“Berkut” inflicted serious injury to Yuri Lutsenko

photo by Andriy Kovalev

Ukrainian former interior minister was placed in a hospital after a clash between Berkut fighters and demonstrators.

Riot police and protesters clashed late on January 10 in Kyiv, leaving dozens wounded, including Yuri Lutsenko, a former interior minister.

Let us recall that the unrest in the Ukrainian capital erupted after a court there handed down a six-year jail sentence to three men for trying to blow up a statue of Lenin in 2011.

Supporter of the three men – Igor Musiychuk, Volodymyr Spara and Sergiy Bevz - had gathered outside the court earlier Friday to protest the ruling against them, claiming the trial had been a sham, RFE/RL reports.

Scuffles broke out when protesters tried to block police vehicles taking the men from the court building.

Images from the scene showed badly beaten protesters.

Lutsenko has reportedly suffered a serious injury after being struck in the head by security forces.

Tensions remain high in Ukraine since President Viktor Yanukovich's abrupt decision in late November not to sign a deal with the EU, sparking some of the biggest protests in the country since the 2004 Orange Revolution.