UCSJ's Kiev monitor Vyacheslav Likhachyov recorded eleven attacks on minorities in Ukraine this January, a record number since he began working for UCSJ over a year ago. In his January report submitted to UCSJ, Mr. Likhachyov monitored the following incidents:

On January 2, a young man assaulted an Asian man, presumably from Vietnam, in Kiev. Police detained the assailant, who admitted that he was a neo-Nazi and was motivated to attack his victim out of ethnic hatred.

On January 10 in Kiev, over a dozen young men attacked the head of the city's African Center, Charles Asante, near the Shulyavskaya metro station. The victim, a citizen of Ghana, was admitted to the hospital in serious condition after suffering stab wounds from knives and broken bottles.

That same day in Lviv, a youth attacked a black man with a baseball bat inside the Klondike pizzeria. The restaurant is located on the first floor of a dormitory where many foreigners who attend Lviv Polytechnic live. Students there say that racist attacks near the dormitory are not uncommon.

On January 11 in Kiev, around 10 assailants attacked an African-American basketball player while screaming racist abuse; the victim alleged that he ran to a police car for help, but that the officers drove off, leaving him to be attacked again. Police are not investigating the incident as a hate crime. More details on UCSJ's web site at: http://www.fsumonitor.com/stories/011408Ukraine.shtml

That same day in Kiev, a doctor asked the police for help to treat a citizen of China who was attacked on the street sometime around New Years Eve. The victim himself did not report the incident.

On January 12 in Kiev, two youths attacked a citizen of the Ivory Coast near the Levoberezhnaya metro station. The victim studies at the Kiev National Economic University. Police detained two suspects and charged them with "hooliganism."

On January 23 in Kiev, a group of neo-Nazis attacked migrant workers at a market near the Lisova metro station.

On January 24 in Dnepropetrovsk, four people assaulted a rabbi while screaming antisemitic abuse. More details on UCSJ's web site at: http://www.fsumonitor.com/stories/012808Ukraine.shtml

On January 25, in Nikolaev, a group of youths attacked Nigerian students who study at the local ship-building university. The attackers yelled racist abuse at the Nigerians, who ran off and called the police. Police detained three suspects, but let them off with only an administrative charge (most likely a fine).

That same day, the local SBU (former KGB) announced that it had issued a warning to four youths who had organized a gang to attack "non-Slavs" and were gathering money in order to buy a gun.

On January 27, unknown people murdered a citizen of the Congo, prompting a statement of concern from the UNHCR. . More details on UCSJ's web site at: http://www.fsumonitor.com/stories/020408Ukraine.shtml

In response to this statement from the UNHCR, Ukraine's minister of the interior Nikolai Onishchuk announced that it would not be correct to say that racist violence is a trend in Ukraine, but instead there have been separate incidents of violence against minorities which police are carefully investigating, according to a February 4, 2008 report by the UNIAN news agency.

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