Five suspects arrested in vandalism of Lenin monument

June 30 at 14:05 | Ukrainian News
Police have arrested five citizens on suspicion of damaging a monument to Vladimir Lenin near Bessarabska Square in Kyiv downtown.

Ukrainian News learned this from an official of the press service of the Kyiv city office of the Ministry of Interior Affairs.

According to the official, the suspects in the early hours of June 30 leaned a ladder, climbed up and struck it a few times with a club hammer in the upper part of the monument. The monument has been damaged as a result.

On arresting the suspects, police brought them to the Shevchenkivskyi district department of Kyiv city police for interrogation.

The official of the press service refused to comment on media reports saying the arrested people are members of the party "Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists."

According to the press service of the Ministry of Interior Affairs, the suspects are representatives of one of radical political organizations aging from 20 to 27 (residents of Kyiv region, Zhytomyr region, Dnipropetrovsk region, and Kyiv).

Police have instituted a criminal case under article 296 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (hooliganism).

The monument to Vladimir Lenin has a historical value. The monument has been included on the UNESCO international catalogue.

As Ukrainian News earlier reported, on June 1 a monument to Lenin was burnt on Soborna Square in Kaniv, Cherkasy region.