A journalist attacked near Soldier’s Glory memorial in Poltava

Editor-in-chief of the Poltava news site Kolo.news, a member of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU) Tetiana Tsyrulnik, was roughly pushed away from the territory of the Soldier’s Glory memorial in Poltava by an unknown person. The man used rude language and slapped the journalist’s face.

This was reported by the Poltava regional organization of the NUJU.

The incident was caught on video by one of Tetiana‘s colleagues, a deputy editor of the newspaper Poltavskyi Visnyk and an NUJU member, Vitalii Skobelskyi.

According to Yevhen Lopushynskyi, the head of the regional organization of the NUJU, he turned to the head of the National Police Department in the Poltava Region, Yevhen Rohachov, with a written request to take the matter under personal control, conduct an objective investigation, and bring the perpetrators to criminal liability for the fact of obstructing journalistic activity and the use of physical force towards journalist Tetiana Tsyrulnik.

According to Poltavskyi Visnyk, a little argument was caused by a discussion between the journalist and a local resident who came to the memorial with a portrait of his father, who was killed in Hungary in 1944. Another man, who later introduced himself to the police who arrived at the scene as Vitalii Burmaka, reacted aggressively to the argument. The second man was the one to attack the journalist.

According to the spokesperson for the Poltava regional police, Yuri Sulaiev, a criminal case has been opened under Article 345-1 of the Penal Code of Ukraine (threat or violence against journalists), and a pre-trial investigation has been started.

The NUJU expresses deep resentment at using physical force against a colleague.

“The NUJU calls for a quick, transparent, and effective investigation into this case,” notes NUJU First Secretary Lina Kushch. “We express our solidarity with the Tetiana Tsyrulnik. We hope that the investigation will be carried out in full, the guilty will be identified and punished, and this will be a lesson for those who decide to raise a hand against a journalist.”

NUJU Information Service