Ukraine: Grenade attack suspect's lawyer holds presser in Kiev

The lawyer of Igor Gumenyuk, the man accused of throwing a grenade outside the Verkhovna Rada during a protest on Monday, held a press conference to defend his client in Kiev, Tuesday. During the presser, Sidor Kizin defended his client's character by presenting him as a Ukrainian nationalist. "This guy is a fighter from the ATO, he was on Maidan and after Maidan immediately joined the volunteer fighters. After all formalities, he became a member of the "Sich" battalion, he is a Kiev police employee, a ministry employee who is subordinate to the head of the main department of the Interior Ministry in Kiev," Kizin said. Kizin also claimed that Gumenyuk was forced to confess to the crime and say he was a member of the Svoboda party. Kizin also noted that his client was arrested at the train station, not in front of the Rada, and police did not confiscate any explosive devices from Gumenyuk when they detained him. On Monday, one police officer was killed and dozens of other officers and National Guard servicemen injured when a grenade exploded during a protest outside the Rada. The grenade was thrown towards the police and national guard officers as they tried to prevent protesters from getting too close to the Ukrainian parliament building. Clashes erupted earlier in the day after around 1,000 nationalist activists gathered outside the Ukrainian parliament to protest against a draft bill on constitutional changes that would grant greater autonomy to the Donbass region. Ukrainian MPs voted in favour of the bill following a tense session of parliament.