Kirkorov’s security guard hit LB.ua photographer on the head with a bottle

In the evening on October 11, in Kyiv, Philip Kirkorov’s (well-known Russian pop singer) security guard used force against the photographer Oleksander Ratushniak, who was filming for the Like.LB.ua media outlet near the restaurant “Under Wonder”, LB.ua informs. The guard was angered by the fact that the journalist was filming, threatened him and threw a glass bottle, hitting the journalist’s head.

According to the media outlet, when Ratushniak was filming he was approached by one of the security guards who started to push him roughly and threaten with physical violence demanding to switch off the camera. Then this guard threw a bottle of water at Ratushniak and hit his head. The throw was so strong the bottle ricocheted into a girl who was smoking in front of the restaurant and from her into the restaurant window breaking it.

Both police and an ambulance were called to the site. The doctors tended to Ratushniak’s wound and took him to a hospital for examination.

The police failed to identify the security guard. The incident was registered in the register of prejudicial inquiries. The investigation is planned to focus on infliction of injury but not on impeding professional journalist activities as the police believe Ratushniak is not a journalist.

According to IMI lawyer, Roman Golovenko, the issue here is that the law defines a journalist narrowly (that is, a person hired officially to work as a journalist) and excludes camera operators and photographers, and law-enforcement agencies follow this definition.