Riot breaks out in Ukraine, police station attacked

The Ukrainian interior minister fired the police chief of the Nikolayev region and the head of the Vradiyevo district police department, the mass media reported on Tuesday in comments on the reaction to the mass disturbances that broke out in the village of Vradiyevo. Last night, about 1,000 persons attempted to seize the local police station. The attack occurred after three persons raped a young woman. Two rapists were police officers. Police arrested two rapists but one of the officers, a relative of a high-placed employee of a prosecutor's office, was released under a far-fetched pretext. After seeing him at the police station, residents gathered for a rally demanding that he be held responsible and then proceeded to attack and damage the police station. "Two police officers were fired because the information about the attack on a local resident involving police was not supplied in full to the Interior Ministry, which prevented quick and objective clarification of the situation and resulted in disturbances," the Interior Ministry said in a report. It also said it had launched a check into the circumstances of the incident. A commission of the Interior Ministry's central office led by chief of the main headquarters Vladimir Berezan arrived at the village. "The Interior Ministry is interested in objective and impartial review of all the circumstances of the events and urges people not to yield to the provocations of the politicians who incite to illegal actions," the police said in a report. Criminal proceedings were opened over attack on the Vradiyevo police department. The local mass media said several persons had been injured during the night clash.