Protestors clash with police at latest Poroshenko campaign event

The latest clash between police and anti-Poroshenko
protesters erupted on March 19 during the president’s campaign stop in the city
of Ivano-Frankivsk. A few hundred members of the National Corps political
party, and affiliated National Squads activists, began approaching the stage,
before the president’s emergence, with its repeated calls for criminal
prosecution of those involved in the Russian military parts scandal.
As they attempted to draw closer to the stage, police encircled a large portion
of the protestors and forced them back. Blows and tear gas were exchanged but
no injuries reported. The protesters remained at the farther location to chant
and yell at the president during his campaign speech.

The protesters alleged that the Poroshenko campaign
hired street thugs, commonly known as titushky, to attack them with blows and
pepper spray, and rip their placards, during their confrontation with police.
At the same time, the National Squads are widely accused of being street thugs
themselves because of their violent methods, particularly those demonstrated on March 9.
The National Corps and National Squads are widely believed to be controlled by
Internal Affairs Minister Arsen Avakov, who is believed to be aligned with
Yulia Tymoshenko for the elections.

Zenon Zawada: We expect these clashes to continue until Election Day on March 31.
They draw mass media attention and stir the emotions of those opposed to the
president. Yet after Election Day, the inevitable protests against alleged vote
fraud will have to be peaceful and draw wide support in order to be successful
in pressuring the president or remove him (in the runoff vote, scheduled for
Apr. 21).