Police have reclassified the investigation into an incident involving the beating of journalists into a case on hooliganism, Ukrainian Interior Minister Vitaliy Zakharchenko has said.

Speaking in the session hall of the Verkhovna Rada on Tuesday, he said that on May 18 criminal proceedings were opened under Article 125 (causing minor injuries) and Article 171 (obstructing the activity of journalists) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

"Based on the evidence received, the criminal proceedings were reclassified as hooliganism (Article 296)," Zakharchenko said.

As reported, a conflict erupted between representatives of the opposition and a group of unidentified men on Velyka Zhytomyrska Street in Kyiv at about 1420 on May 18, which later turned into a brawl. The young men began throwing water bottles and stones.

Several people, including Channel 5 journalist Olha Snitsarchuk and Kommersant photographer Vladyslav Sodel, were injured in the incident.

The scuffle took place during the opposition's Rise Up, Ukraine! campaign (on Sofiyska Square) and a Party of Regions rally (on European Square). The incident occurred outside the building of the Ukrainian Interior Ministry's office in Kyiv.

On May 20, it was reported that the leadership of the Ukrainian Interior Ministry's main office in Kyiv had ordered an internal investigation regarding the inaction of law enforcement officers during the incident on Velyka Zhytomyrska Street on May 18.

On May 21, the media liaisons office of the Ukrainian Interior Ministry reported that a suspect in the beating of journalists had been detained.

"We can confirm reports of the detention of a suspect in the beating of journalists Olha Snitsarchuk and Vlad Sodel. The minister will report on the details in the Verkhovna Rada," the media liaisons office told Interfax-Ukraine on Tuesday.