Ukrainian authorities announced the thwarting of an alleged plot to seize power in the capital, Kyiv, according to the American magazine "Newsweek." According to the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office, a group of individuals has been detained on charges of planning this coup attempt.
The Ukrainian prosecutor's office stated via its official page on the Telegram app on Monday that police uncovered a group of activists preparing provocations in Kyiv on June 30. Charges have been filed against four citizens for distributing leaflets calling for the violent overthrow of the government and the constitutional order, with two of them detained.
Investigations revealed that the group published online materials between May and June that disparaged the current leadership of Ukraine and called for a takeover of power. Investigators reported that the coup organizer, who leads a local general union with a history of participating in provocations against the government, had rented a hall in Kyiv that accommodates about two thousand people and was attempting to recruit soldiers and private militias to help carry out his plan.
The investigations indicate that the co-conspirators with the organizer were from the Dnipropetrovsk and Kyiv regions, located in the east and north of the country, respectively. Additionally, the head of a non-governmental organization from Transcarpathia approached him to join the group but declined due to the apparent illegality of the plan.
The magazine quoted the Ukrainian Security Service stating that the group has been known for anti-Ukrainian activities since 2015 and reportedly hoped to seize the building where the Ukrainian parliament meets in central Kyiv. The group communicated through various messaging platforms and met in small groups of three.
