Pro-Western monitors including the United Nations Office of the High Commission (UN OHCR) and, Kiev officially endorses assassinating Ukrainian mayors for negotiating with Russia, On March 1, for example, Volodymyr Strok, the mayor of the eastern city of Kreminna in the Ukrainian-controlled side of Lugansk, was kidnapped by men in military uniform, according to his wife, and, On March 3, pictures of Stroks visibly tortured body appeared. Beijing Winter Olympics 2022: Teenage Russian superstar Kamila Valieva Canadian skaters not surprised by arrest - July 31, 2002 - CNN Event: Detained by the SBU (?) Ref: Considered to be pro-Russian as he appeared on Russian TV channels. Photos+video clipof him being intimated and threatened. More AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/winter-olympics and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports. According to The Cinemaholic, Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze were competitively fearsome prior to their appearance in the 2002 Olympic Games, winning silver in the '98 Olympics. When did Elena Berezhnaya recover from her injury? "Because for two consecutive years my coach and I stay in the United States, we were not familiar with some of the regulations, especially financial regulations," she said through an interpreter. Keep supporting great journalism by turning off your ad blocker. Lesia Vasylenko, a Ukrainian member of parliament, and Oleksiy Arestovych, the top advisor to President Zelensky, published the photo of the defiled female corpse on social media. As the conflict continues, the repression continues to build up against a wide-ranging category of people. The destiny of our people, whether Ukrainians will be free, whether they will be able to preserve their democracy.. Russian skaters in particular have a history of positive results dating to 2000, when decorated pairs skater Elena Berezhnaya was stripped of a gold medal from the European championships for . I only know about the Grushina/Goncharov - Shae/Nikolai break . It was already broken and it's very easy to break again a thing that has been broken once, so be careful.". Zelensky proclaimed during a visit to the city of Bucha, REPORT: Murdered Civilians Found in Mariupol After Ukraine Forces Retreat. And she and Sikharulidze are gold-medal . Kireev was subsequentlyaccusedin local Ukrainian media of treason.. Mamula Mamulashvili, the commander of the Georgian Legion, which participated in the field executions of wounded Russian POWs,boasted this Aprilthat his unit freely engages in war crimes: Yes, we tie their hands and feet sometimes. . Translated by Ollie Richardson & Angelina Siard 01:39:01 08/07/2017 riafan.ru. "We are not so clear with that concerning prize money and the financial situation. Elena Berezhnaya - SlideShare Prylipko had, Then there was the murder of Denis Kireev, a top member of the Ukrainian negotiating team, who was killed in broad daylight in Kiev after the first round of talks with Russia. Prior to the start of the Russian military operation against Kiev, a few instances of the brutality, torture and extra judicial killings were reported by a host of organisations, HRW, OSCE, Amnesty International, OHCHR and in France OFPRA. Anyone that criticises or is considered as opposing his government, any perceived actions, (current or historical) is duly noted, and thus is likely to get persecuted, detained by either the SBU or irregular paramilitary groups. Ref: According to social media information, subscribers denounced that an anti-Russian statement was published on his Youtube channel The Capital. 2002 Winter Olympics figure skating scandal - Wikipedia It is unclear whether Valieva applied for a therapeutic use exemption or has a history of heart problems. Sikharulidze, who knew Berezhnaya and was hoping to begin training with her, took a train to Riga, checked her out of the hospital, and brought her to St. Petersburg. CAPTION: Oksana Grishuk and Evgeni Platov make a formal appearance in the compulsory dance, earning first-place marks. Chen, 20, finished 11th in her qualifying round Monday, moving on to the women's competition Friday and Saturday with almost no hope of winning a medal. At the European championships in January, they finished third behind the two pairs leading here at the worlds. Not every ethnic Russian speaker in Ukraine can speak good Ukrainian, and some have trouble pronouncing certain words in Ukrainian. The thorny path of Elena Berezhnaya is respected not only by every skater, but also by everyone who heard her story. He gave few details, but Adams acknowledged that we have athletes that have won medals involved.. After Canadians Jamie Sale and David Pelletier produced a flawless free skate at the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City, the gold medal was awarded to the Russian duo: Elena Berezhnaya and Anton. They soared into third place in the short program and the crowd stood and roared, admiring a soulful performance and acknowledging Berezhnaya's grit and grace. She has not taken part in any practice in Beijing since the team competition. 