Separatist Commander Denies Attack on Ukraine's Interior Minister Arsen Avakov

July 17, 2014

Ukraine's Interior Ministry has accused one of the pro-Russian commanders of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic of having attempted to kill Interior Minister Arsen Avakov in an earlier attack.

"The organizer [of the attack] was [Horlivka commander] Igor Bezler. It was precisely his group of subversives that was meant to organize the killing," Zoran Shkiryak, deputy head of the Interior Ministry, was cited as saying by RIA Novosti on Thursday.

According to Shkiryak, the attack was scheduled for July 7 to 8, when Avakov was visiting east Ukraine. It was not clear whether the attack was prevented altogether or stopped ahead of time.

Larisa Volkova, a spokeswoman for the ministry, had earlier announced that detentions were made in the case, but she declined to specify how many people had been detained.

Bezler, for his part, has denied involvement in the attack on Avakov.

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