Kateryna Handzyuk: Ukrainian anti-corruption activist dies after acid attack

Prominent campaigner against police corruption was left with burns covering 40 per cent of her body

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An anti-corruption activist in Ukraine has died three months after she was severely injured in an acid attack.

Kateryna Handzyuk was a member of the Kherson city council and a prominent campaigner against police corruption and Russian-backed separatism.

In July the 33-year-old was attacked with sulphuric acid which left her with burns covering 40 per cent of her body.

She had remained in hospital since the attack and had undergone 11 operations in total.

From hospital she continued to post videos on social media calling for protests against corruption.

“I know I look bad now. But at least I’m being treated,” she said in a video that was taken from her hospital bed.

“And I definitely know that I look much better than justice in Ukraine. Because nobody is treating it.”

The exact cause of Ms Handzuk’s death is not known but local media suggests it was due to a blood clot.

Initially the attack was listed as “hooliganism” but after public outrage the case was changed to “attempted murder”.

Five people have been arrested and remain in custody in connection with the attack.

Judith Gough, the British ambassador to Ukraine, took to social media to pay her respects.

“Terribly saddened to hear that Kateryna Handzyuk has died. She battled her horrific injuries with courage and dignity. Important that those responsible for this dreadful attack are held to account,” she tweeted.

Oksana Pokalchuk, Amnesty International’s Ukraine director, described Ms Handzyuk as a “fearless civil society activist”.

“The killing of Kateryna Handzyuk is the latest in a series of brutal attacks against civil society activists in Ukraine over the last year for which only a handful of actual perpetrators have been arrested and none of the people who ordered the attacks identified,” Ms Pokalchuk said.

“The authorities have so far chosen to focus on a few individual cases and ignored the wider pattern and numerous specific instances, but this must now change.

“It is vital that Kateryna Handzyuk’s legacy should not be her work alone, but that her death should mark a line in the sand whereby the authorities ensure that anyone who harasses, intimidates or assaults civil society activists is brought to justice.”

There has been an increasing number of attacks on anti-corruption campaigners in Ukraine with 55 unsolved attacks on activists since the start of 2017.

In September activist Oleg Mikhaylik was shot in the chest by an unidentified assailant in the city of Odessa.

Mr Mikhaylik was left in a critical condition and had spent the day of the shooting protesting against illegal construction on the Lanzheron beach.

In October, a politician, Sergiy Gusovsky, was doused with an antiseptic liquid and beaten inside Kiev City Council.

Mr Gusovsky had been publicly speaking out against various investment agreements.