Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
In Kiev, a group of men, including an MP, broke into the offices of Ukraine's state
broadcaster and forced the chief executive to sign a resignation letter.
The men said they were enraged after the broadcaster had aired footage of Putin's speech in the
Kremlin, in which he announced that Crimea would become part of the Russian Federation.
The MP involved in the attack, Igor Miroshnichenko, and the other assailants are all members of
the nationalist Svoboda party.
Their assault was caught on camera, forcing the MP to respond publicly two days later.
If anyone feels personally offended by my action at the state TV company of Ukraine
I ask them to forgive me, but at the same time I would like to say that a figure of
authority, obviously I should act in a different manner and I promise as someone who has just
become a figure of authority that I will use other means to fight the corrupt and the bureaucrats
who were part of the Yanukovich regime.
He was unrepentant in his criticism of the TV station.
Many Ukrainians have been angered by the attack and have called for an investigation of the
incident, saying it will play into the hands of Russian politicians, many of whom accuse
the new Kiev government of being neo-Nazis. Sergey Leshchenko, a reporter with a popular
Ukrainian website said the MP should resign.
This story became big news, attracted a lot of attention, and provoked a discussion as
to whether the investigation (of the beating) by members of the Svoboda party can be unbiased
because the prosecutor-general is also a member of the same party. Lack of trust in the prosecutor
general undermines trust in the new authority as a whole. This is a big risk. That's why
I think the best solution would be for this deputy to resign so that there is no conflict
of interest for the prosecutor general.