Lenin between Berkut and Provocateurs
The two worst confrontations on Sunday during the mass demonstration in Kyiv involved young men wearing masks. It is known that Dmytry Korchynsky with a long track record of provocation and his people were involved in the run-in with Berkut riot police outside the President’s Administration. It is not clear who was behind the attempts to destroy the statue to Lenin on Taras Shevchenko Boulevard, but it seems just as likely that the purpose was to cause trouble.
Ukrainska Pravda writes that around 150 people in black masks tried to destroy the statue, chanting “Away with the gang”. They threw fireworks and sound grenades at the Berkut officers. The latter briefly disappeared and then came back with reinforcements.
The police report that 8 officers were injured, one seriously, and yet they say that they made no arrests. Later on Sunday evening, the VO Svoboda party reported that one of their people, a Rivne deputy Oleksandr Solonenko was detained and a court appearance to decide on a preventive measure is due on Monday. Once again a VO Svoboda activist has been detained, although it is quite unclear who the masked attackers were.