KIEV, May 28 – Batkivshchyna, Ukraine’s largest opposition party, announced Tuesday it will hold a massive protest march in Donetsk, the stronghold of President Viktor Yanukovych, on May 31.

The party also said the authorities have been putting increased pressure the leader of the party’s regional branch, apparently seeking to disrupt the march.

The plans come less than two weeks after a similar protest in Kiev led to street clashes between opposition supporters and a mob believed to have been hired by the ruling Regions Party.

The Regions Party is thought to maintain a firm control of the Donetsk region and that may provoke a harsh backlash and may trigger violence against opposition protesters.

The march is part of a two-month campaign aimed at energizing opposition supporters throughout Ukraine ahead of the next presidential election in March 2015.

Batkivshchyna said at least 5,000 people will join the march in front of the Donetsk regional administration and asked the local authorities to shut down traffic in downtown Donetsk and to take other measures to make sure there is no violence against the protesters.

Meanwhile, a stage for potential confrontation has been looming after local officials Tuesday announced three other Donetsk organizations, apparently loyal to the authorities, also plan to hold the rally at the same place at the same time.

Maksym Rovynskiy, the head of public relations office at the Donetsk city council, said the authorities will ask Batkivshchyna to reschedule the march or to hold it at a different place.

“We will ask the opposition to hold a rally - not the march - at the Lenin Square,” Rovynskiy said. One of the organizations planning the events is the Youth and Family Department at the Donetsk Administration.

Kostiantyn Mateychenko, the leader of the Batkivshchyna branch in Donesk, has been recently facing increased pressure from the authorities, apparently underscoring attempts to disrupt the march.

“Batkivshchyna is concerned about excessive interest towards this person,” the party said in a statement, adding that the pressure apparently seeks to disrupt the march.

At least three different authorities, including tax police and two courts, have summoned Mateychenko on May 18 - the day of the Kiev protests - to three different venues in Donetsk.

“Batkivshchyna demands to stop putting illegal obstacles and hopes that Mateychenko will be able to join the march on May 31,” the party said.

Interior Minister Vitaliy Zakharchenko was under fire from the opposition groups last week after police had allegedly refused to take steps to prevent the street clashes in Kiev.

Arseniy Yatseniuk, the leader of the opposition Batkivshchyna party, accused top aides of Yanukovych for organizing the clashes to intimidate the opposition supporters. (tl/ez)