SIMFEROPOL, July 16. /TASS/. Given the concentration of weapons in the hands of people, protests in Ukraine may escalate to an armed riot against Vladimir Zelensky and his associates, Leonid Ivlev, a State Duma member, told TASS in an interview.
On July 14, Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada (parliament) voted by a majority to dismiss Prime Minister Yulia Sviridenko and her Cabinet. Voting for a new head of government took place on Thursday amid protests in multiple Ukrainian cities. Demonstrators protested against the fact that Mikhail Fyodorov will not retain the post of defense chief in the new government. Rallies were held in Kiev, Zhitomir, Odessa, and Lvov, Ukrainian media reported. UNIAN news agency said demonstrations swept other cities as well.
"Ukrainian society is waking up to protest against the incoherent policy course being pursued by the Kiev regime," the Russian lawmaker said. "Given the uncontrolled handling and oversupply of weapons in Ukraine, soon the time will come when civil unrest could escalate to an armed protest against Zelensky," he argued.
Ivlev cited the recent government reshuffle, the forced mobilization to the Ukrainian army, mass losses of untrained soldiers on the front line, and the concealment of corrupt officials by Zelensky as reasons behind potential unrest in Ukraine.
Earlier, Ivlev said in an interview with TASS that civil protests against Zelensky’s policies in Ukraine will intensify and morph into various forms.