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Ukrainian Nationalist Held After Attacking Russian Policeman With Machete

Maslak, whom local media described as a Right Sector activist, attacked police man with machete. Marcelo Braga / Flickr

Police in the Ural Mountains have detained a reported activist from Ukraine's ultra-nationalist Right Sector group on suspicion of attacking a police officer with a machete and a bayonet, a news report said.

Mikhail Maslak, whom local media identified as a Right Sector activist, tried to gain entrance to an Interior Ministry building in the town of Troitsk in the Chelyabinsk region when an officer stationed at the entrance moved to stop him, a spokesperson for the regional police said, Itar-Tass reported.

Maslak, whom local media described as a Right Sector activist, allegedly responded by wielding knives and making threats, the report said.

The detained activist stands accused of using violence against a law-enforcement officer, the report added.

The Right Sector, which strongly opposes Russia's meddling in Ukraine, has been portrayed by Russian officials and state-run television as a violent extremist group and in March, a Russian court issued an arrest warrant for the group's leader, Dmytro Yarosh, accusing him of terrorism-related charges.

Right Sector members have also clashed with Ukraine's new administration, after having played an active role in street protests that have helped bring it to power.

Former Right Sector leader, Oleksandr Muzychko, was shot dead in western Ukraine in March, a few weeks after attacking employees at a prosecutor's office in the western Ukrainian town of Rivne.

See also:

Russian Court Sanctions Arrest of Ukrainian Nationalist Leader


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