The formation of self-defense units has begun in Lviv region, Lviv City Council Secretary Vasyl Pavliuk said at a rally protesting the detention of Euromaidan activist Oleh Panas on Tuesday.

"A decision has been made to create self-defense units to prevent situations like the one with Oleh Panas from occurring again," he said.

Pavliuk said there is a tent on Lviv's Euromaidan where people can join this unit.

Pavliuk later told Interfax the decision to create such units had been made at a meeting of the Lviv region's national resistance headquarters. "We are now holding consultations with the councils of the neighboring regions on the expansion of this initiative," he said.

The forms in which such units can function are now being discussed, Pavliuk said, adding that they will be composed mainly of retired military men and law enforcement officials.

Several thousand people, primarily students of Lviv universities, took part in the protest. The students intend to conduct a flash mob to express their solidarity with the young people hurt by the actions taken by the special task police Berkut in Kyiv, and they also plan to hold a picket near the building of the Interior Ministry's Main Department in the Lviv region.