2014 During the conformations on Hrushevskoho Street in Kyiv, the news photographer of the newspaper “Antykoruptsiyne Biuro Ukrainy” Oleksander Senko was injured by a gas grenade thrown by police. The poisoning was so strong he was bed-ridden for two days with high fever and loss of consciousness. After the grenade went off, law enforcement officers started firing non-lethal weapons at the building, where journalists were staying. Senko believes they did it to scare the journalists.

30. Berkut fighters threw grenade in photographer's face, he risks to lose eyesight completely

19.01.2014 On Hrushevskoho Street, Berkut fighters threw a flash bang grenade in the face of the news photographer of the online media outlet "Svet i Teni" and newspaper "Svoboda" Ihor Demchenko.

The injured journalist said that after Berkut's attack he showed his ID to soldiers of internal forces, went behind the front line of the police forces and started to film the events from the side of law enforcement officers as they were throwing cobble stones at protesters. Demchenko was not wearing any protective gear like a helmet or mask and was unarmed. A Berkut fighter he was trying to capture on film throwing a rock threw a grenade right at him from a distance of a couple of meters. The temperature of the explosion was so high his glasses melted and molten glass poured into his left eye socket. He was taken to ambulance. The damage to the photographer's eyes was brutal, he may lose one eye, and the other eye is inflamed so he might lose eyesight altogether. He believes it was an attempt on his life, not just obstruction to his professional journalist activities. He filed a complaint with the police but no investigation actions have been conducted so far.

31. Hired thugs hit LB.ua news photographer in face

20.01.2014 In Kyiv, hired thugs beat Maks Levin, the news photographer of LB.ua. At 5.30 a.m. he was returning from Hrushevskoho Street to his car when on Volodymyrska Street near the Opera House a group of a dozen sportsmen walked towards him, and one of them hit him in the face with a fist. Levin ran from them, they ran after him for a while then left him alone. On his way he saw several more such groups that shouted at him and tried to run after him.

32. Rubber bullet hit camera of Channel 5

20.01.2014 In Kyiv on Hrushevskoho Street, one of the bullets that law enforcement officers were firing at protesters and journalists hit the camera held by Ivan Nakonechny, a camera operator of Channel 5, when he came up closer to the barricades; the camera stopped working. He admits he was lucky it hit his camera and not his head.

33. 1+1 journalist injured in leg from non-lethal weapon

20.01.2014 In Kyiv on Hrushevskoho Street, Natalka Pisnia, a journalist of the 1+1 TV channel, was hit in the leg from a non-lethal weapon fired by police officers. She was wearing a luminescent PRESS vest and held a video camera in her hands. She believes it was intentional.

34. Chip from flash bang grenade injured STB journalist in leg

20.01.2014 During the confrontations between protesters and police on Hrushevskoho Street in Kyiv, Oleksiy Simakov, a STB journalist, was injured in the leg by a chip from a flash bang grenade. His colleagues took him to medics.

35. ICTV journalist poisoned by gas during confrontations on Hrushevskoho Street

20.01.2014 When covering the confrontations between protesters and police officers, Yulia Kruk, a journalist of «Nadzvychaini Novyny» of the ICTV TV channel, was affected by tear gas. Medics checked her condition; she did not need to go to hospital.

36. Berkut dropped news photographer from bus

20.01.2014 When Berkut sharply moved the bus with journalists and camera operators standing on top, Vitaliy Tereshchenko, a news photographer of the media outlet «Ekologia I Sotsialny Zakhyst», fell down a bus and was injured. The bus provided a good vantage point for photographers and camera operators. They were wearing luminescent PRESS vests and badges. Berkut fighters were aware it was press. An unidentified man with a covered face climbed up the bus and started to shout at Berkut, so to take him off the bus they pushed it, and several journalists fell down. Tereshchenko sustained a broken arm and heel and numerous contusions. Police medics were reluctant to help him. Later he was taken to hospital.

37. Ukrainsky Tyzhden journalist got hit in eye with rubber bullet

20.01.2014 In Kyiv on Hrushevskoho Street, during the confrontations between protesters and police officers, Roman Malk, a journalist of the magazine "Ukrainsky Tyzhden", was there on an editorial assignment when he was hit in the eye with an unidentified object, probably a rubber bullet – these were used by police to fire at protesters. He was taken to Oleksandrivska hospital by his colleagues; it was not advisable for protesters and journalists to go to hospitals alone, as police would snatch them from there one by one and open criminal proceedings against them for participation in mass disorders. He was diagnosed with contusion, his eyeball is intact.

38. Channel 5 operator recorded how Berkut fighter shot him in camera lens

20.01.2014 In Kyiv on Hrushevskoho Street, Yuriy Usyk, a camera operator of Channel 5, filmed how a Berkut fighter shot him directly in the camera lens.

39. Russian journalist suffered from explosion of flash bang grenade

21.01.2014 In Kyiv on Hrushevskoho Street, Stanislav Grigoriev, a correspondent of the Russian TV channel REN TV, was recording his story when a flash bang grenade exploded under his feet and injured his legs. Grenade chips shot his shoes through. Now he is in hospital with an open fracture of a leg. Protesters took the journalist from the confrontations site to the EuroMaidan field hospital, where he was given first aid. The ambulance that arrived there refused to take him to hospital.

40. Berkut fighter shot at Espreso-TV camera operator

21.01.2014 In Kyiv, the “Espreso-TV” filming crew — operator Oleksiy Novytsky and journalist Illia Berezenko were covering the events on Hrushevskoho Street when a Berkut fighter made a shot in their direction, the bullet missed. The recording clearly shows this.

