Political terror rises in Ukraine: Russian diplomat

A Russian diplomat warned on Friday that a dangerous wave of political terror is rising in Ukraine, urging the West not to continue turning a blind eye to the practice of human rights infringement by Kiev.

"The United States and the European Union, which are in pursuit of their narrow political interests, should stop freeing the Kiev authorities from blame and force them to meet their human rights commitments," Konstantin Dolgov, the Russian Foreign Ministry's ombudsman for human rights, democracy and the rule of law, was quoted as saying by the TASS news agency.

Dolgov commented on several what he called recent "political killings" in Ukraine, including the killing of Ukrainian journalist Oles Buzina.

"He (Buzina) was an open and honest person and a true patriot of his country," he said.

"A dangerous wave of political terror is rising in Ukraine accompanied by a rapid media campaign of defaming those who dare to express different opinions with the authorities stance," Dolgov said.

"If continued, the political terror may further split the country...and in turn may result in nothing else but deepen the destabilization of the situation in fragile Ukraine," he said.

Buzina, 45, was shot dead Thursday by unknown gunmen near his house in central Kiev. He worked as the editor-in-chief at Ukraine's Segodnya newspaper before March this year and was known for his criticism of the current government. Endi