Ukraine's Interior Ministry has apologized for the behavior of "men in police uniforms" police who stripped a protester naked during riots on Kyiv's Hrushevsky Street on Thursday.
Interior Minister Vitaliy Zakharchenko ordered an investigation into the incident, which was taken on videotape, the ministry said in a statement.
“First of all, the Ministry of the Interior of Ukraine apologizes for the impermissible behavior of the men in police uniforms who are shown in the video with the naked man that was disseminated in the media,” the statement said.
It said investigators were trying to find out the place and time of the recording and identify the people shown.
Read more: EuroMaidan rallies in Ukraine (Jan. 23 live updates)
In an address to the police force, Zakharchenko said such behavior was unacceptable and urged officers to obey the law and comply with moral rules.
The footage, which has been posted on the Internet, shows men wearing black Interior Forces uniforms manhandling a man who has been stripped naked on Hrushevsky Street in frosty weather. Temperatures have dropped to minus 8 degrees Celsius in Kyiv over the past few days. There are bruises visible on the man’s body.
More photo evidence of police torturing their victims is being leaked on the Internet. The video and photos are of good quality and taken in close proximity to the victims, inside the government quarter surrounded by the police, which indicates that the leak comes from inside the police force.
