The opposition People's Committee for the Defence of Ukraine has reported attempts by the authorities to silence the opposition. The committee's press service today issued a statement to this effect.

"While all the state leadership, including (President) Yanukovych, have gone on vacations they did not deserve, gas became 50% more expensive and utility rates went up by 25% on average from August 1 in Ukraine. When signing the Kharkiv agreements, Yanukovych vowed that the gas price for the population would not rise! Moreover, it has been already announced that the price of bread and other food items will rise in autumn. Ukraine will also face a rise in inflation processes, economists say," the committee said.

"In this situation, it is important for the authorities to silence the opposition which has, in fact, taken over the job of informing citizens about the real situation in this country," the press service added.

The committee also said that law-enforcement agencies were used for political purposes, "which proves that Ukraine is turning into a police state".

Also, the committee said that the regional headquarters of the opposition Fatherland party in Cherkasy were searched. "The reason for the search was allegedly an anonymous telephone call about a 'bomb'. Of course, law-enforcers found no 'explosives'. Instead, police searched the place without a warrant and confiscated leaflets which tell the truth about the increase in the price of gas from August 1 and explain that the funds taken from citizens once the price has increased will be used for payments to RosUkrEnergo, as a result of a corrupt deal between RosUkrEnergo and the authorities," the committee said in its statement.