41. In Donetsk, Gazeta Po-Ukrainski journalist got attacked on EuroMaidan

21.01.2014 In Donetsk, on the rally gathered by the Party of Regions the head of Donetsk Oblast Armenian Community Garik Agavelian assaulted Tetiana Zarovna, the correspondent of the newspaper "Gazeta Po-Ukrainski". Agavelian knocked her photo camera from her hands, stepped on her feet and pushed her. When Zarovna approached the site of the rally and started filming, rally participants began to throw eggs and pieces of ice at her, and hit her several times leaving a bruise on her cheek. After that they surrounded her at Agavelian's command and started yelling at her in 4 megaphones at the same time. Police pushed them away and let Zarovna leave.

42. Berkut fighters shot TV «Prykhovana Pravda» TV camera operator in head

21.01.2014 Around 6 a.m. in the zone of the confrontations between protesters and police on Hrushevskoho Street in Kyiv, Berkut fighters shot Oleg Veremiyenko, a camera operator of the online TV station «Prykhovana Pravda», in the head with a rubber bullet. The journalist was filming an activist holding a flag on the barricade, when Berkut snipers started firing at this barricade. One of them injured the journalist in the head. The bullet hit through the wooden shield he was standing behind and a hard hat he was wearing.

43. Espresso TV operator captured by police

22.01.2014 Dmytro Dvoichenkov, a camera operator for the online TV station "Espreso-TV", who was broadcasting live from Hrushevskoho Street, where the confrontations between police and protesters went on, was captured by Berkut fighters (or soldiers of internal troops, he was not able to tell) and taken to the police truck. He went out of the building, from which he was streaming, to pick up another camera operator from their TV channel. He was without his PRESS vest, as, according to him, at night police is not happy to see journalists and often targets them specifically when shooting. He was captured and pulled to the police truck. He started to shout that he was a journalist, and then one of the commanding officers checked his documents and let him go.

44. Belarussian news photographer injured by rubber bullet

22.01.2014 On Hrushevskoho Street, where the confrontation between protesters and police was flaring, Vasyl Fedosenko, a Belarussian news photographer for Reuters Agency stationed in Kyiv, was injured by a rubber bullet. It hit him in the forehead, between the protective mask and the helmet. His colleague, Sergiy Gryts, believed police snipers were shooting at journalists deliberately.

45. Flash bang grenade injured correspondent of Vesti newspaper

22.01.2014 on Hrushevskoho Street, Oleksander Sybirtsev, a special correspondent from Odesa for the newspaper "Vesti", was on an editorial assignment covering the fourth day of the confrontations between Maidan activists and law enforcement officers when he got injured by a flash bang grenade. He sustained a lacerated wound on his leg and fragment would of toes. He received first aid in a field hospital on Hrushevskoho Street and then was taken to hospital.

46. Berkut smashed camera of Inter TV channel operator

22.01.2014 The operator of the Inter TV channel was covering the morning events when a Berkut fighter smashed his camera. The video published by the TV channel clearly shows how the journalist and the operator were staying near the Dnipro Hotel among Berkut fighters (when they were retreating after advancing at protesters). At a certain moment, one of them came close to the filming crew and smashed with his truncheon the camera lens, which went rolling.

47. In Donetsk, supporters of Party of Regions poured paint on journalist of Novosti Donbassa

22.01.2014 In Donetsk, supporters of the Party of Regions obstructed journalists in covering their rally and assaulted participants of EuroMaidan. Hired thugs threw snow, paint, and eggs at representatives of media outlets. In particular, supporters of the Party of Regions poured paint at Violeta Tarasenko, a Novosti Donbassa journalist.

48. In Donetsk, supporters of Party of Regions threw egg at Gazeta.ua journalist

22.01.2014 In Donetsk, supporters of the Party of Regions obstructed journalists in covering their rally and assaulted participants of EuroMaidan. Hired thugs threw snow, paint, and eggs at representatives of media outlets. In particular, supporters of the Party of Regions threw an egg at the Gazeta.ua journalist Tetiana Zarovna.

49. In Donetsk, filming crew of Donbas TV channel got attacked

22.01.2014 in Donetsk, during the rallies of both supporters and opponents of EuroMaidan unidentified thugs assaulted the filming crew of the «Donbas» TV channel several times. They approached the crew from behind, tried to take the microphone away from the correspondent Yulia Minshakirova, stroke several blows in the head and in the body of Ihor Monastyriov, the camera operator of the ‘Donbas’ TV channel, and tried to take away his camera. The crew filed a complaint with the police.

50. Sniper shot Associated Press photographer in head

22.01.2014 Police snipers were shooting in the head of the journalist of The Associated Press Yefrem Lukatsky. He was not injured thanks to the helmet he was wearing.

51. Police sniper shot Associated Press journalist in groin

22.01.2014 Police snipers shot the journalist of The Associated Press Dmytro Vlasov in the groin three times. He was not injured thanks to the bullet-proof vest he was wearing.

52. On Hrushevskoho Street, bullet hit photo camera of Ternopil journalist

22.01.2014 A rubber bullet hit the photo camera of the journalist of the online media outlet 20minut.ua from Ternopil, Vitaly Derekh, who was covering the events on Hrushevskoho Street in Kyiv.

53. Grenade exploded under photographer's feet, he sustains wound in leg

22.01.2014 On Hrushevskoho Street in Kyiv, a freelance photographer Maksym Dondiuk was injured by an explosion of a flash bang grenade. It went off right under his feet, and its chips and stone chips injured his left leg and left bruises all over his body. A piece of a cobble stone most probably from the ground hit his leg and left a bleeding wound. The muscle was lacerated. Several days earlier, also on Hrushevskoho, a bullet rubber made it through his hard hat and hit him in the head.

