Armed ‘Right Sector’ standoff in western Ukraine: LIVES UPDATES (VIDEO)

Clashes began between paramilitary volunteers and a team of ex-Yanukovych party MP Mikhail Lanyo

14:57 Right Sector sets up roadblock at Kyiv-Zhytomyr highway to check trucks (Photo)

UNIAN reports that fighters from the Right Sector organization have set up a checkpoint at the Kyiv-Zhytomyr highway and are said to have arms and intend to inspect suspicious trucks and vans, according to a 112.ua correspondent, who talked to the fighters at the roadblock.

Prosecutor General of Ukraine Viktor Shokin created a combined investigation group from of PGO, SBU, and Interior Ministry officials to investigate the incident.

Criminal proceedings were opened under Part 1 of Article 255 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (creating a criminal organization) and Part 3 of Article 258 (a terrorist act).  

(UNIAN Photo)

12:20 'Right Sector' is working together with SBU to stabilize the situation in Mukacheve

'Right Sector' leader Dmytro Yarosh claimed in a Facebook post that 'Right Sector' representatives will be cooperating with the Anti-Terrorist Centre of Ukraine Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) to stabilize the situation in Mukacheve.

11:37 Mukacheve standoff continues

The stand-off between law-enforcement officials and members of the Right Sector volunteer battalion in Mukacheve, Zakarpattia continues. Several Ukrainian media outlets report that two wounded Right Sector members have surrendered to police.

The remaining members of the group remain unaccounted for. Members of the ultra-right group on Saturday, July 11 exchanged gunfire with local authorities, leading to the deaths of at least two Right Sector members and a civilian. 

Several local policemen were injured. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on July 13 will meet with the nation's law-enforcement heads to discuss the situation. 

12.07.2015

21:20 Ukraine's Right Sector sets up road checkpoints outside Kyiv

Ukraine's far-right volunteer paramilitary group Right Sector have set up road checkpoints outside of Kyiv to block any police units heading to the scene of a deadly shootout hundreds of kilometers away, in the western city of Mukacheve.

Right Sector played a big role in Kyiv street protests in 2014, that toppled former Moscow-backed president Viktor Yanukovich, setting off a confrontation with Russia and sparking the worst Russia-West crisis since the end of the Cold War. 

(AP Photo)

17:43 Right Sector: Poroshenko and Hrytsak hold talks with Yarosh

UNIAN: Leader of the Right Sector organization Dmytro Yarosh holds direct talks with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and the chief of the SBU (Ukraine Security Service) in regard to the Mukacheve incident, according to the organization's official, hromadske.tv reports.  

13:59 Ukrainian military filmed travelling towards 'Right Sector' standoff scene

More than a dozen Ukrainian armoured vehicles and military trucks have been filmed travelling towards the direction of Mukacheve.

The unverified video, filmed by eyewitness and published by Hromadske TV on Sunday, appears to show the convoy travelling southwest on one of the main roads that runs via Mukacheve (between the western city of Lviv and the Hungarian border). Officially, the purpose of the convoy is not known.

13:25 'Right Sector' rally in Kyiv after shootout in West Ukraine

Protests by small groups of supporters and members of the Right Sector have been held across Ukraine, including here in Kyiv, where several hundred people gathered outside the presidential administration building demanding the resignation of Interior Minister Arsen Avakov. Demonstrations also formed in other parts of the country, including here in the eastern city of Kharkiv and the western city of Ternopil. 

11:30 Clashes began between paramilitary volunteers and a team of ex-Yanukovych party MP Mikhail Lanyo

An armed standoff in Ukraine's western Zakarpattia region continued into Sunday morning (July 12) after paramilitary volunteers from the right-wing group ‘Right Sector' refused to lay down their weapons after a gun battle with the security group of a local deputy Mykhailo Lano.

Ukrainian news agency UNIAN reports three people were killed and at least nine injured in the clashes, which took place in the city of Mukacheve.

The armed group of men took over a sports complex in the town and a shootout occurred with the Ukrainian MP's security team. When police forces arrived at the scene, fighting escalated and it is reported that the armed men used grenade launchers against police — forcing the National Guard to be deployed. The regional police chief gave this statement late Saturday evening (July 11). 

Serhiy Sharanych, Zakarpattia regional police chief: 

"A police search operation is underway to block and detain the criminals who wounded residents of Mukacheve today, also during the attempt to detain them they shot through two police cars and wounded three policemen."

In response, the Right Sector soldiers involved in the shootout said they have been patrolling the nearby border to prevent smuggling when ‘unknown special forces' had begun firing. They posted this YouTube video.

Since then, the Right Sector group has called for its members to rally outside the presidential administration office in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko had instructed police to disarm and detain the armed men in western Ukraine. 

According to UNIAN, the Right Sector said in a statement addressing the Ukrainian nation:

"Today, Ukraine has seen an extraordinary event that could change the course of history. In the town of Mukacheve in Zakarpattia hundreds of thugs besotted by impunity, working for abuser and drug dealer, [former] Regions Party member Mykhailo Lanyo, who is now Member of Parliament of Ukraine, have attempted to physically destroy Right Sector members. Criminals wearing the police uniform who are dependent on Viktor Medvedchuk, the odious fellow sponsor of the Ukrainians’ main enemy [Russian President Vladimir Putin], also took part in this operation with the use of force" .

The Right Sector demands the immediate and public arrest of MP Lanyo, who took part in the event in person, as well as "all the criminals and law enforcers who opened fire [on the Right Sector members], and those who ordered to open the fire."The statement said that "the entire Right Sector military and political movement" has been placed on combat alert."

This MukachevoNet video shows how the shooting started