Ukrainian officials hint at Russian involvement in deaths of protesters

Ukraine's new head of the SBU, Valentyn Nalivaichenko, speaks at a news conference, in Kiev. Photograph: Shamil Zhumatov/Reuters

12 Ukrainian police officers are arrested on suspicion of carrying out shooting that killed demonstrators last month

Shaun Walker in Moscow
theguardian.com, Thursday 3 April 2014 09.06 EDT

Top Ukrainian officials have insinuated that Russian security services had a hand in the violence that led to more than 100 deaths in Kiev last month, and announced that a dozen Ukrainian police officers have been detained on suspicion of carrying out the shooting.

Arsen Avakov, Ukraine's interim interior minister, claimed his predecessor Vitali Zakharchenko, who is currently on the run, was directly involved in giving orders to shoot at protesters, along with the SBU security services.

Valentyn Nalivaichenko, the new head of the SBU, added that a number of officers from Russia's FSB had been consulting with the SBU in Kiev in December and January, and that Russian citizens were present at SBU headquarters. He also claimed that explosives and weapons were delivered to Ukraine from Russia during the protests.

More than 100 people were killed during February's violence. In an interview on Wednesday, the ousted president, Viktor Yanukovych, denied any involvement in ordering the sniper attacks. Yanukovych fled Kiev shortly after the shootings and eventually left Ukraine for Russia, where he now lives.

(More here.)