My—Ukraina journalist attacked while filming in Shevchenkivskyi district court of Kyiv

My—Ukraina TV journalist Viktoria Dmytrenko was attacked by a woman while filming a news story about the murder of Maksym Materukhin in the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv on February 5, the media outlet reports.

“Journalist Viktoria Dmytrenko was attacked by the mother of the suspect in the teenager's murder while performing her official duties,” the team writes.

According to eyewitness accounts and video footage of the incident, the woman hit the journalist in the face until she bled and knocked the mobile phone out of her hands.

“A journalist with the TV channel My—Ukraina was attacked. This is nothing less than blatant obstruction of reporting. The attack on a media representative must be appropriately assessed by legal authorities. We at the TV channel will do our best to protect the interests of our journalist,” the editorial office noted.

Viktoria Dmytrenko filed a police report for obstruction of reporting and assault.

Alina Kondratenko, a journalist with the media project Watchers, posted the footage of the moment when Viktoria Dmytrenko tries to take her phone back from the woman on Facebook.

"Possibly a relative of Artem Kosov, who is the defendant in the case of murder at a funicular station in the capital, snatched the mobile phone from one of the journalists' hands before today's hearing began, refused to give it back, then hit the journalist, according to the latter," Kondratenko wrote.