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Radical activists seize agricultural ministry building in Kiev

Guards offered no resistance, and the inscription “Right Sector” appeared on the wall near the doorway to the building

KIEV, January 24, 11:26 /ITAR-TASS/. The building of the Ukrainian Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food in Kiev was seized on Thursday night by a group of radically minded protesters.

The guards offered no resistance, and the inscription “Right Sector”, the name of the movement taking an active part in clashes with police, appeared on the wall near the doorway to the building. Alexander Danilyuk, one of those storming the building, told reporters that it would house the group that “will be fulfilling the functions of armed forces”.

On Thursday, protesters in Lvov, Rovno and Ternopol, cities in western Ukraine, stormed the buildings of local administrations, and barricades emerged around them. The Lvov and Ternopol district prosecutor’s offices have already launched investigations into the seizure. Those responsible may face between three and six years in prison. Police in Cherkassy, a city in central Ukraine, detained 58 people.

At the start of mass rallies in Kiev, protesters seized the House of Trade Unions and the building of the Kiev city administration.

Protests in Ukraine against government’s backtrack on the association agreement with the EU were last week fuelled by new laws which aim to curb public protests.