Avakov says Lyovochkin belongs in a prison / Photo from UNIAN
Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov claims that MP from the Opposition Bloc and former head of Viktor Yanukovych's presidential administration Serhiy Lyovochkin is behind the dispersal of protesters on Kyiv's Maidan Nezalezhnosti, or Independence Square, late in 2014, according to TV Channel 112 Ukraine.
"Lyovochkin should have been in jail, not in parliament, because he is the mastermind behind the Maidan dispersals," Avakov said, answering a question during a press conference in Severodonetsk, Luhansk region, where he was opening a new service center, Channel 112 Ukraine reported.
Read alsoUkraine marks 3rd anniversary of EuroMaidan, celebrating Day of Dignity and FreedomAs UNIAN reported earlier, fugitive Yanukovych, who is now residing in Russia, told the Russian Argumenty i fakty newspaper on December 24, 2014, that he suspected former head of his presidential administration Lyovochkin of organizing provocations to turn non-violent Maidan protests into acts of violence.
"Certainly, there could not have been any orders to disperse protesters. In my opinion, it was a well-organized act of provocation to direct peaceful protests into a radical course. I have no direct evidence that Lyovochkin is behind the November 30 provocation, but such allegations have quite reasonable justification," Yanukovych told the Russian newspaper.
On the same day, Lyovochkin denied Avakov's allegations.