The polygraphic materials and weapon seized during searches of the leader of the Communist Party banned in Ukraine have been sent for forensic tests, Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) Chief Vasyl Hrytsak said.

Petro Symonenko was questioned by the SBU, Hrytsak said in an interview with the 112 Ukraine television channel. "We carried out 24 searches at his home and not only at his home," Hrytsak said.

"Currently we are working with the materials we gathered during these procedures... Investigators ordered expert analysis of the materials, primarily printed matter, on the presence of signs of the crime stipulated in Article 109 of the Ukrainian Criminal Code [calling for violent change or overthrow of the constitutional system or government takeover]," Hrytsak said.

The material also includes a Stechkin automatic pistol with 120 cartridges, he said.

"After analysis the items seized during the search could be admitted into criminal case evidence, and proceedings with Symonenko will subsequently be planned," Hrytsak said.

Symonenko was questioned by the SBU on May 10. SBU spokeswoman Olena Hitlianska said that Symonenko had been questioned as part of a criminal inquiry under Article 109 part one and Article 111 part one (high treason) of the Criminal Code.

On May 8 the SBU carried out searches at Symonenko's home and seized an item looking like a Stechkin pistol. During the searches SBU officers seized propaganda materials calling for constitutional change and government takeover, and seized a Stechkin pistol-like item, with a silencer and 120 cartridges.

Earlier in the day SBU officers searched the homes of senior Communist Party members in and around Kyiv and found propaganda materials containing banned Communist symbols, planned for distribution on Victory Day on May 9.