Security Service of Ukraine suppresses pseudo-protest attempt of ‘ethnic Bulgarians’ orchestrated in Russia
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) suppressed attempts to organize the fake protest action of supposed ethnic Bulgarians in the Zaporizhia and Odessa provinces, the SBU’s website reported.
As it transpired, the organizer of the anti-Ukrainian events was Sergey Khizhnyak, one of the former leaders of the “Young Regions” public organization.
“He is one of the former leaders of the ‘Young Regions’ public organization and is hiding in Russian territory. The 30 citizens hired to participate in the provocation were supposed to create an image for the Russian media, crossing the motorway with Bulgarian flags and banners with propagandist content,” the SBU reported.
The information about these fake protests was shared on social networks. “It has been established that the malefactors were financed by Russian intelligence through the Ukrainian citizen Anton Davidchenko, leader of the ‘People’s Druzhina’ and the ‘Youth Union’ and coordinator of the ‘People’s Alternative’ movement. The man is hiding in Moscow and in the temporarily occupied Donbas territory,” the Security Service noted.
“Russia’s primary goal is to destabilize the social and political situation in Ukraine and discredit the Ukrainian authorities before the global community on account of the supposed oppression of national minorities. All of the fake protests are organized according to a similar script and are coordinated by specially appointed supervisors located in Russian territory. While these pseudo-protests were being held, the security service did not document any facts that real representatives of national minorities participated in them,” the department stated.
In spring 2015, the Odessa police suppressed a similar rally of the “People’s Council of Bessarabia”.