His ultra-violent assault at the start of the year in Paris had aroused a national stir.
The teenager Yuriy spoke publicly Tuesday night for the first time by assuring that he was "not part of a gang".
The schoolboy was taken to hospital in serious condition after being severely beaten on the evening of January 15, while he was with friends on the slab of Beaugrenelle, the roof of a shopping center in the 15th arrondissement of the capital.
His assault, documented on video, has been largely attributed to a settling of accounts between rival gangs.
READ ALSO>
"
I lick his blood
"
: revelations on the barbaric lynching of Yuriy
"I would say that I'm not part of a gang, it's just a group of friends who are on this slab, we have fun, we play football sometimes, no it's not a story of bands, ”Yuriy said during an interview with host Cyril Hanouna broadcast Tuesday night on C8.
"I'm not part of a gang but of a group of friends"
After his beating in mid-January in Paris, #Yuriy comes out of silence for #TPMP!
pic.twitter.com/Dnnr4qPZPX
- TPMP (@TPMP) March 9, 2021
"I felt the fear of death"
"I was living my life, it often happened to me to be on this slab, I did not feel in danger", he added by affirming not to know his attackers and by wishing "to return to the life of before ".
"I felt the fear of death, because what happened to me was not nothing and I saw the reactions around me (...) the open skull, the blood everywhere", described the teenager with long hair. , who still has a scar on his forehead, referring to the injuries he suffered in January.
The broadcast on social networks on January 22 of twenty seconds of images of his attack had aroused many reactions, both from President Emmanuel Macron and from footballer Antoine Griezmann.
An ongoing investigation
Eleven young people were indicted in this case, in particular for "attempted murder" or "participation in a criminal association".
Most of them are minors and live in Vanves (Hauts-de-Seine), south of Paris.
Morning essentials newsletter
A tour of the news to start the day
Subscribe to the newsletterAll newsletters
This affair shone the spotlight on the phenomenon of violent brawls and rivalries between gangs of young people, which have been increasing since then, especially in the Paris region.
On Monday, a 14-year-old was seriously injured in Essonne, where two college students had already been fatally stabbed in February.
This Tuesday evening, five people were injured, including one seriously, in the 16th arrondissement of Paris during a new brawl between young people involving minors.
The Paris prosecutor's office said it had opened an investigation for attempted voluntary homicide, entrusted to the territorial security.