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Ukrainian protester says he was kidnapped and tortured Ukrainian protester says he was kidnapped and tortured
(about 4 hours later)
A Ukrainian opposition activist who went missing last week has been found covered in blood, saying he was kidnapped and tortured. For eight days, people feared Dmytro Bulatov was dead. One of the leaders of protests against President Viktor Yanukovych, the activist disappeared without trace on 22 January. Now he has resurfaced, alive, but says he was subjected to horrific torture, including a crucifixion, while he was held in captivity by unknown men.
Dmytro Bulatov was discovered in a village near Kiev late on Thursday having gone missing on 22 January. He said his kidnappers beat him severely, nailed him to a cross, sliced off a piece of ear and cut his face. Bulatov was discovered in a village near Kiev late on Thursday. He said his kidnappers beat him severely, nailed him to a cross, sliced off a piece of his ear and cut his face. Bulatov, 35, is part of a group of car owners who have taken part in the protests against Yanukovych, blocking police and troop movements with their vehicles in an attempt to stymie the government response.
His claims came as Ukraine's president Viktor Yanukovych on Friday signed into law a conditional amnesty for detained protesters, while the US and Russia made further diplomatic interventions. "They crucified me, they nailed down my hands … There isn't a spot on my body that hasn't been beaten," he said on local television. Bulatov's face and clothes were covered in clotted blood, and his hands were swollen and bore the marks of nails.
Bulatov, 35, part of a group of car owners that has taken part in the protests against Yanukovych, told a Ukrainian TV channel that he was kept in the dark and could not identify the kidnappers, but thought that they had Russian accents. After more than a week of beatings, he said they eventually dumped him in a forest. Bulatov is now undergoing treatment for his injuries, and doctors were not letting journalists visit him in hospital on Friday. However, in a video address posted on his Facebook page by a friend, he told of what had happened to him: "I was brutally beaten, had a bag on my head, and was subjected to very severe tortures, but nevertheless they will not be able to intimidate us and we are not going to stop."
"They crucified me, they nailed down my hands … There isn't a spot on my body that hasn't been beaten," Bulatov said on Channel 5 television. "Thank God, I am alive." His friend and fellow activist Oleksiy Hrytsenko wrote: "He is keeping well despite the fact that these bastards applied all kinds of torture to him."
Bulatov's face and clothes were covered in clotted blood, and his hands were swollen and bore the marks of nails. Bulatov's reappearance comes at a key time in Ukraine's political crisis, as Yanukovych signed into law a conditional amnesty for those involved in violence over recent weeks, but the protesters that have occupied central Kiev say they will accept nothing less than snap elections. On Friday, the Kremlin urged the Ukrainian leadership to crack down on the protest movement.
Police said they have opened an investigation and said the car he was driving when he disappeared had been found. Both Bulatov and Hrytsenko are on a wanted list for organising mass disturbances, and a spokesperson for the interior ministry told Ukrainian media he believed it was possible that Bulatov had staged his own kidnapping: "This could have been staged as a provocation, in order to create negative emotions in society," said Oleg Tarasov. He added it was also possible that Bulatov had been kidnapped over a financial issue.
"What happened to Dmytro is an act of intimidation to all the protesters," said opposition leader Vitali Klitschko after visiting Bulatov at a Kiev hospital, where the activist is now recovering. The opposition dismissed these theories as nonsense and linked Bulatov's kidnapping to a whole spate of sinister disappearances. The case is reminiscent of the abduction of two other activists – Igor Lutsenko and Yuri Verbytsky – who were kidnapped from a hospital last week. Lutsenko said both men were driven to a forest where they were interrogated and beaten. Lutsenko managed to crawl out of the forest and make it to a hospital. Verbytsky was later found dead in the forest, his hands tied behind his back and a bag on his head.
This case is reminiscent of the abduction of two other activists – Igor Lutsenko and Yuri Verbytsky – who were kidnapped from a hospital last week. Lutsenko said both men were driven to a forest where they were interrogated and beaten. Lutsenko managed to crawl out of the forest and make it to a hospital. Verbytsky was later found dead in the forest, his hands tied behind his back and a bag on his head.
"They behaved during the interrogation like people who have been doing this for many years," Lutsenko said last week about the men who captured and tortured him."They behaved during the interrogation like people who have been doing this for many years," Lutsenko said last week about the men who captured and tortured him.
"What happened to Dmytro is an act of intimidation to all the protesters," said opposition leader Vitali Klitschko after visiting Bulatov in hospital.
