The head of the Ukraine's national television broadcaster has been violently attacked by members of the country's parliament, according to a video posted on YouTube

A group of members of Ukraine’s far-right nationalist party Svoboda, including MPs, invaded the office of NTU director general Alexander Panteleymonov yesterday evening.

The men are seen to manhandle and strike Panteleymonov while shouting at him to write a letter of resignation. He was later reportedly bundled into a car and driven away, before being released.

The European Broadcasting Union has condemned the attack, saying in a statement

On behalf of the EBU and all the public service broadcasters of Europe, we condemn this vicious attack on the director general of NTU. Such actions are totally unacceptable, and we call on the Ukrainian authorities to react swiftly and resolutely. Independent public service media and freedom of expression are indispensable to a proper democracy.

NTU switched off its signals for one minute to protest against the attack.