2:31 in Lancasters video, the womans corpse can be seen clearly. Infamy, They've All Got It In For Me Quiz | Sports | 10 Questions Russian skaters in particular have a history of positive results dating to 2000, when decorated pairs skater Elena Berezhnaya was stripped of a gold medal from the European championships for testing positive for pseudoephedrine. In January of 1996, Shliakhov's skate struck her in the head during practice and the blade penetrated her skull. postdoctoral fellow, Thomas Jefferson University. Obviously, a highly repressive with systematic serious human rights abuses committed against civilians, by members of the military and police are not an impediment to being part of the European and NATO family. Performed with "Stars on Ice" during their 2003-2004 touring season. Elena Berezhnaya, a well-known human rights activist is also arrested. Yevhen Karas, the founder of theinfamous neo-Nazi C14 unit, has detailed the close relationship his gang and other extreme right factions have enjoyed with the SBU. Elena Berezhnaya - Facts, Bio, Career, Net Worth | AidWiki (@berezhnayaofficial) Instagram photos and videos It was Sikharulidze who took his new partner on a night-time train to St. Petersburg. Apriest is filmedbeing forcibly taken away by a detachment of territorial defense ultra-nationalists (Teroborona), along with parishioners who try to protect him. It is likely that these soldiers had been emboldened by their superiors blessings. The silence is deafening and all of them mute on the repression that is taking place in Ukraine, likely start the process of EU accession in June. . In a carefully choreographed address to US Congress on March 16, US corporate media has responded by showering Zelensky with fawning press, driving a campaign for his nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize and inspiring a, The war is being used to kidnap, imprison and even kill opposition members who express themselves critical of the government, a left-wing activist beaten and persecuted by Ukraines security services, Torture and enforced disappearances common practices of Ukraines SBU, When a US-backed government seized power in Kiev following the Euromaidan regime change operation of 2013-14, Ukraines government embarked on a nationwide purge of political elements deemed pro-Russian or insufficiently nationalistic. https://www.theartsofentertainment.com/who-is-dmitri/, https://uofa.ru/en/ukrainskii-institut-pravovoi-politiki-i-socialnoi-zashchity/, https://www.defenddemocracy.press/killing-and-terrorizing-journalists-in-ukraine/, jailed Medvedchuk and charged him with treason, told the leftist German publication Junge Welt, using notoriously invasive facial recognition technology, shooting defenseless Russian POWs in the legs. Zelensky justified locking away his leading rival on the grounds that he needed to fight against the danger of Russian aggression in the information arena.. advocated for a settlement of the conflict in Donbass, Add into this maelstrom another layer of extra-judicial repression, in the form ofimpromptu justice being meted out to civilians, bound up, tied to posts, beaten, humiliated and some killed as a result. She was slashed on the head when her ex-partner, Oleg Sliakhov, clipped her with a skate blade as they performed side-by-side camel spins. She nursed the skater back to health. Nonselective inhibitors of histone deacetylases (HDAC) can. ", "So," said Moskvina, "we spoke about her health.". Focusing on the many crimes of the Zelensky regime He subsequently learned that Igor was held by the SBU at the time and being used to bait Shariy into disclosing his location. Still, many of her friends and associates in skating are troubled. Member of the Novyi Sotcialism (New Socialism) party. As the remaining fighting in Mariupol is concentrated on the final Ukrainian hold-outs holed-up in the Azovstal Plant in the citys industrial port district, the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF) and its notorious extremist Azov Battalion fighters appear to have left dozens of murdered civilians behind, including some with their hands bound indicating an execution, after UAF retreated from their positions embedded among civilians in Mariupol. Russian athletes are in Beijing competing as the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), after the country was banned because of a massive state-sponsored doping scheme at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. The most famous case of trimetazidine in sports doping involved Chinese star swimmer Sun Yang. The increasing levels of lawlessness and repression makes it very difficult to collect precise information. Elena BEREZHNAYA | PostDoc Position | Thomas Jefferson University The Russian Ministry of Defense has denied the charge, however, and little evidence exists to corroborate Kievs line about the missing mayors. IOC spokesman Mark Adams said Wednesday that legal consultation was required between the Olympic committee and the International Skating Union. She gave Sikharulidze a piece of advice: "This is your crystal vase. The Ukrainian government knows this, more so since Zelensky, since he. Since Russian troops entered Ukraine on February 24, Ukraines SBU security service had been on a rampage against any and all iterations of internal political opposition. Seemingly countless videos have appeared on social media showing civilians tied to lamp posts, often with their genitals exposed or their faces painted green. Editor-in-chief of the online magazinehttps://timer-odessa.net/. Meanwhile, dozens of other, Among those targeted by the SBU were Mikhail and Aleksander Kononovich, members of the outlawed