Accusation of torture of opposition leaders in the Ukraine

Set free in the snowy woods outside Kiev after being tortured for hours, Ukrainian opposition activist Ihor Lutsenko considers himself lucky. His fellow protester, Yuri Verbitsky, froze to death, unable to move when he was dumped a few kilometers away.

“I was praying because I thought it was my last moment,” Lutsenko, 35, said by Skype from his hospital bed in the capital on Jan. 29, eight days after the attack.

As demonstrations aimed at ousting Russia-backed President Viktor Yanukovych have spread, so has the brutality of the response, stiffening his opponents’ resolve and deepening the standoff. Protest groups say seven activists have died and 26 have been missing since Jan. 16, when Yanukovych pushed through a series of anti-protest laws that rekindled unrest. Officials deny acting illegally and accuse the opposition of falsifying claims to win public support -- a position dismissed by the U.S. and the European Union.

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http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-02-05/torture-stokes-fear-and-resolve-as-ukraine-standoff-intensifies