Two people have been injured during clashes between Ukrainian and Polish football fans in Independence Square (Maidan) in Kyiv, a Kyiv police spokesperson said on Aug. 20.
“An incident occurred between Ukrainian and Polish football fans in the capital’s central square: the young people hurled stones and firecrackers. The clash resulted in two being injured,” the spokesperson said.
Some 100 police officers have been deployed to provide public order and accompany foreign guests, the police said.
Police have already apprehended a Polish fan who had ostensibly provoked law enforcers, the spokesperson said.
“At around 5 p.m., a young man from a group of fans who have arrived from Poland for today’s football match tried to smash a video camera of one of the television cameramen. He was stopped by law enforcers in Maidan Square. The troublemaker is currently in custody,” the police spokesperson said.
According to a correspondent for the 112 television channel, riot police have separated the Polish and Ukrainian football fans in the square in an attempt to prevent further clashes.
The first match between Luhansk’s Zorya and Warsaw’s Legia for entry into the Europa League group tournament is due to be held in Kyiv on Thursday evening.
In 2014, during a football match between Poland’s Legia and Kharkiv’s Metalist in Lviv, fans of the Polish football club put up an anti-Ukrainian banner.
