Valid Arfush, head of the NGO SOS Racism, gave an interview published in the July 1, 2008 edition of the Kiev newspaper "Stolichnye Novosti" in which he described an increasingly dangerous amount of violent racism in Ukraine. The interview followed up on a press conference that he gave, along with other minority activists. He confirmed UCSJ's findings that the number of racist attacks have noticeably increased in recent years (he dates it from 2005). Mr. Arfush criticized the head of the newly created unit aimed at combating racism within the SBU (the former KGB) for refusing to differentiate between neo-Nazis and anti-fascists. Mr. Arfush called for him to be fired, arguing that his attitude shows that too many officials see "racism as a normal phenomenon." He accused police officials of being people who "on the inside don't think that all people are equal" and therefore see nothing particularly threatening about racism and racist violence. Mr. Arfush especially criticized Gennady Moskal, a member of the parliament, for arguing that the reason why racist violence has increased in Ukraine is because of the anti-Georgian roundups conducted in Russia, which led to "these bandits" (in Mr. Moskal's words) deciding to move to Ukraine. Recently, another parliamentarian (from the Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc) allegedly said on the floor of the Rada that when he buys fruit and vegetables from Azeris or Georgians, he gets so disgusted that he loses his appetite.

Mr. Arfush gave shocking details of a previously unreported murder that may have been a hate crime. On May 29, a disabled Congolese man was dragged from his wheelchair and stabbed to death in front of numerous witnesses, none of whom helped the victim. He did not state where this attack took place, but he added that he is working with Rada deputy Anna German on a bill stiffening penalties for hate crimes and hate speech, including a provision that would lead to officials losing their jobs if they publicly make racist statements. Adding an epilogue to a case that UCSJ followed, he revealed that a Kirovograd high school teacher who incited his pupils to attack Jews and was given a suspended sentence by a court for violating Ukraine's hate speech laws nevertheless continues to teach at the same school.

Responding to the interviewer's assertion that foreigners often travel in groups for safety while in Ukraine, Mr. Arfush confirmed that information and shared an anecdote about an African man whose work ends at midnight, but who chooses to sleep at work rather than risk going outside at night to go home to his wife and children. As for his own safety, he reported that in the 17 years he has lived in Ukraine, he never had problems until 2005, when he was confronted by racist insults on the streets of Kiev. His own children attend Ukrainian schools and have so far not encountered racism, but he knows several blacks and Jews in their 20s who claim to have suffered racism and antisemitism in school.

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