You're reading: Turchynov seeks inquiry into Communists’ possible links with rebels in southeastern Ukraine

Ukraine's acting president and Verkhovna Rada speaker, Oleksandr Turchynov, has asked the Justice Ministry to investigate whether or not the Ukrainian Communist Party has any connections with anti-Kyiv activists in the country's east. 

“I will forward my request to the Justice Ministry because there is a very large amount of information and materials concerning Ukrainian Communist Party representatives’ complicity in organizing terrorist and separatist activities. I would like to ask the Justice Ministry to investigate this issue, and, should evidence proving this be found, ask a court to ban the Communist Party in Ukraine,” Turchynov said at a parliamentary session on Tuesday, following a speech delivered by Communist Party of Ukraine leader Petro Symonenko.

Symonenko said during his speech that policemen who refused to fight against civilians were shot dead during the operation in Mariupol, Donetsk region.

Turchynov, for his part, dismissed Symonenko’s claims as “lies and incorrect information” and ordered Symonenko to leave the rostrum.

Batkivschyna MP and Kherson region administration head Yuriy Odarchenko later announced his plans to file a lawsuit against Symonenko.