Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has urged the abandonment of political radicalism and ideological extremes.
"It is political extremism and radicalism that give rise to separatism and reinforce the destructive trends within society," he told the Council of Regions in Livadia on Friday.
Such conflicts hinder social development and pose a risk to stable life, he said.
"Today political radicalism puts our state’s modernization at direct risk of disruption, it is a path towards a social standoff and such political games can even lead to the country’s break-up," the president said.
Recently, Ukraine has encountered the problem of political radicalism and ideological extremes, he said, recalling the May 9 events in Lviv.
Russian Consul in Lviv Oleh Astakhov and other Russian diplomats were attacked while carrying a wreath they wished to lay at a memorial in a military cemetery on the Hill of Glory. The attackers wrenched the wreath from the diplomats and crushed it under their feet. Astakhov qualified the assault as an insult to his country.
War veterans and public activists who were present on the Hill of Glory that day complained that the alleged nationalists were tearing off St. George ribbons – Russian symbols of military valor – from their clothes and swearing at them.
May 9 is observed in Russia and other former Soviet republics as Victory Day, commemorating the Soviet victory over Nazi forces.
