‘Blood was supposed to be shed’ Ukrainian police arrest two suspects over alleged plot to orchestrate violent unrest in Kyiv and regions near border with Russia

Ukraine’s National Police have arrested two suspects on charges of attempting to orchestrate violent unrest in Kyiv and other parts of the country, the Interior Ministry announced during a press conference on Monday, January 31. According to police officials, the detained suspects were planning a series of demonstrations and recruiting paid participants to clash with police officers. Allegedly, the first rally was supposed to take place in the capital on Monday and involve as many as 5,000 people. Ukraine’s Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky noted that other demonstrations were planned in regions not far from the border with Russia. Ukrainian police did not disclose the suspects’ identities and are still investigating whether or not they have ties to Russia or the Kremlin-backed breakaway states in eastern Ukraine.

Ukrainian police arrested two suspects for attempting to organize mass riots and instigate violence against police officers, Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky and National Police Chief Ihor Klymenko reported at a press conference on Monday.

The first rally, allegedly involving up to 5,000 paid demonstrators, was supposed to take place near the President’s Office in downtown Kyiv on Monday morning. Monastyrsky claimed that the demonstration was intended to “destabilize the situation in Ukraine” and that participants were expected to engage in violent clashes with the police. “Blood was supposed to be shed,” Monastyrsky said.

The rally in Kyiv was meant to be one of many: demonstrations were set to take place in the Sumy, Chernihiv, Poltava, and Cherkasy regions in February, the Interior Ministry alleged. “That is, regions that are virtually an hour and a half drive from Kyiv and our northern borders with the Russian Federation,” Monastyrsky underscored. The rally’s organizer and his accomplices recruited people who were willing to take part in such demonstrations in exchange for cash.

At the press conference, the police showed a video, in which one of the suspects discusses preparations for the riots with a man whose voice is heavily distorted. The suspect specifically mentions plans to attack law enforcement officers, suggesting that using fire extinguishers against the police would be “more vivid than gas and safe.” He also promises to reward two people for “putting on a show.” “This will require fake blood and our paramedics. And it has to be caught on camera,” he explains, telling his interlocutor that “your task is to ramp up the clashes.”

Of the 5,000 people meant to take part in the rally in Kyiv, 3,500 were supposed to be “extras,” while the remainder were meant to target police officers, the Interior Ministry claimed. National Police Chief Ihor Klymenko reported that the going rate for “extras” was 800 hryvnias ($28) and for instigators 1,200 hryvnias ($42). Others were offered up to $2,500 to set fire to tires “in the event of a regular accident,” Klimenko said (he did not clarify what this meant). According to the police, 200 flares, 200 smoke bombs, 20 tires, 10 fire extinguishes, 2,000 leaflets, 320 flags, and 12 walkie-talkies were prepped for the riots. 

The alleged organizer of the planned rally in Kyiv and his accomplice (both Ukrainian citizens) were detained on Sunday, January 30. Ukrainian officials have not disclosed their names. The police are probing whether or not they are linked to the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk “people’s republics,” or the Russian intelligence services. Investigators intend to petition to jail the suspects pending trial.

During the press conference on Monday, Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky noted that in 2014, “special people from the Russian Federation” held rallies in Luhansk, Donetsk, and Crimea with the involvement of “pseudo-activists,” who provoked violence against law enforcement and incited others.

The Ukrainian Interior Ministry announced the arrests against the backdrop of reports about a potential Russian military escalation. Since the fall of 2021, the Russian authorities have concentrated more than 100,000 troops along Ukraine’s borders. Russian officials deny that they are planning to launch another incursion into Ukraine, maintaining that military drills conducted near the border are a domestic matter.