posted January 14, 2014 05:24 PM            

"It is a shame to beat women on the head," the crowd chanted. "Zakharchenko is an executor. He should resign," others cried, referring to the interior minister, Vitaly Zakharchenko – reviled by the opposition activists who for the past month have led hundreds thousands of Ukrainians in protest against the Russian-allied government.

Chernovil, 34, has been badly disfigured by the assault . Her colleagues at the Ukrainskaya Pravda newspaper recount Chernovil's description of how her attackers chased her before beating her up in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Chernovil told police she was driving home when she noticed she was being followed by a dark SUV, which then forced her off the road. Several men jumped out and smashed her rear window, dragged her from the car, beat her and abandoned her in a ditch, a police statement said.

"It is scary and very sad to see what they have done to Tetyana," Chernovil's friend and colleague Maria Lebedeva told the Guardian.

Chernovil was known for her investigations and protests against alleged corruption among senior state officials, including Zakharchenko.