'Heavenly Hundred' Memorial Destroyed In Kyiv, Suspect Detained

A suspect has been arrested in connection with the destruction of the memorial on Kyiv's Independence Square.

KYIV -- A memorial to the protesters killed by security forces in February 2014 in Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, was destroyed on October 5.

A suspect was later detained for the destruction of the memorial on Kyiv's Independence Square, known as the Monument to the Heavenly Hundred, according to RFE/RL correspondents reporting from the Ukrainian capital.

Zoryan Shkiryak, an adviser to the Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov, wrote on Facebook that the suspect, who was born in 1974 and whose identity was not disclosed, is a resident of Sevastopol in Russia-annexed Crimea, who is currently being held at a police station in Kyiv.

The Heavenly Hundred is a term Ukrainians use for the dozens of people killed when security forces sought to disperse protesters whose demonstrations eventually drove pro-Russia President Viktor Yanukovych from power in February 2014.

After Yanukovych's ouster, Russia seized Crimea by sending in troops and staging a referendum dismissed as illegal by Ukraine, the United States, and most of the world.

The Russian takeover resulted in the imposition of sanctions against Moscow by the European Union and the United States.