By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Kiev : A Ukrainian child rights activist has asked the Russian president for political asylum following an assassination attempt against him at home.
Mykola Kozhushko, head of the Dnepropetrovsk-based NGO Pomozhem Detyam (Help Children), claims he has been targeted after blowing the whistle on criminals involved in fraud schemes with apartments allotted for orphans.
“I’ve appealed to the Russian president with a letter asking for political asylum in Russia,” Kozhushko told Radio Liberty.
Kozhushko said he left Ukraine after he was attacked by unidentified people at a Dnepropetrovsk hospital earlier this month.
As a Ukrainian citizen, he is eligible to stay in Russia for three months. The Kremlin has not responded to the appeal yet.
Ukrainian prosecutors have opened a criminal case on the attempted assassination.