A well-known Ukrainian corruption officer has succumbed to her injuries three months after an acid attack. President Petro Poroshenko confirmed yesterday evening the death of Yekaterina Gandsyuk in a hospital in Kiev. He called on the police to do everything they could to clear up the case.
The 33-year-old had made public cases of corruption in the police in her hometown Kherson on the Black Sea. In late July, she was attacked with sulfuric acid and suffered life-threatening skin injuries.
Threat reports increase
Activists from non-governmental organizations in Ukraine have long lamented that threats and attacks are increasing, but the police are not protecting them. „Why do we encourage people to engage in social engagement if we do not protect them then?“ Gandsjuk asked himself in a video message a few weeks before her death.
„Attacks on civil society activists are unacceptable. Those responsible for this insidious crime must be held to account, „wrote EU Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn on Twitter. In Gandsyuk case, the Ukrainian authorities arrested five men. It is unclear whether the attack is cleared up.
