Representatives of the Batkivschyna, UDAR, and Svoboda oppositional parties have come to Ternopil to participate in a rally as part of the Rise Ukraine! Campaign.
The public liaison department of the Interior Ministry of Ukraine told Interfax-Ukraine that around 1,500 people gathered for the rally.
“The rally has begun. Around 1,500 citizens are participating in it,” the police said and noted that the organizers of the campaign earlier promised to gather 15,000 people for the event.
The police also said that around 50 Ternopil policemen were maintaining public order at the rally.
Meanwhile, a posting on the Web site of the Batkivschyna party reads that around 10,000 people came to support the opposition at the rally in Ternopil.
The same report has been posted on the Web site of the Svoboda All-Ukrainian Association.
“The leader of the Svoboda All-Ukrainian Association, Oleh Tiahnybok, and the head of the Batkivschyna parliamentary faction, Arseniy Yatseniuk, took part in the event. The participants of the rally demand the elimination of the Ukrainophobic government of criminals and oligarchs led by [Ukrainian President Viktor] Yanukovych. Svoboda MPs Oleksiy Kaida, Oleh Syrotiuk, Mykhailo Holovko, Oleh Helevei, Valeriy Cherniakov, Ternopil Mayor and Svoboda member Serhiy Nadal, and oppositional deputies of local councils joined the rally. Some 10,000 compatriots marched through the streets of Ternopil,” reads the statement.
The opposition started a two-month nationwide campaign “Rise Ukraine!” on March 14, 2013 in Vinnytsia. For two months the opposition will hold rallies and protests in all regional centers of Ukraine. The final rally will take place in Kyiv.
