23 March 2021, Tuesday, 18:04 142

Organizers Of Rally In Support Of Sternenko Near Presidential Office Plan To Turn It Into Mass Fights And Clashes - Deputy Interior Minister Heraschenko

Редактор: Daria Zubkova

Deputy Interior Minister Anton Heraschenko states that the organizers of the rally in support of Serhii Sternenko near the Presidential Office planned to turn it into mass fights and clashes.

He wrote about this on Facebook, Ukrainian News Agency reports.

“The rally near the Office of the President on March 20 was not planned as a peaceful action! The organizers of the action had planned it in advance with the expectation that it would turn into mass fights and clashes with law enforcement officers. Even the calls on social networks contained direct hints that the organizers are planning fights and violence. Police of dialogue officers were at the action and called on a handful of provocateurs to dialogue. But the attempts were in vain ... Because the task set by the organizers of the rally was completely different - violence and bloodshed! The more, the better!" he wrote.

Heraschenko said that that’s why the law enforcement officers backed down - in order to prevent large-scale violence.

“Thanks to this, not a single law enforcement officer or protester and even a provocateur was hurt. Not a drop of blood was spilled. Not a single bone was broken,” he said.

Heraschenko added that the windows, doors and signs at the Presidential Office will be replaced with new ones, the paint will be washed off.

According to him, in turn, the Ukrainian society will have a complete idea of why the organizers of the rally planned it in the dark with a huge amount of pre-purchased pyrotechnics, spray paint cans.

“The organizers of the provocation really did not like the previous action, which took place two weeks ago in the daytime and passed peacefully and calmly. They had to hide their faces in order to fight, to burn the eyes of law enforcement officers, to spray tear gas in their faces, to spit. All those provocateurs who set fire to doors, beat windows, called for hooligan actions - have been established and will be responsible for their actions," he wrote.

Law enforcers have already begun to serve them with procedural documents, the consequences of which will be responsibility - both criminal and administrative, and property, for the damage caused to national and state property.

"The proof that the rally under the Presidential Office on March 20 from the very beginning was planned not as a peaceful action, but as a fight with law enforcement officers for a picture for certain TV channels is in the video. And I thank all those participants of the March 20 rally who came to it as to peaceful protest! This is your constitutional right! And the Ministry of Internal Affairs will defend it! I am sure that the absolute majority of those who came on the evening of March 20 do not share the aggression and vandalism that occurred, and understand that your pure intentions were, unfortunately, used a handful of manipulators and provocateurs," he added.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, the police have notified one of organizers of the rally in support of activist Serhii Sternenko near the building of the Presidential Office of suspicion of hooliganism.