Out of 200 declared participants, to the protest meeting against the blockade of Crimea came only 3 persons, the head of staff of the Public blockade of Crimea Lenur Islyamov told on the air of 112 Ukraine.
"Day before yesterday, an application was filed to Genichesk village administration regarding that citizens of 200 people want to come to a peaceful action to protest the Public blockade of Crimea. There were three "signatories" and these three persons now came to the place of meeting. We all held a press conference there, eventually, they said that they planned nothing...Two of three persons declined to participate in protest meeting, saying that they were misled because they did not understand the essence of what was actually happening. No one citizen supported this action any longer," Lenur Islyamov told.
In addition, Lenur Islyamov told that the alternative protest against the blockade of Crimea was organized by people involved in smuggling on the peninsula.
"According to our operational data, we checked who stood behind these people and monitored their movement schedule. Fortunately, our border guards record the movement of these people. One of them few days ago traveled there and at the same time so-called “protection racket” of these taxi-drivers which work there moved behind them,” Islyamov told. And according to his words, they managed to stop such activities.
Earlier, the local police stated that "this is not a protest action. People, mainly taxi drivers, just want to meet and socialize. They wrote an appeal to the local authorities to get a permission for the action".
And according to the Deputy Director General of the channel ATP Eider Muzhdabaev, "this action is organized directly from the Crimea. According to the ATR headquarters, on their data, it is planned to involve several dozens of the taxi drivers and businessmen of Henichesk [Kherson region, mainland Ukraine]".