MOSCOW, May 7 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s Investigative Committee has prolonged a criminal probe against Dmitro Yarosh, the leader of Ukraine’s radical Right Sector group, the committee said Wednesday.
Moscow has charged Yarosh, a presidential candidate in Ukraine’s upcoming elections, with inciting terrorism after he urged Chechen extremist commander Doku Umarov to organize terrorist attacks on Russian soil.
Russia has also requested Interpol add the Ukrainian far-right leader to its list of wanted criminals.
Spokesman Vladimir Markin said the Russian Investigative Committee had opened criminal cases against Ukraine’s most outspoken nationalist leaders, including Svoboda Party’s chief Oleh Tyahnybok, who it accused of fighting alongside Chechen militants in Russia.
“A decision has been taken to merge these criminal cases into one investigation,” Markin said.
Right Sector, an ultranationalist Ukrainian paramilitary group, faced an outright ban in Ukraine following a siege of the country’s parliament building in March. The movement is known for its leading role in the violent protests that brought the incumbent Ukrainian leadership to power in late February. Its activists used clubs, petrol bombs, and firearms in street fighting against Ukrainian police.
One of its most notorious members, Oleksandr Muzychko, was wanted by Russia on suspicion of torturing and murdering at least 20 Russian servicemen in Chechnya in the early 2000s. He was killed by Ukrainian special forces last month.
