People who wanted to seize the Verkhovna Rada were detained in Kyiv

In Kyiv, law enforcement officers detained people who wanted to seize the Verkhovna Rada (the Ukrainian Parliament) building and block its work.

This was reported by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).

According to the investigation, a group of "public activists" was preparing a series of provocations in Kyiv on June 30. Under the guise of a so-called party, they planned to announce the "removal from power" of the current military-political leadership of Ukraine.

The SBU claims that in order to gather people, the organizers had to hold an allegedly peaceful meeting in the center of Kyiv. But most of the participants of the event wanted to use "blindly" — without revealing to them the true intentions of the provocation. In this way, they wanted to shake up the social and political situation inside Ukraine.

The law enforcement officers said that the group was led by the co-founder of a public organization known for its anti-Ukrainian actions since 2015. According to the Office of the Prosecutor General, he rented a hall in Kyiv with a capacity of 2 000 people, and also sought out military personnel and armed guards of private structures to carry out the seizure.

The man, whom the investigation considers to be the organizer, involved several accomplices — representatives of public organizations from Kyiv, Dnipro and other regions. They communicated with each other in different messengers, and if they met, then in small groups of three people.

The service reports that weapons and ammunition, mobile phones, computer equipment and draft records with evidence of subversive activities were found during searches of the suspectsʼ residences.

They were detained and reported on suspicion under Art. 1, 2, 3 Art. 109 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — actions and calls for actions aimed at violent change or overthrow of the constitutional order or at the seizure of state power. Now they face up to 10 years in prison with confiscation of property.