KYIV, May 24 – Thousands of protesters rallied in front of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s apartment building in downtown Kyiv on Sunday demanding resignation of his chief of staff for alleged attempts to revive pro-Russian policies.

Andriy Yermak, a close ally of Zelenskiy, is the key person in designing Ukraine’s Russian policy and has been actively trying to revive the peace process to stop continuous hostilities in Donbas.

The development marks resumption of protests by powerful nationalist groups that fear Zelenskiy may be softening his Russian policy that may undermine Ukraine’s positions in the Donbas war.

The protesters were unhappy with Yermak’s idea to allow separatist residents of Donetsk and Luhansk, two pro-Russian breakaway territories, to join direct peace negotiations. Russia is seen by many as the source of aggression in Donbas, and letting their proxies join the talks would only complicate the conflict.

The protests, which were gaining momentum in March, had been suspended due to the nation-wide lockdown as the country had been struggling with the coronavirus pandemic. The protests are led by the Natsionalniy Korpus (National Corps), Demokratychna Sokyra, and Svoboda groups.

The rally in front of Zelenskiy’s apartment building comes a day after seventeen members of a nationalist group have been detained for attacking the headquarters of Ukraine’s largest pro-Russia political party in Kyiv.

Police said on Saturday that members of the National Corps were arrested for hooliganism after they clashed with security guards and threw smoke bombs, fireworks, and paint cans at the headquarters of the Opposition Platform - For Life.

The party is led by Viktor Medvedchuk, a close associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is godfather to one of the Ukrainian politician’s daughters.

The National Corps is the political wing of the far-right Azov movement that emerged during fighting with Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.

The National Corps have demanded authorities file charges of treason against Opposition Platform - For Life and its leaders.

On March 10, a delegation of Ukrainian lawmakers from the Opposition Platform - For Life met with deputies from the Russian State Duma in Moscow.

The party said the two sides were discussing the creation of a inter-parliamentary element of the Normandy Format, a diplomatic process involving Ukraine, Russia, Germany, and France to end fighting in eastern Ukraine. Medvedchuk reportedly discussed the initiative with Putin. (tl/ez)