A rally in support of Ukrainian volunteer fighter Vitaliy Markiv, who is suspected of killing Italian journalist Andrea Rocchelli in the area of the anti-terrorist operation in Donbas, was held in the center of Kyiv near the Italian Embassy in Ukraine on March 14.
According to an Interfax-Ukraine reporter, the rally brought together about a hundred people who are former volunteers of the Kulchytsky battalion (now all battalion members are servicemen of the National Guard of Ukraine).
A large banner with a photograph of Markiv and the inscription “Ukrainian volunteer fighters saved Europe from Russian threat” was put up opposite the embassy building.
The rally participants intended to hand over to embassy representatives an appeal with the demand to release the Ukrainian from custody, but no one came out to them.
The event lasted about 15 minutes and was quiet. Ten law enforcers maintained public order.
As reported, Ukrainian soldiers Markiv was detained in Italy on June 30, 2017 on suspicion of killing Rocchelli near Sloviansk, Donetsk region, in May 2014. The Ukrainian is in the Italian city of Pavia.
Ukrainian Deputy Prosecutor General Yevhen Yenin said that Ukraine had no claims to the investigation into the case of Markiv, but relied on the objectivity of the Italian side in this matter and the consent to establish a joint investigation team.
