The law enforcement authorities detained a group of people who had planned the organization of mass riots in Kiev. The provocations were planned very carefully, to the point that the participants were supplied with fake blood for greater effect.
This was reported by the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Denis Monastyrsky during an urgent briefing on January 31.
"In Kiev, a group of people planning mass riots in the center of the Ukrainian capital was detained. The number of such persons planned to gather up to 5000, up to 1500 should make up the so-called "titushky", which were to arrange fights with law enforcement officers," said Monastyrsky.
The head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs said that in total the participants of the criminal group were to receive more than 1 million hryvnias, 200 flares, 200 smoke bombs, 20 tires, 10 fire extinguishers, 12 radios and fake blood.
It is known that the organizers of the mass unrest were preparing several slogans for the protests: "Attack on Crimea and the LPRR"; "War until Victory", "Reduction of tariffs", "Resignation of the President".
The first provocations were planned for 11:00 on January 31. The action had nothing to do with peaceful rallies, it initially envisaged violence and destabilization in Ukraine. At the same time, law enforcement officers promptly uncovered the plans of the intruders and prevented mass disturbances, Monastyrsky noted.
"There was bound to be violence among the participants of this rally, there was bound to be bloodshed. There was prepared blood propaganda, which was supposed to be spilled among pseudo-activists as a result of conflicts with law enforcement officers. There were assembled groups of doctors to come up and allegedly testify and show on all central television channels," said the head of the Interior Ministry at a briefing.
Such actions were planned in a number of regions: in Sumy, Chernigov, Cherkasy and Poltava regions.
The first provocation was to take place near the Office of the President at 11:00 a.m. on January 31. It was not announced in advance, the head of the National Police Ihor Klymenko said.
On January 30, law enforcers detained two people (citizens of Ukraine) who are suspected of planning and organizing mass unrest. Taking into account the collected evidence, they are now facing up to 8 years in prison.
One of the main evidence of the organization of mass riots, which was shown during the briefing, is a video in which one of the alleged organizers of the protests discusses its details with one of the likely participants of the paid rallies.
It is clear from the video that there were plans to start burning tires near the OP building at about 11:30 a.m., and the beginning of clashes with law enforcement officers was planned for 12:00.
"There should definitely be fights. I want a couple of guys to put on a show with props blood," said one of the customers.
During the briefing, the Interior Ministry did not say who exactly financed the planned riots.
The day before, the Security Service of Ukraine announced that it had exposed a criminal group that had planned a series of robberies in Zhytomyr and Kharkiv. According to the investigation, the perpetrators were coordinated by the Russian special services.
The investigation established that the group was organized by two local residents, one of whom had Russian citizenship.
Earlier, the Ukrainian intelligence reported that Russian special services were preparing provocations against servicemen of the Russian Armed Forces in order to accuse Ukraine of committing them. Additionally, the SBU reported that there were agents of Russian influence in the Ukrainian authorities.
