RFE/RLSun, 10 Mar 2019 16:55 UTC
© RFE/RL
Police and far-right demonstrators have clashed outside the presidential administration building in the Ukrainian capital and in at least one other city.
The far-right activists had gathered in Kyiv on March 9 to call for arrests of figures linked to an alleged military corruption scandal.
A media investigation last week detailed purported
embezzlement schemes in Ukraine's military industry, including the involvement of a factory controlled by President Petro Poroshenko.Video showed demonstrators trying to break through police lines, shoving officers and setting off fireworks. Police used tear gas to turn them back.
In a statement, police said one officer was hospitalized with chemical burns to his eyes.
Police said 15 officers were injured in clashes in the city of Cherkasy, about 150 kilometers southeast of Kyiv and the site of a campaign speech by Poroshenko for the March 31 presidential election.
The investigation on media outlet Bihus. Info's program Nashi Hroshi alleged that Ihor Hladkovskyy, the son of close Poroshenko ally Oleh Hladkovskyy, who is deputy secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, organized a ring to smuggle
spare military-equipment parts from Russia in 2015, a year after Moscow seized Ukraine's Crimea region and threw its support behind militant separatists in the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.
The report alleged that state defense facilities purchased the smuggled spare parts from private companies linked to Ihor Hladkovskyy and his friends at highly inflated prices.It claimed that
Ukroboronprom, the state concern that supervises defense industry production facilities, knew the origin of the smuggled parts but agreed to buy them.The report also alleged that Ihor Hladkovskyy and his two associates illegally
earned at least 250 million hryvnyas ($9.2 million) by smuggling the items from Russia through three major private firms, one of which belonged to Poroshenko at the time.A day after
the investigative report was broadcast on YouTube on February 25, Poroshenko suspended Oleh Hladkovskyy from his post and two days later announced that a probe had been launched into the allegations. On March 4, Poroshenko fired Hladkovskyy.
The election
comes amid persistent economic challenges in the country and an ongoing war in eastern Ukraine against Russia-backed separatists.
The latest survey conducted by the nongovernmental Rating Groups showed that 41-year-old comedian Volodymyr Zelenskyy leads the election race with the support of 25.1 percent of voters. Poroshenko had 16.6 percent support, followed by former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko with 16.2 percent.
Comment: This is quite a turn of events because the far-right, neo-Nazi's, media, police and the military in Ukraine are known to be working together. It also comes on the heels of reports that an army battalion
murdered its commander who manipulated them into committing war crimes all for a disgraceful publicity stunt, And so it seems, let the infighting begin:
UPDATE: 11th March 2019 at 11:30
RT
provides more information on the protest and most tellingly those affiliated with the 2014 coup which brought him to power were demanding the removal of those involved in the scandal within the next 7 days. However the report hints that this may be unlikely due to the close relationship Poroshenko has with those involved. It appears the fliers with the demands on featured a pig:
Ukrainian radicals clash with police outside Poroshenko's office, give ultimatum to president
© SputnikClashes between radicals and police outside the president's office in Kiev.
Masked men tried to storm the Ukrainian president's office, prompting police to use tear gas against them. The radicals promised to sabotage Petro Poroshenko's re-election and ramp up street violence if their demands aren't met.
Extreme nationalists were the driving force in the 2014 coup that brought Poroshenko to power in Ukraine, but now - with three weeks remaining before the vote - they may become actors in his political demise.
Several thousand masked men, dressed in the paramilitary gear affiliated with neo-Nazi vigilantes Batallion Azov, marched from Maidan (meaning 'Independence') Square in central Kiev to the presidential administration on Saturday. When in situ, they tried breaking through the police cordon to get into the building. The radicals threw stones and flares at the law enforcers, who responded with tear gas and batons to push the attackers back.
Around 700 officers had been keeping order in the center of the Ukrainian capital on the day, according to the police. The organizers of the attempted action announced that some 4,000 people took part in the protest and the Ukrainian media reckons this estimate is about right.
The protesters came from groups loyal to nationalist leader and Ukrainian parliament member Andrey Biletsky, commander of the infamous neo-Nazi Azov battalion, which took part in the fighting in Eastern Ukraine on Kiev's side; he is also the head of the far-right National Corps party.
Before the clashes broke out, the radicals were gluing stickers with their demands on the riot shields and helmets of the police officers. What they want from Poroshenko is punishment for those involved in a massive fraud at UkrOboronProm, a state concern that manages the country's military-industrial complex.
A recent media report blamed the first deputy head of Ukraine's National Security Council, Oleg Gladkovsky, and his son, of using fake firms to sell spare parts to Ukrainian arms makers at up to three times the accepted prices.
"You have one week," the radicals chanted, meaning that in seven days the two must be put behind bars. If this doesn't happen, Biletsky has promised to target all of Poroshenko's campaign rallies in the run up to the election on March 31.
Poroshenko, who is running for a second term, faces a challenge given his low approval rating. A survey by pollster Sofia earlier this week revealed that he was supported by just over 13 percent of the population, trailing both of his main rivals - comedian Vladimir Zelensky (20.3 percent) and ex-PM Yulia Tymoshenko (13.9 percent).
Poroshenko had already removed Gladkovsky from his position at the Security Council, but he's unlikely to take any further steps, due to the former deputy head reportedly being his closest ally and friend.
Poroshenko was not in Kiev during the assault on his office and had gone to Cherkasy, in central Ukraine, where he was to speak at a rally. There, a group of nationalists clashed with police after chanting anti-Poroshenko slogans during the event.
The president was evacuated from the rally in a car, according to witnesses. 15 officers protecting him were injured in the scuffles, the Interior Ministry said, in a statement.
RFE/RL
reports that the protesters attempted to attack the Poroshenko's motorcade and that 22 police were injured. In the picture below you will see the fliers featured earlier. It looks like time is running out for Porky:
Ukrainian Police: 22 Officers Hospitalized After Clashes With Far-Right Activists Clashes in Kyiv on March 9
Police in Ukraine say that 22 officers were injured in clashes with far-right protesters who tried to attack a presidential motorcade ahead of this month's election.
Police said in a statement on March 10 that 19 officers were hospitalized the previous day in the city of Cherkasy, where supporters of the National Corps party tried to block President Petro Poroshenko's motorcade and called for arrests of figures linked to an alleged military corruption scandal.
The clashes in Cherkasy erupted after Poroshenko made a speech for the March 31 presidential polls.
Police said that two law enforcement officers were also injured in clashes with National Corps activists near the presidential offices in Kyiv, with one hospitalized.
Criminal investigations have been opened into the violence in both Kyiv and Cherkasy, about 150 kilometers southeast of the capital, police said.
After the report was broadcast on YouTube on February 25, Poroshenko announced that a probe has been launched into the allegations.
Comment: This is quite a turn of events because the far-right, neo-Nazi's, media, police and the military in Ukraine are known to be working together. It also comes on the heels of reports that an army battalion murdered its commander who manipulated them into committing war crimes all for a disgraceful publicity stunt, And so it seems, let the infighting begin:
RT provides more information on the protest and most tellingly those affiliated with the 2014 coup which brought him to power were demanding the removal of those involved in the scandal within the next 7 days. However the report hints that this may be unlikely due to the close relationship Poroshenko has with those involved. It appears the fliers with the demands on featured a pig: