Police detained group of people who were planning mass riots - Monastyrsky

According to Ukrinform, Ukrainian Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky said this at a briefing on Monday, January 31.

"A group of people who were planning mass riots in the center of Kyiv was detained yesterday. There were plans to gather up to 5,000 [participants in the riots], including up to 1,500 thugs who were to arrange fights with law enforcement officers," Monastyrsky said.

According to the minister, the detainees were planning a rally with provocations, violence and bloodshed. "Moreover, fake blood was procured, which was to be shed among 'activists' as a result of conflicts with law enforcement officers," he said.

According to Monastyrsky, a group of people planned to stage rallies in Kyiv and a number of other cities to destabilize the situation in the country.

"This had to be only the first planned rally [in Kyiv] out of a number of them, and it was clearly recorded on video and audio. [...] Rallies were to be held in a number of cities in central Ukraine, including the Sumy, Chernihiv, Poltava and Cherkasy regions. That is, these are the regions located one and a half hours drive from Kyiv and [near] our northern border with the Russian Federation," Monastyrsky said.

"Unfortunately, the phenomenon of paid rallies is quite frequent, and this is not the first rally that was paid for, but this rally was aimed at destabilizing the domestic political situation and committing violence against law enforcement and other people participating in the rally," Monastyrsky added.

The head of the National Police, Ihor Klymenko, clarified that the organizers planned to hold rallies in regional centers in February. "Such an event was planned more than once. In February, there were orders for four more such rallies in the regional centers of our state," he said, adding that the organizer and his assistant were detained on Sunday, January 30.

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