Kyiv: Russia behind the attacks on the office of the Union of Hungarians in Uzhhorod
Pavlo Klimkin, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, believes that Russia is behind the attacks on the Society of Hungarian culture in Uzhhorod.
"Thanks to the police for active work in Transcarpathia. Russian traces everywhere. ‘Hello’ to all who speculated on mystical, anti-Hungarian sentiments. I doubt that this is the last destabilization attempt,” Klimkin wrote on Twitter.
On March 4, the police arrested three people involved in the attack on the Society of Hungarian culture on February 27 in Uzhhorod. One of them was detained in Cherkasy while two others were detained in Kropyvnytskyi.
Earlier, Transcarpathian policemen identified citizens of Poland involved in setting the center on fire on February 4. They were detained by Polish law enforcement officers in Warsaw. Five people have been detained in all but the likely perpetrator, a foreigner, is still at large.
The head of the Transcarpathian Regional State Administration, Hennadiy Moskal admitted that the suspected arsonist is a resident of Transnistria, and that there were also members of the anti-terrorist operation involved. "They are not members of political parties or movements. They resorted to this provocation after being lured by money,” he wrote on Facebook.
According to Moskal, the perpetrator of the provocation is an official of "the Ministry for State Security of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic" who fled to Transnistria immediately after the crime.
"Given the status of this territory, the perpetrator is out of reach of Ukrainian justice for the moment. However, there is no doubt that the Russian Federal Security Service is behind the act of setting the Society of Hungarian Culture on fire, as well as the first arson by Polish citizens, members of the ‘Falanga’ far-right, pro-Russian organization on the night of February 4,” Moskal noted.
According to him, Russian Security Services tried to involve local "activists" in the crime and after they failed they involved perpetrators from other regions.
As reported earlier, both attempts to set fire to the office of the Society of Hungarian Culture triggered a strong reaction from Hungary. They accused Ukraine of being unable to control extremists.