54. On Hrushevskoho Street, camera operator of BABYLON'13 hit by bullet

22.01.2014 On Hrushevskoho Street in Kyiv, where the confrontations between protesters and police went on, the camera operator of the documentary project BABYLON'13 Yuri Gruzynov sustained three gunshot wounds. He had a video camera on a tripod and a big microphone, so it was obvious he was only filming the events, not participating in them. He was hit by three bullets, two of which left superficial injuries, and one went right through his body above an armpit in a couple of centimeters away from his lung. These were round lead bullets with a diameter around 1 cm, similar to ones shot at Sergiy Nigoyan, who was killed a couple days ago. The camera operator was treated in the field hospital at the House of Trade Unions, and now he is backing filming on Hrushevskoho Street.

55. Mediaport journalist injured by grenade thrown right at him

22.01.2014 When filming at night the confrontations between protest participants and police on Hrushevskoho Street in Kyiv, Mstyslav Chernov, a photographer of the online media outlet ‘Mediaport’, sustained fragmentation wounds from the grenade going off under his feet. Berkut fighters intentionally threw at him a flash bang grenade although he was wearing a luminescent PRESS vest and holding a photo camera in his hands. According to him, he was alone, there were no protest participants near him. Grenade chips stuck in his legs and injured his eye. He was treated by medics on site and returned to his duties.

56. Berkut fighters detained and beat director of Lenta.doc

23.01.2014 At 7 a.m., Berkut fighters beat and detained the editor of the project Lenta.doc Andriy Kiseliov, who was covering the confrontations in the capital as a part of the assignment from the editorial office of Lenta.ru. Kiseliov made a call from the police truck and informed about his detainment. Later police released Kyseliov without any charges.

57. In Cherkasy, local journalist detained and brutally beaten

23.01.2014 At night, when the chief and operator of Cherkasy website 0472.ua Oleg Ogilko was covering the events near Cherkasy Oblast State Administration, unidentified men in civilian clothing detained him and brutally beat. It happened after Berkut fighters closed all streets from the central city square a block away from the site of the event. Oleg Ogilko was attacked by men in civvies, who did not introduce themselves. He was thrown face down into a puddle along with more than 50 other people, mostly youth, who were also beaten with truncheons and kicked. He sustained a contusion of both kidneys, a swelled head, bruising and traces of beating all over his body.

58. Soldiers of internal troops attacked journalist of radio station "Holos Svobody"

24.01.2014 In Kyiv on Instytutska Street, soldiers of internal troops beat Myroslav Mysa, a journalist of the radio station «Holos Svobody», took away his phone and threatened to beat any other journalist or photographer who would come close to make photos or videos of them. He was returning to the House of Trade Unions from the protest under the General Prosecutor's Office when police officers started to search passers-by. Mysa started to film this, and in several minutes soldiers of internal troops came up to him, put an armlock on him, tore his journalist ID, took away his phone and started beating. They also threatened to pour Molotov cocktail on him and to strip him naked. They told him to warn other journalists off approaching them as they intend to catch journalists, beat them, take away their clothes and take to the pre-trial detention facility. The senior lieutenant pushed away two sergeants that kept hitting him, and returned him the camera and the pouch, but his phone and the thumb drive with the video was gone.

59. In Mykolayiv, participants of the Party of Regions rally attacked NikVesti journalist

25.01.2014 in Mykolayiv, participants of the Party of Regions rally attacked the journalist of the online media outlet NikVesti Oleh Dereniuha, when he was filming the brawl between the rally participants chanting 'Part of regions!' When they noticed this, about 5 men started to pull him away and to twist his arms. In a moment another dozen of those angry that they were filmed dragged the journalist to the center of the square in front of the Oblast State Administration. There they surrounded him, twisted his arms and demanded to show his journalist ID. All this time, the police officers present at the scene did nothing and refused to intervene despite his direct request to do something about the situation.

60. In Kharkiv, hired thugs attacked column of EuroMaidan participants and smashed camera of 1+1 news photographer

25.01.2014 In Kharkiv, the column of EuroMaidan participants went on a rally through downtown carrying Ukrainian flags. They were followed by a group of around 100 hired thugs. On Pobeda Avenue, thugs in tracksuits attacked the column of EuroMaidan participants and started to throw snow balls, pieces of ice, and fireworks. In the course of the incident a freelance photographer Anton Avizhas sustained a head injury and the photo camera of the 1+1 TV channel photographer Sergiy Alekseyev got smashed. Alekseyev himself sustained no injuries. Police responded timely and stopped the skirmish.

61. In Dnipropetrovsk, non-lethal bullets injured operator of 34 TV channel

26.01.2014 In Dnipropetrovsk, when filming the protest rally near the building of the Oblast State Administration, where the protesters clashed with police, the camera operator Sergiy Kochet got hit in the head with a stone. He was spared from injury by a helmet he was wearing. He was also injured in the back from a non-lethal weapon, which was fired from hired thugs. He was wearing a luminescent PRESS vest.

62. In Dnipropetrovsk, operator of 34 TV channel sustained injuries

26.01.2014 In Dnipropetrovsk, when filming the protest rally near the building of the Oblast State Administration, where the protesters clashed with police, the camera operator Danylo Peterimov was beaten with truncheons (his arm is probably fractured).

63. in Dnipropetrovsk, journalist of 34 TV channel injured during confrontations between police and protest rally participants

26.01.2014 In Dnipropetrovsk, when filming the protest rally near the building of the Oblast State Administration, where the protesters clashed with police, the journalist Natalia Svetlova was beaten with truncheons. She sustained bruises and contusions.

64. In Dnipropetrovsk, ICTV camera operator injured in neck by stone, his camera smashed

26.01.2014 In Dnipropetrovsk, during the confrontation between the rally participants and hired thugs, several cobble stones were thrown in the camera crew of the ICTV TV channel. Denys Synegin, the TV channel’s camera operator, was injured in the neck and in the head, his camera was destroyed.

