Ukrainian Opposition MP Elected 'Revolutionary Commandant' of Kiev

Ukirainian opposition MP Nikolay Katerinchuk. Photo by newsmarket.com.ua

Protesters in the Ukrainian capital Kiev have elected Nikolay Katerinchuk from the opposition party Batkivshchyna (Fatherland) a "revolutionary commandant" of the city.

Katerinchuk promised to oust from office the head of the Kiev city administration Oleksandr Popov, because the latter was not fulfilling his duties, reports ITAR-TASS.

On the Monday night, hundreds of thousands filled the streets of Kiev in one of the largest rallies since the beginning of the pro-EU protests in the Ukrainian capital.

Protesters, who oppose a customs union with Russia, toppled a statue of Lenin and smashed it with hammers. There was an idea to put a new statue, that of Ukrainian poet and artist Taras Shevchenko on the empty pedestal.

Ukraine's Prime Minister Mykola Azarov compared the toppling of the statue to the Taliban's destruction of the giant Buddhas of Bamiyan in Afghanistan in 2001.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been protesting in Kiev's Independence Square against the decision of President Viktor Yanukovich and his government to back out of a strategic deal with the EU and seek closer ties with Russia.

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