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A man who didn’t know Nataliya Shkoda beat her severely because she admitted: “I am a lesbian.”
Shkoda, the civil partner of Halyna Kornienko, an adviser of Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine, is yet another illustration how alien some Ukrainians are to the motto of this year’s Eurovision, chosen by Ukrainian organizers – “Celebrate Diversity.”
According to Anna Leonova, CEO of Gay Alliance of Ukraine, this situation is not “only about the anger and hatred that pushed this man to attack but also about the indifference of witnesses and police. We are told Ukrainian legislation protects us but what do we get in real?”
In a Facebook post on May 2, Kornienko accused police in negligence and indifference.
“My wife was beaten in front of a bunch of people and police was aiming to let the situation go. I don’t think it is a correct reaction,” she wrote.
The Kyiv Post could not reach her for the comment.
Here is today's map of the security situation in eastern Ukraine, according to the National Security and Defense Council:
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Many Ukrainians refuse to buy Russian goods and services, but not members of the president’s family, it seems. The 16-year-old son of Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko, Mykhailo, the youngest of the president’s four children, has been seen wearing a Russian-made sweatshirt, with the word “Russia” printed on it, in a photograph posted on his Russian friend Sergey Kiziev’s Instagram account.
The photograph, first spotted and reposted on May 5 by Tabloid, a section of Ukrainian news website Ukrainska Pravda, shows Poroshenko posing with his friends wearing the sweatshirt. Although Poroshenko’s face is obscured, he can be identified by his sneakers, which he can be seen wearing in another photo where his face is clearly visible. Another photograph shows Kiziev wearing the sweatshirt himself.
Ukraine Bans U.S. Film Star Seagal As 'National Security Threat'
Ukraine has banned U.S. action film star Steven Seagal from entering the country, labeling him a national security threat.
The Ukraine National News (UNN) agency on May 5 quoted the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) as saying Seagal would be banned for five years.
Seagal, who received Russian citizenship in November, has publicly supported Moscow's illegal annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula and participated in a concert there in August 2014.
Moscow seized control of Crimea in March 2014 and has supported separatists in eastern Ukraine in fighting that has killed more than 9,750 people.
The United States and the European Union have imposed sanctions on Russia in retaliation for its actions in Ukraine.
Seagal, 65, grew up in California but claims Russian and Mongolian ancestry.
Reports have said he holds a black belt in aikido and is a friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who also is a fan of the martial arts.
Other celebrities have been banned from Ukraine after taking Russian citizenship and expressing support for Russia’s annexation of Crimea, including French film star Gerard Depardieu.
In March, Ukraine barred Russia's contestant in the Eurovision Song Contest from entering the country because it said she had performed in Crimea in 2015.
That ban will prevent Yulia Samoilova, 22, from participating in the song contest scheduled for May 13 in Kyiv. Russia is boycotting the event.