65. In Zaporizhzhia, during crackdown on EuroMaidan journalist beaten and detained

26.01.2014 In Zaporizhzhia, during the police crackdown on the local Maidan protest rally Dmytro Smolienko, a journalist of the website «Vsia Vlast» and news photographer for the agency 'Ukrinform', was beaten by both hired thugs and Berkut fighters. Law enforcement officers attacked him with truncheons when he was talking on the phone. He was offline for a couple of hours and was found by his colleagues in Ordzhonikidze rayon police department. He was diagnosed with a head trauma and contusion of muscle tissue on his arms. He shouted that he was a journalist but it led to the result he was not expecting – instead of stopping the beating, the thugs and the police officers smashed his equipment.

66. In Zaporizhzhia, during crackdown on EuroMaidan journalist got finger broken

26.01.2014 In Zaporizhzhia, during the police crackdown on EuroMaidan the editor-in-chief of the newspaper “Mria” Yuriy Gudymenko was injured. The journalist was filming until unidentified men hit him with a truncheon on the hand with the journalist ID in it and broke a finger. The crackdown on the local EuroMadian was rather brutal, Berkut and hired thugs were beating protest rally participants and throwing grenades at them near the Oblast State Administration.

67. During crackdown in Cherkasy journalist of Belsat TV channel injured

26.01.2014 In Cherkasy, during the police crackdown on EuroMaidan protesters, the journalist of Polish Public TV channel "Belsat" Sergiy Marchyk was injured by Berkut fighters. He believed that at a certain point Berkut was told to beat journalists. He saw with his own eyes how Berkut fighters were firing point-blank rubber bullets at an old man about 70 – in his legs and in his face. When he was in hospital, doctors said they already patched up 12 persons and four of them were in a very poor state. The journalist himself was wearing a bullet-proof vest, which spared his ribs the injury. But his legs and arms were severely bruised. His head wound needed 11 stitches, but he had no concussions or fractures. All his equipment was smashed.

68.During crackdown in Cherkasy correspondent of Belsat TV channel injured

26.01.2014 In Cherkasy, during the police crackdown on EuroMaidan protesters, the correspondent of Polish Public TV channel "Belsat" Yuriy Vysotskiy was injured by Berkut fighters, he was detained by police. Later he was released. He came to Cherkasy together with his colleague Sergiy Marchyk to make a story about independent journalists, who were injured by law enforcement officers in Ukraine. In particular, the journalists wanted to take an interview with Tetiana Chornovol. When they arrived downtown, the protesters' attack on the administrative building began. At a certain point Berkut arrived and launched the crackdown. The journalists kept filming. Berkut fighters attacked them and started beating them and smashing their equipment. They were thrown into a bus with other detainees. They were released by police after some negotiations as they had Polish IDs.

69. In Cherkasy, during crackdown on protest Berkut fighters beat Inter journalist

27.01.2014 On the eve of January 27, in Cherkasy the staff correspondent of the Inter TV channel Stanislav Kukharchuk was injured during the police crackdown on the protesters, who were trying to take over the building of the Oblast State Administration. The journalist showed his ID to the Berkut fighter, but the fighter threw him on the ground with a hit of his truncheon and then several Berkut fighters threw several more hits with their truncheons at Kukharchuk already on the ground. Kukharchuk's colleagues took him to a local hospital where doctors examined him and found no fractures. There he saw a lot of other people with head injures from Berkut.

70. Berkut fighter smashed Vikka TV channel operator's camera

27.01.2014 During the crackdown on protest rally participants udner Cherkasy Oblast State Administration on the eve of on January 27, Sergiy Yefimov, a camera operator of the TV and Radio company "Vikka," tried to help the staff correspondent of the Inter TV channel Stanislav Kukharchuk, who was being beaten by Berkut fighters, and they smashed Yefimov’s camera and threatened to beat him, too.

71. In Kirovograd, police officers hit journalist on kidneys with truncheons

26.01.2014 in Kirovograd, police officers used truncheons to hit Volodymyr Hryshko, a member of the National Journalist Union of Ukraine, on the back and the kidneys to push him out of the building of Kirovograd Oblast State Administration.

72. In Kharkiv, during crackdown on EuroMaidan hired thugs pushed ATN operator off his feet and damaged his camera

26.01.2014 In Kharkiv, during the crackdown on EuroMaidan young thugs in tracksuits damaged the camera of the operator of the ATN TV channel Andriy Radych and threw him on the ground. The operator was filming the EuroMaidan, which was held near the monument to Taras Shevchenko downtown. At that moment, a route taxi came and let out about 20-30 young thugs in tracksuits. They attacked EuroMaidan participants. They specifically targeted news photographers and camera operators. They smashed Andriy's camera, tried to snatch it from him, pushed him to the ground. He filed a complaint with the police.

73. In Dnipropetrovsk, hired thugs smashed camera of operator of 11 TV channel

26.01.2014 In Dnipropetrovsk, during mass riots near the Oblast State Administration hired thugs smashed the camera of Sergiy Honchar, an operator of the 11 TV channel. This happened, when he was filming hired thugs hanging out in the yard of the Oblast State Administration. They aimed at his camera with a bat from behind the fence. Honchar himself sustained no injuries.

74. In Dnipropetrovsk, hired thugs smashed journalist's laptop

26.01.2014 In Dnipropetrovsk, during the confrontations near the Oblast State Administration right in front of the police thugs in tracksuits smashed pried the laptop from hands of Yaroslav Markin, a journalist of the newspaper "Vesti," and smashed it. Police present at the scene did not intervene despite his pleas to help.

