UAF fails to disarm neo-Nazi battalion, Right Sector organizes protest in response

© AP Photo / Efrem Lukatsky

    

The far-right Ukrainian nationalist political movement Right Sector will be picketing near the building of President Petro Poroshenko's administration in central Kiev later in the day, Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported.

"Right Sector informs that according to reliable information, the authorities are preparing a large-scale provocation against volunteer units. So to prevent such operations, we are gathering near the building of the presidential administration at 12:00 local time," according to a Right Sector message.

The protest comes shortly after paratroopers from the Ukrainian Armed Forces tried to disarm volunteer units stationed in the Dnepropetrovsk region.

Commenting on the incident, Right Sector leader and advisor to the Military Chief of Staff Dmytro Yarosh said that the country's military and political leadership had decided to deliberately provoke a conflict between nationalists and the army in order to discredit the volunteer units.

"As a people's deputy, I will demand a thorough investigation into the incident. Responsibility for this extremely cynical provocation and an attempt to pit the troops against Right Sector fighters lies on the political and military leadership," Yarosh said.

The Ukrainian government insists that all volunteer units should officially become part of the Ukrainian Armed Forces or the National Guard. Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak said, for his part, that there are no volunteer units in the Donbass region.