Journalists from the Polish Belsat public television channel, Yury Vysotsky and Sergei Marchuk, have said that in the early morning on Monday they were beaten by officers of the Berkut riot police force in Cherkasy.
“We were in Cherkasy when the storming began, and it lasted about 30
minutes,” Vysotsky said at a briefing at the national resistance
headquarters in Kyiv on Monday.
During the assault, he added, law enforcement officers beat everyone,
including journalists. Vysotsky himself sustained a head injury, and as
a result he had to have 11 stitches at hospital.
Marchuk added that after being beaten the journalists were put in a
police van with all the other detainees, some of whom were seriously
injured.
“We shouted that we were journalists, and at some moment someone decided to release us,” he said.
After that, Marchuk said, his colleague went to the hospital, whereas
he, in turn, decided to go to the district police department and pick
up his camera taken away by Berkut. He was given the camera but the
journalists were left without the footage they recorded.
Vysotsky and Marchuk said they were indignant at such actions of law
enforcement officers and noted that during these events they had press
badges and identifying markings.
