Suspicious object found on protester near Verkhovna Rada

This was reported by a Ukrinform correspondent from the scene.

“We checked that it was a radio device or a loudspeaker device,” a police representative told Ukrinform.

As of 11:50 a.m., participants moved from Hrushevsky Street to the fence on the side of the Mariinsky Palace.

The participants of the rally sang the Ukrainian national anthem. They also chanted “Glory to Ukraine! Death to the enemies!”

In addition, a minute of silence was observed at the rally. Participants knelt down during the minute of silence.

The protesters also began demanding a live broadcast of the Verkhovna Rada session on July 31. Participants with Ukrainian and Right Sector flags appeared on the square near the Mariinsky Palace. The protesters began chanting “Broadcast the Rada!” and “We see everything!”

According to police representatives, as of 12:30 p.m., there were about a thousand people on the square near the Mariinsky Palace. “There are currently about a thousand citizens here. More than in the morning. There are about a thousand,” a police officer told Ukrinform.

As reported, on the morning of July 31, a protest began outside the Verkhovna Rada for the restoration of independence to anti-corruption bodies. Several hundred citizens are participating in the rally, demanding, in particular, that parliament repeal the law on the elimination of the independence of NABU and SAP (No. 4555-IX).

On July 22, the Verkhovna Rada adopted a law reducing the powers of NABU and SAP. On the same day, President Volodymyr Zelensky signed it.

Protests against the new law began in Kyiv and other cities of Ukraine.

On July 24, President Volodymyr Zelensky submitted a bill to the Rada with provisions on the independence of the SAP and NABU, which parliament is to consider on July 31.

On July 25, activists in Kyiv called on Ukrainians to gather on Wednesday, July 30, as well as on the day of the vote, July 31, “to show the people’s deputies that we expect a fair decision from them.”