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Ukraine opposition concerned over upsurge of extremism in Transcarpathian region

Head of the Opposition Bloc parliamentary faction in the Verkhovna Rada Yury Boyko has said that "it is not a local conflict, it is a problem of the entire country."

KIEV, July 13. /TASS/. Non-submission of gunmen of the Right Sector far-right group to Kiev and a series of attacks on civilian targets in the city of Mukachevo in western Ukraine are seen by Ukrainians as an immediate threat to the country’s national integrity. Head of the Opposition Bloc parliamentary faction in the Verkhovna Rada Yury Boyko has said that "it is not a local conflict, it is a problem of the entire country."

Special hearings are scheduled in the parliament for Tuesday - "with reports by the heads of the law enforcement agencies regarding the current situation and plans for remedying it - what needs to be done in this regard," Boyko said.

A series of incidents in the Transcarpathian region began on Saturday when the Right Sector extremists launched an attack on a cafe and shot at a traffic police station. The attacks claimed the lives of three people, another 11 were wounded. Ukraine’s Defense Ministry sent armored vehicles to Mukachevo, two militants were wounded and detained, and two dozen disappeared in the woods after a siege. The Transcarpathian region is the birthplace of Stepan Bandera, who was the leader of the terrorist branch of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) and a Nazi collaborator during World War II. The area has many hideouts dug and carefully camouflaged by gunmen during the post-war years.

Mayor of Mukachevo Zoltan Lengyel has declared enhanced security regime in the city. Head of the Verkhovna Rada Vladimir Groysman demanded to conduct a "thorough investigation" into the events in Mukachevo. Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk ordered to dismiss the leaders of the regional law enforcement agencies and to bring criminal charges. The prosecutor’s office called the developments in Mokachevo a terrorist attack.