An LGBT festival in the Ukrainian city of Lviv had to be abandoned when the venue was surrounded by about 200 members of far-right groups shouting “Kill, kill, kill” on Saturday.

The planning had been fraught with difficulties as neither the police nor the authorities of the city, a major tourist centre in western Ukraine, gave their blessing to the festival. Venues then began pulling out, saying they would only allow the events if the mayor of the city gave his approval, otherwise they could not guarantee safety.

However, when the mayor of Lviv, Andriy Sadovy, finally broke his silence on Sunday, he appeared to blame the LGBT group and the far-right members in equal measure.

“Yesterday’s events in Lviv are a result of a carefully planned provocation. Participants from both sides were conscious or unconscious parts of the whole picture,” he wrote on Facebook.