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The head of the gay rights organisation Gay Forum of Ukraine was attacked after meeting with the media to inform them that the country’s first gay pride had been cancelled.
Shocking pictures show Svyatoslav Sheremet on the ground, with a group of three men kicking and jumping on him. The attackers ran off when they realised members of the media were documenting the assault.
The first ever Kyiv Pride was to be held at a secret location and had a huge police presence, but was called off after hundreds of neo-Nazis and right-wing extremists spread through the city and began to attack people.
A senior Kyiv police official is claimed to have told pride organizers that he was not prepared to put his officers in harm’s way for the LGBT community.
