Opposition party now questioned over Makiyivka bombs

Worrying claims that the Makiyivka bombs, according to the SBU aimed at extorting money, are now being used by the police as a pretext for interrogating members of the right-wing Svoboda Party.

According to the Kharkiv Regional branch of VO Svoboda, the head of the Izyum branch of the party, Artyom Zayika, says that he and some other activists have been questioned over the recent explosions at Makiyivka in the Donetsk region.

Mr Zayika asserts that during the questioning, the police officers tried to obtain “closed information about the party branch” and believes that this indicates that they are beginning to “tighten the screws”. 

Members of “Svoboda” have demanded an explanation from the Head of Police for the Kharkiv Region and that the police are told to stop trying to ferret out confidential information under the pretext of an investigation into the events at Makiyivka.  

On 20 January there were two explosions in Makiyivka – near a shopping centre and near the main entrance to the administrative offices of the State enterprise Makiyivvuhillya [Makiyivka Coal]. Nobody was injured. A note was found near one of the explosions demanding a huge amount of money “from people who are well-known in Makiyivka”.  The letter threatened that there would be 5 more explosions if the demands were not met. The Security Service [SBU] in the Donetsk region initiated a criminal investigation and is looking for two people.