Fatherland district councilmember attacked

34-year-old head of a district organization of the
Fatherland Party was attacked on Jan. 9 with a steel pipe in the city of Kryviy
Rih, Ukraine’s eighth largest city, the party reported in a statement that day.
After being sprayed with mace, Artem Mirzoian, who is also a district council
member, was struck in the head with the pipe and beaten. He was hospitalized
with cerebral trauma and numerous bone fractures. In the statement, the
regional party organization said Mirzoian’s district office had been attacked
twice without any suspects found.

Zenon Zawada:
Election-related violence is under way. It’s worth noting that the pro-Western
Fatherland party is currently leading the polls in the Dnipropetrovsk region
that had been traditionally dominated by Russian-oriented forces. However, many
members of the Party of Regions – which collapsed in 2014 – remain entrenched
in positions of authority, particularly law enforcement, regardless of what
party they might belong to currently. And they are hostile to pro-Western
forces.