Chornobyl cleanup veteran dies of heart attack during rally in Donetsk

A Chornobyl cleanup participant, who died of a heart attack on Sunday when the protesters' tent outside the regional department of the Pension Fund in Donetsk was being pulled down, was a member of the Batkivschyna Party, MP Mykhailo Volynets of the BYT-Batkivschyna faction reported.

"They trampled down pitman Hennadiy Konopliov, who was head of a veteran organization of war participants in the town of Rodynske, and a member of the Batkivschyna Party," the lawmaker said.

Besides, Volynets added that six months ago a drunken police officer drove over a daughter-in-law of the deceased.

"There was no investigation. The police officer is allegedly on a wanted list," he added.

Meanwhile, the Emergencies Ministry's press service noted that at 1230 on Saturday Konopliov turned to the medical personnel who were on duty outside the Pension Fund with a complaint about chest pains, which was registered in a medical book.

"The man was diagnosed coronary artery disease with the symptoms of angina, and offered to be taken to a hospital. The elderly man turned down hospitalization," the press service said.

The Emergency Situations Ministry of Ukraine confirmed police reports that their staff arrived at the building of the Pension Fund to dismantle the tent, according to the rulings of the state enforcement service.

As reported, a tent camp outside the regional department of the Pension Fund in Donetsk set up by Chornobyl cleanup workers on November 14 to hold protests against cutting down social payments was dismantled on Sunday.

After the protesters learned that an elderly veteran died of a heart attack after the demolition of the tent, they tried to storm the building of the Pension Fund department, which ended up in a scuffle between protesters and policemen.