Photographer rescues boy from gang of violent anti-gay thugs in disturbing video
A teen was attacked during the Pride march in Kharkiv, northeastern Ukraine, September 15, 2019.
A disturbing video shows the moment a photographer had to rescue a boy from a gang of violent, anti-gay thugs who attacked a Pride march in Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv.
Warning: Some people may find the contents of this article distressing.
Around 2,000 people turned up to take part in Kharkiv Pride on Sunday, September 15, facing opposition from around 500 ultra-nationalist counter-protesters.
There were outbreaks of violence around the event, with a video capturing an attack on two rainbow-clad teenagers in Kharkiv’s Shevchenko Park.
A gang of far-right thugs pursues one of the teens, repeatedly punching and kicking them as he attempts to escape.
When the boy falls to the ground, members of the mob stomp on and kick him until another man intervenes, pulling the teen up and helping him move away.
Photographer pulled teen away from anti-gay mob.
According to PetaPixel, the person to rescue the teen was Reuters photographer Gleb Garanich.
Fellow photographer Andrew Kravchenko, who witnessed the encounter, said in a Facebook post: “This boy was very lucky to have Garanich near him and saved him, at least, from serious harm.
“He calmly confronted a bunch of extremely aggressive people and then continued to do his job. In short, Garanich – you’re a real man!”
Garnich, who photographed during the country’s revolution in 2014, told PetaPixel he intervened “because there was a serious threat to [the teenager’s] life.”
One man has been charged with hooliganism over the events in Shevchenko Park, according to Kharkiv police.
17 people arrested over violence at Pride.
The Pride event drew other clashes between anti-gay activists, marchers and police.
Two police officers were treated for exposure to tear gas deployed by the anti-LGBT activists, according to RadioFreeEurope, and 17 people were arrested.
One teen was charged with hooliganism for throwing rocks at people.
In June, Ukraine’s largest ever Pride march took place in Kiev, but it also faced huge opposition from far-right protesters.
Nine men were arrested before the June 22 march on suspicion of planning to disrupt the event, but there was no sign of violence despite the presence of approximately 1,000 protesters who shouted “Shame!” as the procession began.
