On Monday night, a special group of the Interior Ministry in Rivne region seized over 2.5 tonnes of illegally obtained amber packed for shipping abroad, Interior Minister of Ukraine Arsen Avakov has said.

"An amber shipment of record volume has been seized, according to preliminary assessments, its cost is three million dollars!!! More specifically, the weight and composition of stones in factions prepared for smuggling and their cost will be defined by experts in Kyiv, where the cargo is going right now under armed protection," Avakov wrote on Facebook.

He said the operation was prepared by the Interior Ministry and the State Fiscal Service to uncover and halt the actions of a large criminal group acting in Rivne region which was "leeching from illegal amber production."

"There will be a continuation, surnames will appear – in the past well known and infamous MPs, corrupt law enforcers and officials, - we'll do our job. But! The law regulating state control, production and selling of amber must be adopted, as I said before," Avakov said.

The confiscated amber will be warehoused and then publicly displayed in Kyiv.