75. In Zaporizhzhia, during crackdown on rally under Oblast State Administration local journalist got beaten

26.01.2014 The director of Zaporizhzhia oblast state TV and radio company Mykyta Shliakhtunov was injured during the police crackdown on Maidan in Zaporizhzhia. According to him, since morning till evening he was streaming the events of the rally and the attempt to take over the Oblast State Administration for local informational websites. He had his "Press" badge at hand. Police saw him all the time together with the camera operator, they were taking interviews. When in the evening in became dangerous, my colleagues and I decided to retreat but I came back by myself to film the crackdown. And then police ran to me, started hitting me on the legs with the truncheons, and when he fell on the ground and hid the camera under his body, they kept hitting him. In hospital, the journalist was diagnosed with a concussion.

76. Hired thugs in police officers' presence smashed Crimean journalist's photo camera

28.01.2014 in Simferopol, hired thugs assaulted Sergiy Mokrushyn, a journalist of the Center of Journalist Investigations, in front of the police and smashed his photo camera. This happened when he noticed in Seminarksy park an organized group with no flags or banners accompanied by several uniformed police officers and tried to film them. They approached him and aggressively demanded that he stop filming and hit him on the hands to make him let go of the camera. Police officers refused to intervene or to tell their names. Mokrushyn filed a complaint with the police.

77. In Dniprodzerzhynsk, employee of Ministry of Emergencies poured water on journalist in -10 C cold

28.01.2014 In Dniprodzerzhynsk, in the -10 C freezing cold an employee of the Ministry of Emergencies poured water on the editor-in-chief of the local newspaper "Sobytie" Mykhailo Baltaksu, who was filming, how the authorities were getting ready for the charge on Dniprodzerzhynsk city executive committee. He believes it was intentional.

78. In Luhansk, unidentified man attacked journalist

28.01.2014 In Luhansk, an unidentified man attacked a journalist and civil activist Vsevolod Filimonenko, who is well-known in the region for his regular exposes about local prominent officials and deputies. On January 28, late in the evening Filimonenko was exiting his car, when an unidentified man attacked him and punched him in the face. Filimonenko sustained a closed fracture of the nose bones and closed craniocerebral injury. He refused to stay at hospital.

79. In Zaporizhzhia, court sentenced beaten and detained employee of regional TV station to two months of home arrest

28.01.2014 During the crackdown on the rally in Zaporizhzhia, hired thugs assaulted Yevhen Udovychenko, a journalist of Zaporizhzhia Oblast State TV and Radio Station, who was filming at the site, and took away his camera and documents. After that he was beaten by police and detained. According to Udovychenko, in Ordzhonikidze rayon police department, where police took him, there were already about 40-50 detained, and he had to wait till late at night for his interrogation. He is accused of an attempt to take over an administrative building, of resisting police officers and a series of other offenses. On January 28, the court sentenced him to two months of home arrest. He sustained a concussion and numerous bruises.

80. Near Parliament, Party of Regions rally participants grabbed journalist's ID and iPad

29.01.2014 In Kyiv, in Mariyinsky park near the building of the Parliament participants of the rally in support of the Party of Regions took away from Bohdan Kutiepov, a journalist of the online TV station Hromadske.tv, his Parliament accreditation badge and his tablet, from which he was live streaming from the site. Police did not intervene but later accompanied Kutiepov to see the man in charge of the rally, Oleksander Zinchenko, and his tablet was returned to him allegedly found lying on the ground – but with all photos and videos deleted, and his accreditation ID for the Parliament was not returned to him, either.

81. In Dnipropetrovsk, hired thugs smashed Novy TV channel filming group's camera

30.01.2014 In Dnipropetrovsk, on the "anti-Maidan" an unidentified hired thug smashed the camera of the Novy Kanal TV channel camera operator Yuri Khrystian, who was in the filming crew with journalist Yevhen Pedashenko. This happened when they were trying to film the tent camp of the Party of Regions supporters from a distance. The thug that approached them first smashed the camera and then told them to stop filming.

82. In Torez, editor-in-chief of "Pro Gorod" newspaper was brutally beaten

31.01.2014 In the city of Torez of Donetsk oblast three unidentified men brutally beat the editor-in-chief of the local newspaper "Pro Gorod" Ihor Abyzov. The men were hitting him with a hammer and a metal bat. They left the hammer and pieces of the bat at the site. Abyzov was taken to hospital with numerous wounds. The staff believes this to be connected to their investigative materials about local businessmen. Abyzov was already assaulted several months ago. The editorial office has been receiving phone threats and demands to take down certain materials from their website.

Obstruction to lawful professional journalist activities – 11

1. In Donetsk unidentified men prevented journalist from making photos

09.01.2014 In Donetsk, several unidentified men prevented a journalist of the online portal NGO.Donetsk.ua Kateryna Zhemchuzhnikova from making photos during the rally of activists of Donetsk EuroMaidan near the monument to Taras Shevchenko. Several of them insisted she had no right to make photos of the event, and one of them pushed her. The journalist asked police officers, who were protecting the public order, for help.

2. Altercation in Lviv between journalists and unidentified men

10.01.2014 In Lviv, a group of unidentified men was preventing the journalists from filming the demolition of a landmarked building, which belonged to Metropolitan Andriy Sheptytsky’s hospital complex in Lviv. This was reported by ZIK. In particular, the photo reporter of the ZIK informational agency Roman Baluk, who was forcefully pushed out of the yard where Sheptitsky hospital was being demolished, submitted a statement to local police on impeding of journalism activities (article 171 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). A similar statement was submitted by the photo reporter of the online news agency ‘Gal-Info’ Pavlo Palamarchuk.

3. In Crimea, journalists of ICTV TV channel were threatened

15.01.2014 In the village of Ponyzivka (Simeyiz, the Autonomous Republic of Crimea), an unidentified man tried to obstruct professional activities of the filming crew of the program «Nadzvychaini Novyny» of the ICTV TV channel. Near the gate of the military base on Kiparysna Street an unidentified man threatened the journalist and the camera operator that he would let loose dogs on them and smash their equipment.

