Kiev police opened a criminal case over the riots on Bankova Street near the president's office.

Information about this is posted on the website of the department.

At the moment, law enforcement officers have reported on the arrest of only one person - a native of the Vinnytsia region, born in 1995, who was previously prosecuted. 

According to the press service of the metropolitan police, the investigation department of the Pechersk police department has begun criminal proceedings under Part 4 of Art.

296 (hooliganism) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, which provides for punishment in the form of imprisonment for up to seven years. 

We will remind, on the evening of March 20, hundreds of Ukrainian radicals went to a protest rally in front of the office of the President of the country.

Aggressive citizens smashed windows and tried to set fire to the front doors.

In addition, the ultra-right left offensive inscriptions on the facade of the residence of the head of state about Vladimir Zelensky, Interior Minister Arsen Avakov and the police.

The vandalism of the nationalists did not meet the resistance of the law enforcement officers.

In a comment to the Internet publication "STRANA.ua", Deputy Interior Minister Anton Gerashchenko explained the passivity of law enforcement officers by their unwillingness to succumb to the provocations of the "protesters".

“They want the police to beat the protesters.

We understand this and therefore, for now, we are simply recording the facts of violations.

And those who violate the law will be held accountable ... I recommend that the media fully cover what is happening under the president's office so that citizens themselves can assess what kind of rally it is: a peaceful protest or provocation of violence, ”Gerashchenko said.

The circle of the President of Ukraine also announced that the radicals who had gathered at Bankova tried to provoke aggression from the guards.

So, the adviser to the office of the head of state, Mikhail Podolyak, called the actions of the nationalists manifestations of "wild, outrageous vandalism."

“Open contempt for society, for adequacy, for the essence of the protest as such.

We saw, rather, an unconditional intention to provoke some wild violence, an unconditional intention to provoke aggression from the police, an obvious intention to leave behind some kind of causing destruction, "Podolyak assessed the riots in a comment to Ukrainian journalists.

Crime and Punishment 

The reason for the radicals' speech at the office of the President of Ukraine was the birthday of the former head of the Odessa branch of the "Right Sector" * Sergei Sternenko, against whom criminal cases of kidnapping and murder had been initiated earlier.

On February 23, the Primorsky District Court of Odessa sentenced the nationalist to seven years and three months in prison in the case of the 2015 abduction of a deputy of one of the Odessa region’s district councils, Sergei Shcherbich.

To date, due to an appeal filed, the verdict has not entered into legal force.

In May 2018, Sternenko became a defendant in the murder case of 28-year-old Ivan Kuznetsov in Odessa.

During the fight, the nationalist stabbed the man four times with a knife, one of them hit in the heart, which was fatal.

Sternenko's friend Natalia filmed the consequences of the scuffle on a mobile phone camera.

The footage captures the moment when, under the groans of the dying Kuznetsov, the radical explains his actions by self-defense from the attack of two people.

As it turned out later, the second man, Alexander Isaykul, was also wounded, but was able to escape.

Witnesses claim that Sternenko deliberately stabbed the unarmed Kuznetsov: first he stabbed him in the stomach with a knife, and after Kuznetsov tried to escape, caught up with him and struck a few more blows, which refutes the version of self-defense voiced by Sternenko. 

The incident attracted media attention and caused a wide public outcry.

One of the reasons, as experts interviewed by RT explained, is the inadequate investigation of this crime.

Recall that the criminal case initiated by the police was initially transferred to the SBU, where Sternenko from a murder suspect turned into a witness to the crime.

According to the sources of "STRANA.ua", in this way the special service allegedly decided to recruit the Odessa radical.

Representatives of the Opposition Platform - For Life (Opposition Platform - For Life) party (Opposition Platform - For Life), whose activists themselves suffered from attacks by nationalists and the connivance of the Ukrainian law enforcement system, have repeatedly criticized the investigation of Kuznetsov's murder.

The political force is confident that in 2018-2019, the country's Prosecutor General's Office, which was headed by Yuriy Lutsenko and Ruslan Ryaboshapka, deliberately covered up Sternenko.

  • Sergey Sternenko

  • AFP

  • © Genya SAVILOV

In March 2020, the post of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine was taken by the deputy from the Servant of the People, Irina Venediktova.

After that, the Odessa radical became a suspect in premeditated murder and possession of melee weapons.

The re-qualification of the case sparked protests by nationalist groups.

Sternenko himself does not admit guilt in both crimes.

In an interview with RT, Ruslan Bortnik, director of the Ukrainian Institute for Policy Analysis and Management, said that the criminal cases against Sternenko almost immediately had political overtones.

According to him, the criminal prosecution of their "brother" is perceived by the radicals as an attempt by the authorities to limit their alleged right to violence.

“The cases against Sternenko are indicative in the sense that if he is finally convicted, it will be a signal to all other radical right-wing groups that sooner or later they will be punished for the crime.

If Sternenko manages to avoid imprisonment for murder or he is acquitted for kidnapping, then this will symbolize the final victory of the radicals over the legal system of Ukraine, ”Bortnik explained.

According to the expert, in the situation with Sternenko, the question is actually being decided whether the state will control the society of Ukraine, albeit taking into account a strong nationalist factor, or whether power in the country will finally pass into the hands of radicals. 

"Fear of the radical street"

From the point of view of experts, Zelensky is in a difficult position in the matter of choosing the vector of relations with ultra-right formations, especially in the light of his attempts to win the sympathy of the "radical electorate." 

“Zelensky has lost the support of the Russian-speakers and against this background he began to frankly curry favor with the nationalists, trying not to limit their activities.

For this reason, apparently, the police received instructions not to enter into a confrontation on Bankova Street and to give the nationalists the opportunity to let off steam.

Zelensky is afraid of the radical street, "said Vladimir Shapovalov, deputy director of the Institute of History and Politics at Moscow State Pedagogical University, in a commentary on RT.

According to the expert, the president's office realizes the need to punish Sternenko, but fears a series of riots.

For this reason, cases against the Odessa radical are being investigated for so long and indecisively.

According to Shapovalov, “Zelensky is in no hurry to violate the informal status of the untouchable caste,” which the ultra-right forces in Ukraine received as a result of the Maidan.

“The fact that Sternenko was initially tried for a relatively light crime, compared to murder, once again shows how the Ukrainian government is afraid to encroach on the“ rights ”of nationalists.

At the same time, the radicals continue to impudently put pressure on the state, hoping to thwart even a timid attempt to bring it to justice, ”Shapovalov says.

According to the political scientist, Zelensky can demonstrate the strength of the state only in the fight against the rights of Russian-speaking citizens, the media and the opposition, which has no influence on nationalists.

In turn, Ruslan Bortnik explains the indecisiveness of the presidential office by the fact that the radicals are patronized by internal forces advocating further militarization of the country, and by "hawks" in the leadership of Western states.

“Zelenskiy and his team fear that right-wing radicals can overthrow them, having received appropriate sanctions from the US and the EU.

Therefore, the office of the president does not enter into confrontation with them, trying to mend relations with the elites in the West, which influence the radicals.

Therefore, Zelensky is now trying to look as a nationalist leader as possible, ”Bortnik concluded.

*

"Right Sector" is a Ukrainian association of radical nationalist organizations, recognized as extremist and banned on the territory of Russia (decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of 11/17/2014).