Troops and Rumored Disruptions

5 Kanal aired a video which opens with a shot of the Central Elections Committee building in the center of Kyiv. The clip then pans to the left. Hidden behind a fence are what appear to be Spets' Nats' troops. You can view the video here.

The tape aired on the heels of rumors surrounding the recent firing of Yevhen Marchuk, the former Minister of Ukraine's Armed Forces.
A spirited discussion on the opposition website Maidan speculated that Marchuk was dismised because of his refusal to give troops an order to shoot at protesters who may assemble outside the Central Election Committee Building on the day after the Presidential elections to protest anticipated election fraud.

Furthermore, on Sep 30, 2004, the Ukrainianska Pravda website reported that reputed Kremlin adviser Stanislav Belkovskiy said that Ukrainian presidential administration chief Viktor Medvedchuk has secured the Kremlin's support for a scheme to disrupt the upcoming Ukrainian presidential elections. Allegedly, Medvedchuk had recently visited Moscow to present his plan toPresident Putin and his chief of staff Dmitriy Medvedev. Under the plan, the poll will be declared invalid amid violations, and both Yuschenko and Yanukovych will not be able to run in a repeat election. Though there have been rumors for quite some time that the powers that be in Ukraine are not all that happy with Yanukovych as their president designate, who is to replace him is not quite clear. Some of the betting is on Tyhypko.

Less than a month to go to the elections and the situation is becoming more than a little bit tense.