This video was posted to YouTube today from a previously unknown account, and immediately became a disturbing icon of the worsening standoff.
View this video on YouTube
Some officers wear camoflage of Ukraine's "Berkut" police division; the naked man, who also appears bruised, has a "Cossack" haircut typical of militant right-wing, nationalistic protesters. The location appears to be in Kiev:
@shaunwalker7 if you find out, pls tell me too. it looks like it's Hrushevskogo, right outside Cabinet building, but not 100 percent sure
Uniformed officers film the man, naked but for his socks, in the snow.
He's then forced to hold an axe-like tool.
One officer can be seen hitting him in the back of the head.
Bruises appear visible on the man's back as he is loaded into a van.
For the Guardian's Moscow bureau chief, the scene evoked the most famous images of torture from Iraq.
Ukrainian riot police appear to strip protester naked in freezing cold and take trophy shots. https://t.co/OBQLOoS9mr shades of abu ghraib.