ON TUESDAY March 29 the Morning Star reported that a Ukrainian trade unionist, Yuriy Bobchenko, had been detained following a raid on his home in Krivoy Rog.
We understand from his union, the Trade Union of Metallurgists and Miners of Ukraine, that this report was false, and as soon as we were alerted to their concerns we removed it from our website. The union assures us that Mr Bobchenko is safe and well.

Having received a report from local sources about the raid and Mr Bobchenko’s disappearance, we ran the story quickly in good faith in the hope that publicity would help assure his safety, while attempting contact with Mr Bobchenko himself unsuccessfully. Given the possible threat to anyone detained by security forces in a warzone and a context in which the Ukrainian government has closed opposition parties and arrested leftwingers, such as the Communist Youth activists Mikhail and Alexander Kononovich, our priority was the safety of all concerned.

Greater effort should have been made to confirm the report with his union, and we have written to the union and to Mr Bobchenko with our apologies for this.

We would also like to apologise to our readers for the confusion caused.