OREANDA-NEWS. 27 Ukrainian law enforcement officers suffered burns to their eyes on Tuesday, February 23, during a clash with nationalists outside the President's Office on Bankova Street in Kiev. This is reported by the website of the Kiev police.

«During the action, the participants used gas sprays. They did not respond to the comments of the police, so the verbal altercations turned into clashes», the police said in a statement. It is also reported, that 24 people were detained, who were released from police departments after «explanations» on their part.

The riots in Kiev were caused by the verdict of Sergei Sternenko, the former «Right Sector» leader in Odessa, who was sentenced to 7 years and 3 months in prison with the confiscation of half of his property. Sternenko was found guilty of robbery and illegal handling of weapons, but was released from criminal liability for kidnapping due to the expiration of the statute of limitations. In 2015, he, as the court found, participated in the kidnapping of the deputy of the Limansky village council of the Odessa region, Sergei Shcherbich.

In Kiev, about 2 thousand people took part in a protest against the verdict, but actions in support of Sternenko were also held in other cities of Ukraine. In particular, in Lviv, about a thousand people took to the streets, and in Zhytomyr, protesters burned tires.