Kyiv Post journalist Vlad Lavrov was attacked on Jan. 22 by a construction site supervisor near the controversial Bergen residential estate under construction in the Holosiivky district of Kyiv.
Lavrov said that around 9 p.m. he was with friends in a restaurant nearby when he heard people had started gathering near the construction site as part of ongoing protests. Members of the local community have held a series of rallies against the construction, initiated by Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) at the end of 2015. The SBU has rights to use the territory, where one of its military units is located.
Residents believe the construction is a threat to the nearby Holosiivsky National Park. During one of the latest protests against the construction on Jan. 20, a group of titushki (hired thugs in sports gear) was spotted near the construction site. They subsequently tried to disperse the protesters from the site.
Only 327 apartments out of 3,269 will be owned by SBU employees, according to the official website of the SBU. Others will be sold. However, documents on the SBU website also say that at least 35 percent of all the apartments will be owned by SBU workers who are veterans of the war in Ukraine’s east. Earlier, the SBU said all the apartments would be given to veterans, the families of fallen soldiers, SBU workers and all those who “need home improvements.”
Calls to the SBU by the Kyiv Post went unanswered on Jan. 23.
Lavrov said none of the construction company’s representatives were at the site when he arrived. Some 20 protesters also gathered.
“I saw a concrete mixer driver and tried to take a picture with my phone,” Lavrov said, adding that police soon arrived and a supervisor showed up.
Lavrov identified himself as a journalist and showed his press pass while talking to the supervisor, he said, noting that he wanted to record the conversation with his phone but said “never actually did.”
The situation at the site was “tense,” he said.
“When I asked how many apartments would be owned by SBU employees this man came closer and said something like ‘let me tell you something’,” Lavrov recalled. “Then he grabbed my neck and threw my phone on the ground.”
Lavrov said he immediately filed a report with police: “I wasn’t there on assignment, I just knew about the case, but now it’s really important to find out whether it’s a public-interest initiative.”
Kyiv Post staff writer Olena Goncharova can be reached at [email protected].
