Fears Grow in Ukraine Over Kidnappings and Beatings of Activists

Yuriy Lutsenko is lucky to be alive.

The prominent Ukrainian journalist and activist was kidnapped on Jan. 21, interrogated, tortured and left for dead in a snowy forest outside the Ukrainian capital of Kiev.

The man who was taken along with him, Yuriy Verbytsky, was not so lucky. Too weak to crawl to safety, he froze to death in a wooded area not far from Lutsenko, according to the Ukrainian interior ministry. Verbytsky’s family told Radio Svoboda that traces of duct tape were on his face and body, and that a plastic bag had been over his head when he was found. Read more...