Kyiv's Pechersky District Court has permitted a special pretrial investigation of former Interior Minister of Ukraine Vitaliy Zakharchenko, Ukraine's Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) has said.

"On April 27, 2018, Kyiv's Pechersky District Court agreed with a motion by investigators from the PGO's special investigations department on obtaining permission to conduct a special pretrial investigation of a criminal case involving Zakharchenko," the PGO's press service said.

The PGO said Zakharchenko is suspected of exceeding his own authority and that of law-enforcement agencies as part of a criminal organized group with the aim of preventing meetings, which led to massive casualties among protesters during demonstrations in Kyiv from February 18-20, 2014.

According to the press service, a special investigation is under way with regards to other former high-ranking officials, including disgraced ex-President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych, ex-chief of the SBU Security Service Oleksandr Yakymenko and his deputy, as well as ex-deputy head of the Interior Ministry Viktor Ratushniak and Ukraine's police chief in charge of public safety in Kyiv Petro Fedchuk.