Leninist Communist Youth Union of Ukraine. During training, Oleg Shlyakhov hit the girl's temple with the blade of his skate. A Ukrainian journalist, Oles Buzina, had his personal details published on the site in 2015, which led to his murder shortly afterwards. Journalist and peace activist of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. In fact, the Ukrainian government has begun, Photos distributed by pro-Ukraine Telegram channels showing captured, tortured and executed Russian soldiers, Video has also emerged this April showing Ukrainian soldiers, Ukrainian and Georgian Legion fighters celebrate after executing captive Russian soldiers on video. The accident caused partial paralysis on her right side, and doctors were unsure if she would walk again. Stay yourself. Russia's Elena Berezhnaya can tell you about the perils of pairs. As journalist Dan Cohenreported, Anatoly Shariy of the recently banned Party of Shariy said he was the target of a recent SBU assassination attempt. People have been reportedly, The SBU has a history of torture, brutal interrogations, extra judicial murders and other violence and threats carried out with total impunity. The couple stood on the ice for the first time last March. Despite enduring several broken ribs from the beating by state-backed ultra-nationalists, he has been denied bail. Additionally, this is swept under the vague categories of treason, support for the Russians or saboteurs: Event: kidnapped & extra judicially killed, Accused of: being a traitor and pro-Russian. By then, it was too late; her qualifying performance Monday was dismal. Elena Berezhnaya - Alchetron, The Free Social Encyclopedia Western media outlets have been following the Kiev line without exception, Zelensky outlaws political opposition, authorizes arrest of rivals and war propaganda blitz, In a March 19 executive order, Zelensky invoked martial law to, The activities of those politicians aimed at division or collusion will not succeed, but will receive a harsh response, President Zelensky, The founder of the second largest party in Ukraine, the now-illegal Patriots for Life, Medvedchuk is the de facto representative of the countrys ethnic Russian population. I speak for the Georgian Legion, we will never take Russian soldiers prisoner. Has been in a relationship with Steven Cousins since 2005. As. Elena Berezhnaya remembers that Anton Sikharulidze arrived at her hospital bedside and she knew, immediately, that she was in the hands of someone she could trust. The next day, a video appeared on social networks, in which Khazan slandered the party chairman Anatoli Shariy. In addition, he has a keen interest in Ukrainian politics. A Ukrainian Orthodox journalist has been held by authorities in Kiev for two weeks now with no access to a lawyer or necessary medical care. By March, she was standing on the ice with Sikharulidze; in May, they began to skate together. Articles Cited by Public access Co-authors. Against the background of rampant corruption, by the end of 2021, Ukraine fell to 122nd place out of 180 countries in the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index (Transparency International, 2021). The US Inept State Department openly endorsed the presidents move,declaringthat the United States supports Ukrainian efforts to counter Russias malign influence, Three months later, Kievjailed Medvedchuk and charged him with treason. My coach and I decided to return to China, to return to our federation . In the following days, the SBU arrested broadcast journalist Yan Taksyur and charged him with treason; human rights activist Elena Berezhnaya; Elena Viacheslavova, a human rights advocate whose father, Mikhail, was burned to death during the May 2, 2014 ultra-nationalist mob attack on anti-Maidan protesters outside the Odessa House of Trade Solely judging by the list as outlined in this article, it is just a little indication of the broader situation where there are hundreds of detainees in Ukraine, their circumstances and status hasnt warranted the attention to make their disappearance / arrest on social media, their whereabouts are not known at all. Notes:gunned down while resisting arrest. Russian skaters in particular have a history of positive results dating to 2000, when decorated pairs skater Elena Berezhnaya was stripped of a gold medal from the European championships for . The road to victory turned out to be incredibly difficult. Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze were also off-again, on-again romantically, splitting for good after the Utah Olympics. Russian star practices despite report of positive drug test Together Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze won 27 gold, 9 silver and 5 bronze medals, all in . A figure skating scandal at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games saw Canadians Jamie Sal and David Pelletier briefly lose the gold medal to Russians Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze; in . The SBU informs not only us, but also Azov, the Right Sector, and so on, Karasboastedin a 2017 interview. