The ambassadors of a number of European countries visited former Ukrainian Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko, currently the leader of the Third Ukrainian Republic movement, at a clinic, where he is recovering after suffering injuries in a clash with members of the Berkut special riot police task force near the Sviatoshyn district police department in Kyiv on Jan. 11.
The Third Ukrainian Republic reported on its website that Lutsenko was visited by U.S. Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt, German Ambassador Christof Weil, head of the European Union Delegation to Ukraine Jan Tombinski, and Swedish Ambassador Andreas von Beckerath.
The diplomats were interested to know not only about Lutsenko’s health but also the events near the Sviatoshyn district police department in the early hours of January 11, in which the ex-minister and other protesters were beaten by police. They also addressed the latest socio-political events in Ukraine in general, it said.
Lutsenko told the diplomats that he felt slightly better, as he was receiving all the necessary treatment. “Surely, my head aches from time to time. I felt all symptoms of concussion,” he said.
The diplomats gave Lutsenko flowers, and the U.S. ambassador, “knowing that Lutsenko likes to read, gave him several books in English, namely Mario Puzo’s [sic!] ‘The Family Corleone’ and Jake Tapper’s ‘The Outpost’,” it said.
Lutsenko said he would start reading as soon as his doctors allow him, as he has been discouraged from using mobile gadgets, watching TV, and reading for the time being.
The EU Delegation to Ukraine said on its Facebook account on Tuesday: “The Ambassadors of the European Union, the United States of America, Sweden and Germany have visited Yuriy Lutsenko in the hospital today. The current situation and recent developments in Ukraine were discussed. The Ambassadors wished Yuriy Lutsenko fast recovery.”
On January 10, the Kyiv-Sviatoshyn District Court found Ihor Mosiychuk, Volodymyr Shpara and Serhiy Bevz guilty of planning to blow up a monument to Vladimir Lenin in Boryspil during the Independence Day celebrations in 2011 and sentenced them to six years in prison each. Activists tried to block a prison van carrying the convicts. Clashes between Berkut members and the protesters were reported.
Activists later blocked buses with Berkut officers near the Svyatoshyn district police department. The activists demanded that law enforcement remove their masks and show their faces. Ex-Interior Minister Lutsenko sustained injuries in attempting to prevent clashes between the protesters and the security forces and was hospitalized.
