Olya Polyakova's Concert in Kharkiv: Police Open Case Over Quarantine Violations

More than 2,000 people did not observe mask and distancing requirements.

On Saturday, a concert by Olya Polyakova took place in the Novobavarskyi district of Kharkiv. Investigators opened a criminal case over violations of quarantine requirements. This was reported by “Ukrainska Pravda”.

Police said that despite the ongoing quarantine, the concert took place and was attended by about 2,000 people. Officers of the Novobavarskyi district police department learned on October 1 that a concert would take place on October 3, and wrote a letter to the district administration asking it to provide information about the event.

In the letter, police warned of liability for violations, as Kharkiv has been in the “orange” zone of epidemic danger since September 28. During the concert, police officers explained quarantine rules to citizens and recorded unlawful actions by the organizers.

“An investigator of the Novobavarskyi district police department has entered information into the Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations under Part 1 of Article 325 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — Violation of sanitary rules and norms for the prevention of infectious diseases and mass poisonings. The article provides for penalties of a fine of 17 to 51 thousand hryvnias, or arrest for up to 6 months, or restriction of liberty for up to 3 years, or imprisonment for the same term,” police said.

The local outlet Obiektyv reported that Olya Polyakova's concert was free of charge for Teacher's Day. Directly from the stage, the singer asked spectators to wear masks and keep their distance, but this was difficult in the dancing fan zone. In addition, it was hard for those singing to observe the mask requirement, and a correspondent reported that the entire stadium was singing.