The protests in Ukraine started after Yanukovych backed out of an agreement to deepen ties with the European Union, but the demonstrations quickly came to encompass an array of discontent over corruption, heavy-handed police and a dubious justice system.The protests in Ukraine started after Yanukovych backed out of an agreement to deepen ties with the European Union, but the demonstrations quickly came to encompass an array of discontent over corruption, heavy-handed police and a dubious justice system.
Yanukovych on Friday signed into law an amnesty for those detained during the unrest and approved the repeal of anti-protest legislation. Demonstrators have rejected the amnesty because it is conditional on occupied buildings being cleared of activists. Yanukovych on Friday signed into law an amnesty for those detained during the unrest and approved the repeal of anti-protest legislation. But demonstrators have rejected the amnesty because it is conditional on occupied buildings being cleared of activists.
The Ukrainian defence ministry released a statement urging the president to take "urgent" steps to ease the crisis, weighing in on the turmoil for the first time, while Vladimir Putin's advisor warned that Yanukovych would lose power unless he "quashed the rebellion". Hardline prime minister Mykola Azarov has resigned, but opposition leader Arseniy Yatsenyuk declined the offer to serve as prime minister under a Yanukovych presidency. For now, Serhiy Arbuzov, a member of Yanukovych's inner circle, is serving as interim PM. Yanukovych himself went on sick leave this week, due to an acute respiratory illness and high fever, which aides say could be caused by stress.
"He is currently in the situation of a creeping coup and because he is the guarantor of the constitution, security and integrity of Ukraine, then the president has no choice," Kremlin economic aide Sergei Glazyev said. Moscow has said it will hold off a planned $2bn purchase of Ukrainian government bonds until a new government is formed. In strong words yesterday, the Kremlin's point man on Ukraine warned that Yanukovych would lose power unless he "quashed the rebellion".
"He is currently in the situation of a creeping coup and because he is the guarantor of the constitution, security and integrity of Ukraine, then the president has no choice," said Kremlin economic aide Sergei Glazyev.
"Either he defends Ukrainian statehood and quashes the rebellion provoked by financial and outside forces or he risks losing power, and mounting chaos and an internal conflict, from which no exit can be seen, await Ukraine.""Either he defends Ukrainian statehood and quashes the rebellion provoked by financial and outside forces or he risks losing power, and mounting chaos and an internal conflict, from which no exit can be seen, await Ukraine."
Earlier on Friday John Kerry, the US secretary of state, said that overtures by Yanukovych to the opposition have not been enough to resolve the crisis. On Friday John Kerry, the US secretary of state, said that overtures by Yanukovych to the opposition have not been enough to resolve the crisis.
Kerry, who is set to meet key opposition figures including Arseny Yatsenyuk and Klitschko on the sidelines of a security conference starting in Munich on Friday, told a news conference: "The offers of President Yanukovych have not yet reached an adequate level of reform and an adequate level of sharing of the future so that the opposition can, in fact, feel that it can legitimately come to the table." Kerry, who is set to meet key opposition figures including Yatsenyuk and Klitschko on the sidelines of a security conference starting in Munich on Friday, told a news conference: "The offers of President Yanukovych have not yet reached an adequate level of reform and an adequate level of sharing of the future so that the opposition can, in fact, feel that it can legitimately come to the table."
But he added that if the government presents a reform agenda offering "genuine participation" then the opposition should seize the opportunity "because further violence that goes out of control is not in anybody's interest".But he added that if the government presents a reform agenda offering "genuine participation" then the opposition should seize the opportunity "because further violence that goes out of control is not in anybody's interest".
On Thursday, Yanukovych accused the opposition of escalating the situation, and insisted his government was doing all it could to solve the crisis.
His defiant statement followed an announcement that he is taking sick leave due to an acute respiratory illness and high fever.
Yanukovych accused the opposition of "continuing to whip up the situation, calling on people to stand in the cold for the sake of the political ambitions of a few leaders".
His illness is another unpredictable element in Ukraine's already combustible political drama. His predecessor, Viktor Yushchenko, fell ill in 2004 after apparently being poisoned with dioxin, while standing against Russian-backed Yanukovych in the presidential election.
Ukraine's political uprising began more than two months ago as a pro-European movement after Yanukovych rejected an integration pact with the European Union. Instead he accepted a $15bn (£9bn) bailout from Russia. The Kremlin has now said it may fail to pay the loan in full if the government in Kiev changes.
The protests have since spread across much of the country, and have turned into a highly personal campaign to topple Yanukovych. Radical groups clashed with the police last week, with at least three civilians killed.
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