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Anti-Zelensky Chilean journalist gone missing in Ukraine Elena Berezhnaya. Then there was the murder of Denis Kireev, a top member of the Ukrainian negotiating team, who was killed in broad daylight in Kiev after the first round of talks with Russia. The brain injury impaired Berezhnaya's speech and, after months of therapy, she continues to speak slowly. Traditional doping is uncommon in figure skating because additional muscle mass weight is generally a negative. Those detained are often put under huge stress, threatened, beaten, or tortured into giving confessions. With training from the CIA and close coordination with Ukraines state-backed neo-Nazi paramilitaries, the SBU has spent the past weeks filling its vast archipelago of torture dungeons with political dissidents. Russian figure skater Elena Berezhnaya and her dance partner, Russian figure skater Anton Sikharulidze, competing for Latvia in the pair skating. Skater's spirit is Olympic-sized Berezhnaya favored for gold 2 years Elena was already a world-class pairs skater by the age of 15, skating for Latvia with Oleg Shliakhov. Ukraine 24 claimed that it found this woman in Gostumel, one of the regions in the Kiev Oblast that the Russians vacated on March 29. Common Ukrainian citizens have also been subjected to torture since the start of the war this February. After less than a year together, they were European medalists. Ref: Article/ Current status is unknown although alleged to have been killed. After the compulsory dance, worth 20 percent of the overall score, Olympic gold medalists Oksana Grishuk and Evgeni Platov are first, rivals Anjelika Krylova and Oleg Ovsyannikov are second, and Canadians Shae-Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz are third. President Volodymyr Zelenskys statement that there would be consequences for collaborators indicates that these atrocities have been sanctioned by the highest levels of government. Kamila Valieva, the 15-year-old Russian superstar who was expected to deliver her nation its third straight Olympic gold medal in womens figure skating, tested positive for a banned heart medication before the Beijing Games, the Russian newspaper RBC reported. Valievas status for the individual competition next week has also been cast in doubt. WATCH: Kamila Valieva Practices Despite Report of Positive Drug Test She landed just a triple toe loop, fell on another triple jump and turned three planned triples into singles. Vassily Prozorov, a former SBU officer who defected to Russia following the Euromaidan coup, detailed the post-Maidan security services systemic reliance on torture to crush political opposition and intimidate citizens accused of Russian sympathies. Pro-Western monitors including the United Nations Office of the High Commission (UN OHCR) andHuman Rights Watchhave accused the SBU of systematically torturing political opponents and Ukrainian dissidents with near-total impunity. Gerashchenko stated that the site was extremely important for the national security of Ukraine. He then added that anyone who does not understand this or tries to interfere with this work is either a puppet in the hands of others or works against the interests of national security. [2]. Elena Berezhnaya - Postdoctoral Research Fellow - LinkedIn Ukrainian soldiers use of the cellphones of dead Russian soldiers to mock and hector their relatives appears to be a common practice. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Focusing on the many crimes of the Zelensky regime, Ukrainian soldiers of the 206th battalion of the territorial defense of the Ukrainian capital, Yesterday, Ukrainian Security Service officers with machine guns came to my parents apartment, stole almost all the money, and took my father away without bringing any charges My mother went to the Security Service office today, but they say they dont know anything about it. Carried out by Territorial Defense volunteers tasked with enforcing law and order during wartime, these acts of humiliation and torture have targeted everyone from accused Russian sympathizers to Roma people to, Ukraines SBU studies torture and assassination from the CIA, Valentyn Nalyvaichenko, the first head of the SBU after the Euromaidan regime change operation of 2013-14, nurtured close ties to Washington when he served as general consul to the Ukrainian embassy to the US during the George W. Bush administration. Elena Berezhnaya. Pummeled to the sound of the Ukrainian national anthem, the Russian prisoners were brutalized until they confessed their hatred for Putin. The Ukrainian official therefore delivered a chilling message to anyone choosing to seek cooperation with Russia: do so and lose your life. The lyrical show they provided in the short program was a revelation, even to the wise coach. What Happened To Russian Figure Skating Pair Elena Berezhnaya - Grunge As a result, an additional gold medal was awarded to the Canadian team, who were given silver at first with what many felt was a superior performance to the Russians, per Britannica. "When I started to teach them, every minute I was afraid to look," she said. At that time, cruel treatment of children in sports was the norm, and coaches, without hesitation, used force or pressure . With partner Anton Sikharulidze, she is the 1998 and 1999 World champion, 1998 Olympic silver medalist and 2002 Olympic champion. On March 19, Russian official and triathlete Dmitry Polyanskiy tweeted, "We are extremely worried about the fate of Ukrainian human rights defender and anti-fascist activist Elena Berezhnaya, who was taken by #Ukraine's Security Services (SBU)." Prylipko hadreportedly entered into negotiationswith