4. Cherkasy journalist obstructed from filming how hired thugs were leaving for Kyiv

20.01.2014 In Cherkasy, in the evening near the city theatre several buses with hired thugs were being prepared to leave for Kyiv, and the journalist of the website "Procherk" Liudmyla Kovalenko was filming at the site. She believed they were supposed to confront Maidan, as the men in the bus were being instructed by one of the leaders of Cherkasy hired thugs, who had been present at almost all provocations at Cherkasy events. The man that was meddling with her used a flashlight directly in the camera lens. The man, who said he was a bus owner, tried to take away her camera.

5. Channel 5 filming crew prevented from filming in State Architecture and Construction Inspection

21.01.2014 The Channel 5 filming crew came to the State Architecture and Construction Inspection to film how dwellers of Podil rayon of Kyiv would submit their complaint on unlawful construction of a kindergarten, but athletic-looking young men blocked the entrance to the building and would not let in protesters, moreover, they tried to take away the microphone from the hands of hands Azad Safarov, the crew journalist. According to him, the group of protesters was only 7 persons, and it was not clear why they were not allowed inside. Even when the vice-head of the inspection came down and asked the security why they would not let people in, they were not able to explain it. At last, the complaint was submitted to the inspection at the entrance.

6. Obolon court, where AutoMaidan participants' hearing was held, would not let journalists with cameras in

24.01.2014 Obolon rayon court's hearing on pre-trial resctriction for detained AutoMaidan participants appeared to be off-limits for journalists with TV cameras. The security would not let journalists with TV cameras to enter the building of the court. According to the security, it was according to the decision of Obolon court on the procedure of access for journalists with cameras. According to MP Volodymyr Yavorivsky, such decision contradicts the Ukrainian legislation.

7. In Kherson, Party of Regions supporter hit camera of Khersonskiye Vesti journalist

24.01.2014 In Kherson, an unidentified man was meddling with the journalist of the online media outlet “Khersonskiye Vesti” Yevhen у Prykhodko, who was trying to film the events near Kherson Oblast State Administration. There, supporters of the Party of Regions and supporters of EuroMaidan gathered and had a quarrel, where both parties of the conflict were calling each other “murderers.” An unidentified man, who previously was organizing supporters of the Party of Regions into columns, started to demand from the journalist to show his ID and then hit his camera in the lens. The lens was not damaged. When more journalists came closer to them, the man left.

8. In Mykolayiv, supporters of the Party of Regions attacked NikLife journalist

25.01.2014 In Mykolayiv, participants of the rally in support of the Party of Regions were not letting Yevhen Homoniuk, the correspondent of the online media outlet «NikLife», to the building of the Oblast State Administration, he was surrounded by several persons, who started to push him away, insult him, and threaten with physical violence. They were also harassing other journalists.

9. In Kyiv, police officer took phone from journalist, who was making photos of court hearing

25.01.2014 Obolon rayon court of Kyiv was declaring its decision on pre-trial restriction for EuroMaidan activist Mykola Pasichnyk, and the journalist of the Center for Civil Freedoms Maria Tomak was using her phone to make photos of the event. According to her, a special permit should be requested only for stationary and broadcasting equipment, portable equipment is allowed. Still, during the hearing the police officer prohibited her to take photos. She did not obey so he ran to her, pulled her arm and took away her phone. She waited till the end of the hearing to ask his name and rank to submit the complaint but by that time he was gone.

10. In Cherkasy, Berkut fighter forced news photographer to delete photos of crackdown

25.01.2014 In Cherkasy, one of Berkut fighters snatched the photo camera from the hands of Marianna Nemchenko, a news photographer of the online media outlet "Pro Vse," when she was making photos of the operation of detention of a group of young people, and forced her to delete all photos and videos she made under the threat of smashing her camera.

11. Channel 5 was prohibited to film rally in support of Yanukovych

28.01.2014 The filming crew of Channel 5 was prohibited to film the rally in support of the president Victor Yanukovych in Mariyinsky Park in Kyiv. The rally HQ informed that all other TV channels were allowed to stay there and film, but for Channel 5, and asked the filming crew to leave. They explained it by Channel 5's biased coverage of events in the country and kindling hatred against Berkut.

Censorship. Access to information

Censorship – 5

1. In Cherkasy, police disrupted screening of almanac «Open Access»

05.01.2014 In Cherkasy, police officers disrupted the screening of the documentary almanac «Open Access.» They forcefully made their way to the entrance of the children's creativity center, where the event was taking place, and stood in front of the screen. The organizers had to cancel the event.

2. Inter TV channel closed evening news program

14.01.2014 The Inter TV channel closed down the evening news program «Novyny» at 6 p.m. Starting from January 13, it is no longer in the line-up. According to Telekrytyka, this was confirmed by the director of the «Natsionalni Informatsiyni Systemy» (NIS is the news production company of the media group Inter) Anton Nikitin. Since January 20, the evening news returned on air on the Inter TV channel. Now they last 5 minutes. Also, the editorial office underwent replacement.

3. In Zhytomyr, court hearing of cases of AutoMaidan participants was held in private

20.01.2014 On January 20, Bogun rayon court of the city of Zhytomyr started to hear the case of Zhytomyr AutoMaidan participants, who on December 29 went to picket Victor Yanukovych's mansion. The ground for the court hearing was that on their way to the mansion they allegedly failed to stop on demand of the road police. The court prohibited to film the hearing and did not let in anyone but the defendants. All three drivers submitted a claim to familiarize themselves with the case materials, so the judge announced a break till January 27.

