A criminal investigation was launched over the events near the Verkhovna Rada, the press service of the Kyiv prosecutor's office said.
“The information on preliminary legal qualification – Article 348 (murder or attempted murder of a law enforcer in the call of duty), Article 345 Part 3 (threat or violence against a law enforcer), Article 293 (violation of the public order by a group) and Article 294 Part 2 (massive riots) of the Ukrainian Penal Code were put on the unified register of pre-trial investigations,” the statement said.
Priority investigative actions are being taken.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov promised to conduct a thorough investigation into the circumstances of the clashes staged at Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada and asked to support the society and politicians.
“The investigation will be thorough. We are irreconcilable and I demand the support of the society and politicians for a tough punishment of those guilty,” he told a press briefing in Kyiv on Monday.
“This cannot go on. If we swallow this, we will have chaos everywhere. I will not allow this to happen…My function as a minister is to avert this,” Avakov said.
He said that over the clashes “a criminal case was opened under several articles of the Penal Code, the Interior Ministry’s Main Investigative Directorate is conducting the probe.”
Avakov also noted how “unprecedentedly polite the police were acting during these clashes.”
