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Participants of march of nationalists in Kiev attack Russian journalists

The journalists said the attack happened in front of Kiev police officers

KIEV, January 1. /TASS/. Participants of a march of Ukrainian nationalists that took place Thursday in downtown Kiev on the occasion of an anniversary since the birthday of Ukrainian nationalist leader Stepan Bandera have attacked a cameraman and a correspondent of LifeNews, the Russian TV channel reported.

“LifeNews TV channel correspondent Zhanna Karpenko and her cameraman were attacked during a torchlight procession in the Ukrainian capital. Unknown assailants pushed the journalist, which caused her to fall and hit her head. A telephone was also stolen from her. Besides, hooligans took a TV camera from the cameraman and broke it,” the channel said.

LifeNews said the incident occurred immediately after Karpenko went on air. Before that, the march’s participants did not display interest in her, and the demonstration was proceeding without incidents.

The journalists said the attack happened in front of Kiev police officers. “But the officers did not even try to prevent violence against Russian journalists,” the TV channel said.

There has been no comment from the police regarding the incident.

Earlier Thursday, more than 1,000 supporters of extreme-right organizations organized a torchlight procession along Kiev streets. The action ended on Independence Square (Maidan - the symbol of Ukrainian protests), where those who gathered chanted radical and often anti-Russian slogans. Similar actions, which involved fewer people, were held today in Dnepropetrovsk and Lvov.

There are different attitudes toward Bandera in the modern Ukrainian society. Stepan Bandera was a nationalist leader in Western Ukraine in the 20th century who collaborated with the Nazis during World War II.

In 2010, then-Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko awarded Bandera the title of Hero of Ukraine, but the same year, the Donetsk Administrative Court canceled the ruling, saying it was illegal. Yushchenko filed an appeal, but the Donetsk appeals court did not grant it. In a year, the Supreme Administrative Court of Ukraine left Donetsk courts’ rulings unchanged.