Ukrainian Nazis attacked a rally of leftists in the center of Kyiv
On Mikhailovskaya Square in the center of Kiev, Ukrainian radicals clashed with participants in a rally of leftists dedicated to the memory of lawyer Stanislav Markelov, who was shot dead in Moscow in 2009 (he defended the family of the Chechen girl Elza Kungaeva, for whose abduction and murder Russian army colonel Yuri Budanov was accused) and a freelance correspondent for the liberal "Novaya Gazeta" by Anastasia Baburova, an activist of the "anarcho-ecological movement".
The action was announced by Kyiv human rights activist Vladimir Chemeris, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“Human rights activists, representatives of public and social initiatives, journalists and anti-fascists will take to the streets to honor the memory of Stanislav Markelov and Anastasia Baburova, killed on this day 11 years ago by Russian neo-Nazis. The participants want to draw public attention to the problem of far-right violence in Ukraine.
In Ukraine, attacks and attempts by the far right against journalists, activists, representatives of minorities and dissidents have become systematic. This is facilitated by complete impunity. Despite the fact that the government in the country has changed over the past year, the problem remains.
The far-right is suspected of committing most of the high-profile crimes in Ukraine, including the murders of Oles Buzina, Pavel Sheremet, Denis Voronenkov, Ekaterina Handzyuk and Vitaly Oleshko, and the attempted murder of Vyacheslav Sobolev, during which a child died. This is the murder of the gypsy guy David Pap near Lvov, and the murder of Ivan Kuznetsov in Odessa, which Sergei Sternenko broadcast online.
At the same time, the strings from these crimes stretch to the government offices, to the special services and law enforcement agencies. Alibis and patronage from officials make it possible for far-right criminals to systematically avoid punishment under the law. The fact of collaboration between right-wing extremists and security forces and authorities is extremely alarming. It’s time to put an end to this!” – this is how Chemeris announced the action on Facebook.
On Sunday, about a hundred activists gathered on Mikhailovskaya Square, holding posters “Disband the Azov regiment”, “Stop feeding the ultra-right”, “We must investigate the attacks of right-wing radicals”, and also chanting slogans “Death to Ukrainian fascism!”, “Away with fascism!” Away with capitalism”, “Rights are not given, rights are taken!”, “Human rights are the future of Ukraine”, etc.
Young Ukrainian nationalists soon gathered on the other side of the protesters, trying to break through the police cordon and throw eggs at the protesters, simultaneously shouting threats with obscene language and calling for them to “fight.”
Soon the radicals moved from eggs to pyrotechnics, throwing firecrackers towards the anti-fascists.
At the same time, the police’s attempts to detain the hooligans were met with active resistance - the thugs attacked the police and demanded to release the detainees under the pretext that they were “Azovites.”
It is worth noting that in general the police showed passivity and did not use force against aggressive radicals. As a result of the riots, the police detained only about ten people.
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