the Russian military to organize a humanitarian corridor for the evacuation of his citys residents a red line for Ukrainian ultra-nationalists who had long been in conflict with the mayors office. Fragments of the temporal bone touched the lining of the brain. In 1996, Elena had a skate hit her head, slicing into her skull, during a practice session with Oleg. Vlodymyr Struk. She spoke at the UN, Bundestag, OSCE. "One less traitor": Zelensky oversees campaign of assassination Winter Olympics: All About the 2002 Pairs Figure Skating Scandal - People The government knowingly allows these human rights abuses for its own interest. Then they put bags over our heads, tied our hands with tape and took us to the SBU building in a car. People are not only being tied up to street furniture as suspected looters, but people are being bound up or arrested for being pro-Russian, for not being able to say the word Palyanytsya in Ukrainian. He also added that Struk was judged by the court of the people and called hime a traitor. Elena Berezhnaya Photos and Premium High Res Pictures - Getty Images Russians Take Early Ice Dance Lead - timesunion.com The worst was when they put a plastic bag over my head and suffocated me and when they held the muzzle of a Kalashnikov rifle to my head and forced me to answer their questions.. Zelenskys administration escalated the assault on his top opponent in February 2021 when heshutteredseveral media outlets controlled by Medvedchuk. And she feared him, even though she lived with his family. SBU officer, with Right Sector insignia on 6thApril. This March 3 in the city of Dnipro, SBU officers accompanied by Azov ultra-nationalists raided the home of activists with the Livizja (Left) organization, which has organized against social spending cuts and right-wing media propaganda. Her dance partner when she was around 14 years old was Oleg Shliakhov. The Ukrainian SBU security services has served as the enforcement arm of the officially authorized campaign of repression. Yelena Berezhnaya - IMDb Unverified claims made indicate the participation of Azov members in the torture and disappearance of Maxim Rindkovsky. Worse still, is the participation of the likes of Azov, Right Sector and others in the detentions and also disappearances of people. "The media is making us like bad guys. In March 2022 he was the subject of media coverage internationally due to his kidnapping and death. The Elena Berezhnaya and Steven Cousins thing was something of a shock a few months ago and it pretty much came out of nowhere but on the back of another shock breakup in the skating world that Cousins was rumoured to have been involved in. There they continued to interrogate us and threatened to cut off our ears, Matjuschenkos wife, The torture of left-wing activist Alexander Matjuschenko on March 3 in Dnipro, recorded by Azov members and posted on Telegram by the city of Dnipro, Matjuschenko was jailed on the grounds that he was conducting an aggressive war or military operation, and now faces 10 to 15 years in prison. Dmitry Dzhangirov, (TV presenter, political scientist); Aleksandr Matiushenko (activist organisation Livytsia); These individuals and others are listed in further details later on in the article. Remember that Zelensky has now outlawed all opposition parties but not all, those parties who support him are allowed to continue, with ultra-nationalists & Neo-Nazis part of these political parties and who happen to be highly influential too. 3 1. LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- They call Elena Berezhnaya figure skating's fragile vase, a woman who lay near death with a brain injury just 15 months ago, yet who is back on the ice, skating and reaching for medals. Several journalists and Ukrainian dissidents, including the prominent columnist, Common Ukrainian citizens have also been subjected to torture since the start of the war this February. When war erupted with Russia this February, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky issued a series of decrees formalizing Kievs campaign against political opposition and dissident speech. We dont know where my father is, we dont know what hes being charged with. Notably, during the Donbass conflict, the Ukrainian side committed extremely heinous crimes, such burying people alive, beheadings (as reported by Newsweek), pitiless systematic acts of torture, rapes, looting, on a significantly much larger scale compared to the reported crimes committed by the pro-Russian side also featured in these reports. Resident give testimony as to the war crimes perpetrated by UAF and Azov fighters. Figure skater Elena Berezhnaya - Honored Master of Sports of Russia It's unclear if a medal ceremony will be held. But Berezhnaya wished to return to the ice and doctors agreed and three months later she came to the ice skating ring. Elena Berezhnaya Update 1995-96 Champion Series Final With partner Anton Sikharulidze, she is the 1998 and 1999 World champion, 1998 Olympic silver medalist and 2002 Olympic champion . Horrid glimpses into these detentions were provided: Several also alleged that after being transferred to SBU premises they were, variously, beaten, subjected to electric shocks, and threatened with rape, execution, and retaliation against family members, to induce them to confess to involvement with separatism-related criminal activities or to provide information.