Odesa police opens investigation into attack on a journalist's son

Odesa oblast police have launched an investigation into the attack on the son of local journalist Viktoria Koltunova, Maksym. This was reported by the Odesa police, writes Suspilne Odesa.

According to the police, a case has been opened under Article 122 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (intended bodily injury of medium gravity).

Earlier, on January 25, Odesa journalist and author Viktoria Koltunova accused employees of the local enlistment office of beating her son. She wrote on Facebook that enlistment office operatives seized her son Maksym, took him out of town, beat him and demanded money from him.

“My son was captured by the enlistment office, taken out of town and, despite having all the documents to confirm that I, his mother, and his wife are people with moderate disabilities, they beat him for about three hours, demanding money, and then threw him out on the road unconscious, believing he was dead. People called an ambulance,” she wrote.

Viktoria’s son is currently in the hospital. According to the journalist, he has broken ribs, a punctured lung, and a concussion. The man has undergone lung surgery.

In a comment to Dumska, Victoria said that the incident occurred on January 23 on Filatova Street: three people dragged Maksym Koltunov, aged 51, into a bus and started beating him. According to the media outlet, Maksym is the legal caretaker for his wife and mother (Viktoria and her daughter-in-law have moderate disabilities) and suffers from asthma himself.

The Odesa City Council press office told the media outlet that Maksym Koltunov had been admitted to the Odesa city hospital No. 11 on January 23 with fractures on the ribs seven to nine on the left and pneumothorax. He was drained. His current condition is stable, of moderate severity, with a positive dynamic.

The regional enlistment center responded to the January 26 incident by saying that they were conducting an official examination, having created a special commission for the purpose, and were interviewing witnesses.

“If the facts presented are confirmed, the enlistment center management will provide all necessary support to law enforcement agencies for an objective investigation of this incident,” the post reads.

The enlistment center also said that they condemned any violence or behavior that disregards human dignity and that violation of these principles would lead to appropriate penalties.