Police in Odesa used force on Jan. 15 morning against participants of the rally in support of the captured Ukrainian sailor which took place on Jan. 15 morning near the Russian Consulate building. Two protesters were detained after throwing paint at the building.
According to the Odesa-based Dumskaya ezine, the protesters wanted to stain the fence and the gates of the diplomatic mission with red paint, symbolizing blood. Police did not allow them to do so. As a result, the paint spilled on the asphalt and on the protesters.
Two protesters were detained, including a former member of the Odessa Self-Defense Organization, Todor Panovsky. According to the ezine, he threw the first can of paint through the National Guard, the paint spilled on some of them. After that, the law enforcers twisted the activist and did not let him throw the second can, and then took him away. The remaining activists lit fires. They also brought with them three trays with eggs (10 pieces each), but they did not throw them away and took them with them.
One of the organizers of the rally Vitaliy Kozhukhar said the ezine that he was surprised by the reaction of the police.
“The action was planned to be purely peaceful, this paint is easily washed off. It’s unclear what was the point of using force,” he said.
About 30 activists took part in the protest.
As earlier reported, Moscow’s Lefortovo District Court on Jan. 15 held hearings on extending the pretrial detention of two dozen Ukrainian seamen taken prisoner by Russian border guards on November 25, 2018, near the Kerch Strait. Russian boats captured their Ukrainian naval vessels en route from Odesa to Mariupol near arrested the sailors and transported to Moscow. They are charged with illegal border crossing.
