The opposition Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc has said in a statement that members of the Fatherland party, which is part of the bloc, have been persecuted and pressurized in the past few weeks ahead of the local elections scheduled for October 31, the UNIAN news agency reported on August 11.

According to the YTB statement, security officers "attacked" the public reception office of YTB MP Kostyantyn Bondaryev, who heads Fatherland's Kyiv Region office.

In Cherkasy, security officers searched the office of the party's regional branch and seized documents, the statement read. Armed employees of the Security Service of Ukraine stormed Fatherland's office in Crimea, UNIAN reported, quoting the statement.

"The authorities have launched their repressive machine of intimidation, blackmailing and threats against Fatherland members throughout the whole country" in order to seize power ahead of the local elections, the statement read.

SBU employees searched the offices of YTB MP Andriy Senchenko, who heads Fatherland's Crimean branch, and YTB MP Serhiy Velyzhanskiy in Simferopol on the pretext of searching the premises of a company allegedly located at the same address, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported on August 11, quoting Senchenko. The search was unlawful as there was no court order and the offices are registered as the MPs' private property, which can be easily established, the agency added, quoting Senchenko.

The first deputy head of the ruling Party of Regions, Volodymyr Rybak, issued a statement denying the YTB's persecution allegations, UNIAN said in another report on the same day. "Dear ladies and gentlemen, pay taxes and don't steal, and we guarantee you a comfortable and peaceful life in Ukraine," Rybak said in a statement.