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Ukrainian woman wields knife at Russian gathering (video) (Update)

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A Russian public organisation dealing with the Russian diaspora, has reportedly asked Russia’s Investigative Committee to prosecute a Ukrainian woman on terrorism charges for allegedly menacing Russian citizens in Cyprus with a knife, Cyprus News Agency (CNA) reported.

The organisation, Rossotrudnichestvo (Russian Cooperation Agency), comes under Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and deals with the Russian diaspora abroad and the promotion of Russian culture.

According to CNA, the announcement was made by the head of the organisation – Yevgeny Primakov – a well-known journalist and diplomat, on his account on the social network Telegram, referring to the arrest of a 55-year-old Ukrainian woman by police in Cyprus for allegedly menacing Russian citizens in Larnaca with a knife on Monday during a gathering to commemorate flag day in Russia.

“I consider this to be an attempted terrorist attack, in direct proportion to similar attacks in Israel using a cold weapon. Rossotrudnichestvo (Russian Cooperation Agency) addresses the Investigative Committee asking for criminal prosecution on charges of terrorism,” Primakov wrote, according to Russian state agency RIA-Novosti.

Primakov was also cited as claiming that he “did not rule out that the Cypriot prosecuting authorities could try to ‘cover up’ the case”.

The 55-year-old Ukrainian woman was arrested on Monday in Larnaca to facilitate police inquiries.

Larnaca police spokesman Haris Hadiyiasemi said that at around 9.30pm on Monday evening, approximately 20 Russian men, women and children had gathered in an open plot opposite the Panayia Faneromeni church with the aim of carrying out a peaceful procession of cars within the city to celebrate the inauguration of the Russian flag.

Before the start of the motorcade, Hadjiyiasemi said, a 55-year-old woman from Ukraine arrived at the scene, wielding a knife and moving threateningly towards the gathered crowd speaking in Ukrainian. It appears she was drunk, and police who were in the area intervened and arrested her.

The woman is expected to appear before the Larnaca district court to be charged for the obvious crime she committed.

The case under investigation concerns common assault, carrying a knife outside a residence, drunkenness, public disturbance and carrying a weapon to incite terror.

 

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