Ukraine

BREAKING NEWS: TWO SENIOR ZOO MANAGERS ARE BRUTALLY BEATEN FOLLOWING AN INTERFAX PRESS CONFERENCE WHERE THEY ACCUSED KYIV ZOO OF CRUEL TREATMENT OF ANIMALS!

Naturewatch will bring you updates on this news breaking story as soon as we receive them from our representative in Kyiv.

On 15th October, a press conference was called by Naturewatch at the Interfax News Agency in Kyiv. It was attended by senior Kyiv Zoo Managers who revealed a catalogue of complaints about the cruel treatment of the zoo animals. Two days later, two Zoo Managers who attended the press conference were brutally beaten.


At around 11.30am on Saturday 17th October in the grounds of Kyiv zoo, Sergei Grigoriev and Igor Mariychuk, both Senior Zoo Managers, were brutally attacked by two zoo lawyers and the husband of the Zoo Director, Mrs Svetlana Berezina.

In Kyiv, October 17, 2009 at Kyiv zoo two employees were beaten after revealing the facts surrounding the cruel treatment of animals in the zoo. According to the press service of the National Ecological Center of Ukraine (NECU), environmentalists have cited the words of one of the victims - the Kyiv zoo worker Sergei Grigoriev, who said that along with his colleague Igor Mariychuk, they were going to draw public attention to "behind the scenes” at the zoo.

Grigoriev and Marychuk prepared a demonstration poster "Berezin Away!" Svetlana Berezin - Director General of the zoo, has been accused by officials of misuse of funds and abuse of animals. According to Grigoriev and Mariychuk, two zoo lawyers, Tishchenko and Sophia, entered the room. They destroyed the poster and tried to trap the demonstrators in the house. "When they failed, they attacked us and they knock us down - said Grigoriev. I was personally attacked by a civilian man, Svetlana Berezin’s husband Dmitry Bohdan, who knocked me down and pressed my head to the stairs, causing  injuries. During the fight Grigoriev had his dictaphone on and recorded all the conversation. Later, he managed to escape and flee the scene taking with him the voice recording.

As reported by the NECU, Grigoriev made a statement about the incident to the district police department. Ostensibly, he received severe injuries, and possible concussion. Sergei Grigoryev considers this attack to be revenge for going public and reporting abuses at Kiev zoo during a press conference held on October 15, 2009. At the press conference, the Deputy Director of Kiev Zoo, Cyril Trantin, told journalists about the wretched state of Kyiv zoo. In particular, he stated that the animals were kept "in terrible conditions, and over the past two years, 57 professionals and zoologists have been sacked from the zoo. We killed the zoo, and animals survive."

The same day, representatives of international animal protection organizations said that Kyiv Zoo's membership of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) will not be prematurely renewed and demanded a change of leadership of Kyiv Zoo.

END

Notes for Editors:
Saturday, October 17, Kyiv Zoo officially celebrated its 100 anniversary.
Mayor Chernovetsky appointed Svetlana Berezin as director of Kyiv Zoo in February 21, 2008.

TELEVISION NEWS COVERAGE BELOW:

On Thursday 15th October, the Kyiv zoo scandal was the number one story on the evening news! Click on link below to see the headline story on TCH, Ukraine's main TV Channel. The report is in Ukrainian but does include video footage which is worth a thousand words!

http://tsn.ua/bin/video.php?media_id=170156&section_id=1&subtype_id=&subtype

The Youtube video below is a report by Ukraine's Channel 5 - another leading TV Channel.

Our three organisations have, since 1997, been calling on Kyiv City Council, who are the owners of Kyiv Zoo, to stop the corrupt nature and cruel neglect of animals at the zoo. The zoo was stripped of its membership of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) two years ago for its failures. Despite this, Mayor Chernovetsky, who has stated that he wants the zoo to return to EAZA membership in time for when Kyiv hosts the Euro 2012 football championships, has not acted sufficiently well to redress the situation.

Eight zoo managers approached us a few weeks ago wishing to draw attention to their grave concern regarding the running of the zoo and the neglect of its animals. At the press conference held on 15th October, the Deputy Director of the zoo showed many images revealing terrible conditions, not only for the animals but also for the workers at the Zoo. John Ruane was in Kyiv when the news came about the brutal attacks on Sergei and Igor on Saturday.  He was informed that Sergei, upon arrival at the police station, was examined by a police surgeon who diagnosed possible brain injury and he was taken to hospital where he was told he would need to be admitted for two weeks for tests and further diagnosis to be carried out. However, Sergei discharged himself because he has to look after his sick mother. These attacks were carried out by the husband of the zoo director and two zoo lawyers.

We believe there is corruption at the zoo and following the press conference we were asked to attend a meeting with the lawyers of Mr Vitali Klitschko who leads one of the national political parties in Kyiv. Mr Klitschko and his brother have been involved in charitable activities dedicated to supporting the needs of schools, churches and children. In 2002, the Klitschko brothers announced they had agreed to work specifically for the UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) which supports more than 180 projects in 87 countries. Mr Klitschko campaigns from an anti-corruption platform and is also the world boxing champion, as is his brother.

Mr Klitschko has asked his lawyers to prepare papers to bring criminal charges against the director of Kyiv Zoo and civil charges of wilful and deliberate neglect of the zoo animals over the past two years.

Swetlana Berzina is the zoo director and her husband has been given financially lucrative contracts with the Zoo. Ms Berzina was jailed a few years ago for stealing funds from her employers.

Naturewatch will be contacting zoos worldwide to help us bring pressure to remove Mrs Berzina from her post and to not allow her to buy even more animals for Kyiv zoo. (She has been buying more animals when the situation for existing ones is appalling.)

When we met Mayor Chernovetsky in April we expressed our grave concerns to him but he did not take action. However, we will contact the Mayor again and urge him to investigate this most serious and criminal activity.

Kyiv zoo is run by corrupt officials who are also involved in years of cruelty to stray dogs – the zoo is a prison for the animals and a gulag for the employees.

ENGLISH LANGUAGE KYIV POST NEWSPAPER REPORTS TWO STORIES:

BRUTAL BEATING OF EMPLOYEES - Two employees of Kyiv Zoo say they were attacked

KYIV ZOO GOES ON BUYING SPREE TO BUY MORE ANIMALS - Director: Kyiv zoo to acquire new animals in 2010

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