UP journalist Mykhailo Tkach assaulted while filming in Kyiv oblast

Ukrainian Pravda journalist Mykhailo Tkach was assaulted while filming in Kozyn, Kyiv oblast. He reported this to the UP.

The attack took place on November 17 near the restaurant "Tandyr".

Around 11:20 p.m., the reporteers were filming next to the restaurant where former high-ranking officials from the Attorney General's Office had been spotted. There were many cars parked around the restaurant.

As the media outlet writes, when a visitor's security noticed the filming, they started shining the high beams and blocking the journalists' cars.

"I got out of the car, said that I was a journalist for 'Ukrainian Pravda'. The security guards started blocking me, and one approached me and kicked the camera, and also hit me," said Tkach.

The Kyiv Oblast opened a case for obstruction of journalistic work (Part 2 of Article 171 of the Criminal Code).

The investigation was opened based on the news discovered online. The police has received no reports of obstruction of journalistic work at this time.

However, the police found that on November 18, the media outlet's journalist visited a medical facility for tratment of the injuries he had sustained in the conflict near the restaurant.

The doctors reported this fact to the police, as is the procedure in such cases.

A pre-trial investigation has been launched; more qualifications are likely to be added to the case in the future.

As IMI reported, Ukrainska Pravda journalist Mykhailo Tkach reported SMS-bombing and mass phone calls after the publication of his story "Wartime Fast and Furious. How the capital's residents are being terrorized by street races" on September 28.

Later, Mykhailo Tkach reported facing obstruction of his journalistic work and associates it with the publication of this story.

On October 13, Mykhailo Tkach reported being hit by a car. He added that he is "not inclined" to associate this case with his professional work, but noted that the VAZ driver sped up in front of a pedestrian crossing and in front of him. The Committee for Protection of Journalists (CPJ) called on the Ukrainian authorities to investigate the persecution of the Ukrainska Pravda team and the obstruction of the work of journalist Mykhailo Tkach.