Second Ukrainian National Guardsman Dies After Kyiv Clashes

By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service

September 01, 2015

Three members of Ukraine's National Guard have died from injuries sustained after a hand grenade exploded outside parliament amid protests over a bill that could give more autonomy to pro-Russian separatists.

The National Guard confirmed that 20-year-old Oleksandr Kostina died on September 1 in a Kyiv hospital from injuries sustained during the August 31 violence.

Interior Ministry Arsen Avakov earlier confirmed that a second member of the security force, Dmitry Slastikov, had died on September 1.

The first victim, 24-year-old National Guard conscript Ihor Debryn, died on August 31 after being hit by a grenade fragment while guarding the parliament building. Ninety other guardsmen were wounded in the incident. 

Authorities say the grenade was thrown by a member of the nationalist Svoboda political alliance, identified as 27-year-old Ihor Gumenyuk, as the government forces clashed with demonstrators.

Svoboda and the nationalist Radical Party organized the protest to voice opposition to legislation that could clear the way for pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine to be granted more autonomy.

The bill, which was presented by President Petro Poroshenko and is part of Kyiv's obligations under the February Minsk peace accords, was tentatively approved by parliament on August 31.

It still requires approval by at least 300 of parliament's 450 deputies to be ratified as a constitutional amendment.

The protests on August 31 turned bloody after demonstrators learned that the legislation had passed its first reading.

Video footage that captured the grenade explosion showed more than a dozen riot troops limping after the blast, and at least one plainclothes officer falling to the ground and being dragged away.

Other footage showed bloodstains on the pavement and servicemen dragging away at least two other wounded guardsmen.

It was the worst political violence seen in the Ukrainian capital since February 2014 when Euromaidan protests led to the ouster of President Viktor Yanukovych.

Authorities said a total of 30 protesters were arrested, of which 18 remained in custody as of September 1.

The demonstrators accused Ukrainian lawmakers of "capitulation to the Kremlin" after they gave tentative approval to the bill, which sets out the language of a draft constitutional amendment, which would clear the way for granting more autonomy to pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.

In a televised speech on August 31, President Poroshenko called the violence a "stab in the back."

"It was an anti-Ukrainian act for which all of its organizers without exception -- all representatives of political forces -- should be severely punished," Poroshenko said.

Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk blamed ultranationalists for the violence, which hospitalized more than 140 people including the wounded security forces and protesters.

Yatsenyuk said the right-wing protesters were "worse" than the Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine who have been locked in a civil war with the government since April 2014.

He said that the protesters are trying to justify their violence "under the guise of patriotism."

World powers, including the United States, Germany, Russia, and the European Union, have also condemned the violence.

They are urging Ukrainian legislators to keep up their work decentralizing the government through measures that carry out Kyiv's obligations under the Minsk agreements.
 
The internationally brokered accords -- signed by Kyiv, the separatists, and Russia -- introduced a cease-fire and laid out steps toward a political solution to the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

With additional reporting by AP, Reuters, AFP, Interfax, and the BBC