Following our blockbuster story and viral video from yesterday, here's more evidence of a nasty right-wing thug problem in Odessa.

REUTERS, Sept 30. KIEV. A Ukrainian MP from a pro-Russian party has been bashed by a mob during an election campaign.

Nestor Shufrich, a critic of Kiev's military campaign against pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine, was left with ripped clothing and a bleeding face as he attempted to give a statement to the media in the main regional building of Odessa.

Mr Shufrich was in the Black Sea port to campaign on behalf of an opposition bloc running against pro-Western and Ukrainian nationalist parties in the October 26 elections.

The crowd of about 20 activists, many wearing masks and armbands of the right-wing nationalist Right Sector group, dragged Mr Shufrich away from his bodyguards amidst continuous blows to the face and screams of "Putin's bitch!" and "Let's finish the scum off!"

Video footage showed a man pinching Mr Shufrich by the nose as bodyguards attempted to make space to lead him away.

The guards fired in the air to disperse the group but they themselves were pushed back, and Mr Shufrich was struck twice in the face as he attempted to enter his van.

The 47-year-old said his attackers had threatened to seize him and throw him into a bin, much like Vitaly Zhuravsky, a fellow prominent Regions Party deputy who underwent the same treatment earlier this month.

Tensions have run high between pro-Russian activists and supporters of Ukrainian unity in the city of Odessa, since a building was set on fire in May causing the death of over 40 people.

Odessa lies on the coast to the west of Crimea, Ukraine's Black Sea peninsula which Russian president Vladimir Putin annexed in March after the overthrow of his ally Mr Yanukovych.

Mr Shufrich was a loyal supporter of the Moscow-backed Mr Yanukovych, who was ousted in February after turning his back on the long awaited signing of a political and trade pact with the EU, aiming to form closer ties with Russia.

He has vowed to return to Odessa, saying: "We will not leave people face to face with this lawlessness."

A fragile ceasefire is now in force in eastern Ukraine.