Interior Minister Vitaliy Zakharchenko reported to parliament on the May 18 clashes at rallies in Kyiv and promised the attack on two journalists and other incidents would be investigated. Opposition politicians, however, believe the blame will unjustly fall on them.
“The
investigation is underway according to the article 171 part 1 (of the
Criminal code) – interfering with professional journalist activity and
article 296 part 2 – hooliganism … The suspect has been detained and we
are preparing documents for the court regarding his arrest,” the
minister said.
The
suspect in question is Vadim Titushko from Kyiv Oblast, who was
photographed assaulting the journalists on May 18 while competing
opposition and pro-government rallies were taking place in Kyiv. In a
leaked video on May 20, Titushko said he did not attack the journalist,
Olha Snisarchuk from Channel 5, but tried to “shield her from the crowd
so she wouldn’t get kicked.”
Titushko
goes on to say he was hired by the opposition as an enforcer at the
rally. His job, he says, was to watch the tail-end of the opposition’s
march from European Square to Sofiyska Square and that he was promised a
pay of Hr 250.
Prior
to the video, Titushko was recognised by the media and activists as a
professional fighter who worked as a hitman during various controversial
mass events, including raider attacks. According to the media reports,
Titushko is training in the fight club owned by one of the members of
the Party of Regions.
In
his speech in parliament Zakharchenko also denied that police escorted
an armoured personnel carrier that was driving around the city centre on
May 18. According to him, the vehicle was part of the entourage of the
leaders of the opposition. “The leaders of opposition Oleksandr
Turchynov and Oleh Tiahnybok, in particular, have arrived to the rally
in vehicles, although the centre was shut down for traffic. Their cars
were followed by the military vehicle, with flags similar to flags of
the Batkivshchyna (party)… The police have made the decision to
confiscate the vehicle and lead it to the nearest police station,”
Zakharchenko said as the opposition jeered in protest.
Both Turchynov
and Tiahnybok denied they arrived to the city centre in cars and said
they have proof that the police were guarding the military vehicle which
was there to disrupt the opposition rally.
“We
have this on the video, everyone has seen that the military vehicle was
driving around the city centre for two hours and only when it attempted
to enter Sofiyska square, which was full of protesters, did the police
stop it. A policeman was also driving the vehicle,” Tiahnybok said.
“The
driver of the vehicle did not have a driver’s licence so the policeman
went in to drive the vehicle to the police station. Thats why the
policeman was in the vehicle,” Zakharchenko said. He added the vehicle is privately owned and that the owner was fined.
Photos
from the rally, however, suggest the Interior Minister explanation is
unlikely. For one, the armoured personnel carrier had a person in a
rabbit’s costume on it, likely a reference to opposition leader Arseniy
Yatseniuk, who critics derisively call a rabbit.
Kyiv Post staff writer Svitlana Tuchynska can be reached at [email protected]