4. In Dnipropetrovsk, shopping mall that showed Channel 5 on its big board got cut off power

25.01.2014 In Dnipropetrovsk, two buildings owned by the same person, on one of which since January 24 Channel 5 was being broadcast on the big board, were cut off power. In all neighboring buildings the electricity is still on. The emergency service failed to respond and refused to answer any questions about the accident. The power supplier made no attempts to fix the situation, either.

5. According to newspaper "Svoboda", their latest issue will not be printed because of censorship

25.01.2014 The representatives of the social and political media outlet «Svoboda» informed that the enterprise «Ukrpoligrafmedia» refused to print the newspaper. They learned about it on January 24, when they tried to submit the issue for print. They did not receive an official letter of refusal, they were told that the issue's contents violated the effective legislation and harm the reputation of governmental officials. The newspaper's editorial office recently paid «Ukrpoligrafmedia» for the printing services till April this year. They believe that now this enterprise is co-owned by the businessman Sergiy Kurchenko, and «Svoboda» is not the first media outlet to have such problems with this printing house.

Access to information – 1

1. Bohatyriova hides from journalists information about cost of her business trips

22.01.2014 The Ministry of Health Care hides information about the cost of the trip of the Minister Raissa Bohatyriova to Mykolayiv. On October 23, the Prestupnosti.Net correspondent Andriy Lokhmatov sent an information request in regard of Bohatyriova's trip to Mykolayiv, about how much budget money was spent on it and on means of transportation the Minister used to get to Mykolayiv.

According to the journalist, the Ministry ignored this request, and then on December 9 he sent a repeated request. This time, the Minister's first substitue Oleksander Kachura sent an official answer that it required processing a lot of information and it would take not 5 days but 20. On January 21, 2014, the editorial office received the second answer from Oleksander Kachura, signed on January 14, in which he claimed that the Ministry of Health Care has no information in regard the question in request.

Indirect pressure

Political pressure – 2

1. Authorities sent media outlets instructions how to cover protest rallies

27.01.2014 The Channel 5 journalist Roman Chaika claims that the authorities send to the media outlets owned by its supporters the unofficial instructions (so called temnyks) on how to cover the protest rallies in the regions of Ukraine. He advises journalists that when they see this drivel filled with false pathos and lies they should not reference it or publish it. He also gave several examples from these instructions: say, that for the attack on Sumy Oblast State Administration "fighters" were promised UAH 1500 each; that in Zaporizhzhia it was not the action of the locals, but an attempt to take over the Oblast State Administration by 200 "Western Ukrainians", among which “30 are well-trained gunmen”, and that the governor Peklushenko was "responding accordingly" and "was able to fend off visitant extremists." Chaika believes there are more instructions on the way.

2. Ukrainska Pravda got another online clone

31.01.2014 Another clone of the online media outlet «Ukrainska Pravda» appeared on the Internet. The website with the same name has an address pravda.biz.ua. It offers both actual stories from «Ukrainska Pravda» and false stories, or disinformation. The websites' design looks identical, the clone even shows the same advertising banners as the actual «Ukrainska Pravda». As the editor-in-chief of «Ukrainska Pravda» Olena Prytula informed «Telekrytyka», the media outlet will report the clone to Google and to their hosting provider and will ask their readers to be attentive when following the links to the websites called «Ukrainska Pravda».

Legal pressure

Searches – 1

1. Police searched Markov's TV channel

15.01.2014 Police officers conducted search in the editorial office of Odesa TV channel «ATV». This was reported by the ATV's director general Oleksander Mizin. According to Mizin, when they came they switched off all computers and told the staff they intended to take all the computers away. All work at the channel was stopped. The police investigation is in regard of Articles 364 and 366 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (abuse of power and official falsification), and the management of ATV was already summoned for interrogation. This may be related to the criminal prosecution of the ex-MP Ihor Markov, who is currently under arrest in Kyiv.

Internet pressure

Cyber crimes against of journalists and media outlets – 13

1. Website Mukachevo.net, which was covering EuroMaidan, was attacked by hackers

10.01.2014 The website Mukachevo.net was inaccessible for users due to the DDoS attack. The media outlet was actively covering the events at EuroMaidans of Ukraine, and the activities of the People’s Association “Maidan.”

2. Due to DDoS-attack, Zakarpattya.net.ua went offline

10.01.2014 The website Zakarpattya.net.ua was inaccessible for users due to the DDoS attack. The media outlet was actively covering the events on EuroMaidans of Ukraine and the activities of the People’s Association “Maidan.”

3. Panorama-mukachevo.com was down due to DDoS attacks

10.01.2014 The website Panorama-mukachevo.com was inaccessible for users due to the DDoS attack. The media outlet was actively covering the events on EuroMaidans of Ukraine and the activities of the People’s Association “Maidan.”

4. Tyzhden.ua blocked

13.01.2014 In the morning of January 13, problems with the website Tyzhden.ua lasted for about an hour. This happened right after the editorial office published the material by Valeriya Burlakova "In the forests near Mezhyjirya. What Berkut fighters think on the routes of approach to the President’s estate." The website editor-in-chief Dmytro Krapyvenko. in his commentary for IMI said: "The reasons for this incident are unknown at the moment, yet now the site is already up."

5. Hackers attack websites of Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

16.01.2014 The official resources of Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church are under attack by unknown hackers. The information comes from the Facebook page of the Church liaison Father Ihor Yatsiv, Radio Liberty informs.

«One more «honor» was bestowed upon us. Resources of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic church are under DDoS attacks. Our websites are inaccessible. Six thousand simultaneous connections», the liaison wrote. He informed about the attack late in the evening on January 15, yet as of the morning of January 16, the website www.ugcc.org.ua remains inaccessible. On January 13, the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church His Beatitude Svyatoslav informed about the letter from the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine, in which the vice-minister Kokhan blames the Church of «violation of the requirements of Ukrainian legislation on freedom of religion and on religious organizations» and adds that this «can be a basis for court litigation on termination of the activities of the religious organizations in question». The cause for this letter was a prayer tent installed on the EuroMaidan.

6. Powerful DDoS attack against website «Telekrytyka»

20.01.2014 Around 2 p.m., a powerful DDoS attack against the hosting provider DreamLine was launched, which caused failure of the website and TV channel "Telekrytyka", lasting about 40 minutes. This information comes from the editor-in-chief of "Telekrytyka", Natalia Lygachova, on her Facebook page.

7. Powerful DDoS attack against «1+1» website

20.01.2014 Around 2 p.m., a powerful DDoS attack against the hosting provider DreamLine was launched, which caused failure of the website of the TV channel "1+1", lasting about 40 minutes. This information comes from the editor-in-chief of "Telekrytyka", Natalia Lygachova, on her Facebook page.

8. Website Gorlovka.ua is offline due to DDoS attack

21.01.2014 For several hours, the website Gorlovka.ua was offline due to a DDoS attack, which started on the eve of January 21. This information was provided to “Donbass News” by the editor of the media outlet, Oleksander Bilinskyi.

"According to the data of the programmers, the DDoS attack started after midnight. Now we are contacting the hosting company, to find out what can be done. Yesterday we reprinted the materials of “Ostrov” and blogger Frenkenstein about the “Baptism by fire” and informed how different influential Horlovka residents – say, the Vice President of Boxing Federation, a night club manager, or store owners – were disrupting the EuroMaidan rally in Donetsk", the editor said. The names of these people are well known in Horlovka – Armen Sakisian, Eduard Polepkin, and Gagik Agavelian. It is unclear whether the publication is related to DDOS attacks and whether the people in question are involved, but for a coincident it seems too unlikely.

9. Website "Ukrainska Pravda" under hacker attack 

25.01.2014 The website of "Ukrainska Pravda" is under a hackers’ attack. The Ukrainska Pravda twitter informs about this. "While Ukrainska Pravda is not updated due to the attack against the website, please read our news at Facebook and twitter", @ukrpravda_news wrote.

10. Website of Channel 5  under powerful DDоS attack

27.01.2014 The website of Channel 5 is under a powerful hacker attack, the TV channel’s Facebook page informs. “Today at 11, unknown perpetrators started a series of powerful DDоS attacks against the Channel 5’s website. Our ІТ specialists spare no effort to restore the work of the website”, - the editorial office informs. Besides, the employees of the TV channel note that technical obstacles are created for the channel broadcasting. “In addition, the operative work of Channel 5 is being impeded – our filming crew was shot at, and now technical problems are created for us with the operation of our mobile TV station, which is used for live broadcasts. The specialists say that the signal of the transmitting station of Channel 5 is being intentionally scrambled”, the message says.

11. Zaxid.net is under hackers’ attack

27.01.2014 For over an hour, Zaxid.net is under a powerful DDoS attack, which caused blocking of the website. The information comes from the Facebook page of the media outlet. As the message says, the technical service tries to fix the situation. If the website does not go up, the readers can trace the news of the media outlet in social networks.

12. Website Divan.tv is under hacker attack

28.01.2014 Large-scale DDoS attacks are conducted against the website of the multimedia service provider Divan.tv, which broadcasts «Espresso.TV», Channel 5, TVi, and «Hromadske TV». The public relations service of the company informed about this. Since morning, the call center of the company Divan.tv started receiving calls from users from all over Ukraine about service failures. Now all resources of the R & D office of Divan.tv are engaged to protect the service, the company informs. It is unknown, who exactly attacks the service website. Yet Divan.tv connects the attack to the fact that the portal recently published information about the popularity of the information internet-TV channels «Espresso.TV», Channel 5 and «Hromadske TV».

13. Media outlet "Realna Ekonomika" failed due to DDоS attack

29.01.2014 The online media outlet «Realna Ekonomika» went back on-line after a powerful DDоS attack. This information comes from Telekrytyka, which refers to the address from the editorial office to its readers and the public. The media outlet informs the public about a large-scale DDоS attack conducted against the website, starting from Sunday, January 26. Due to this, on January 27 and in the first half of January 28, «Realna Ekonomika» was offline. The editorial office of the media outlet apologized to the readers for the problems with access to the website and assured that it is ready to restore completely the functions of the website.

Pressure on bloggers – 1

1. Luhansk blogger claims he was fired from Ministry of Revenue and Duties for his criticism of local authorities

25.01.2014 The vice-head of the Section of control over circulation and taxation of excisable goods of the Chief Department of Ministry of Revenue and Duties in Luhansk oblast Sergiy Ivanov claims he was fired from his position after he published some critical materials about the current local and central authorities in his blog. He has been keeping a blog, www.applecrysis.livejournal.com, sof quite some time now, in which, among other topics, he covers political life in Luhansk oblast. He tries to be unbiased and belongs to no political party. But he was not content with the actions of the current authorities and talks about it openly and publicly. But since recently he has been receiving warnings that such activity is unacceptable for a public servant. He had several conflicts with his higher-ups, who did not like his stance on local top officials. On January 21, Luhansk oblast council adopted an address to the President Victor Yanukovych to introduce martial law. On January 22, on Hrushevskoho Street two persons were shot to death, and Ivanov made a call to the head of Luhansk oblast council, Valeriy Holenko, and asked him whether he felt as an accomplice in the murder of Ukrainian citizens. Holenko ended the call without an answer. Ivanov published the recording of the conversation online, and in 15 minutes he was invited to the head of the HR of the Chief Department of Ministry of Revenue and Duties in Luhansk oblast, where he was told that his employment is being terminated due to his poor performance and numerous sick leaves.