National radicals: a role in the current Ukrainian crisis
In full accordance with the canons and testaments of modern propaganda, Ukrainian “loyal” journalists and experts continue to repeat that there are no fascists and neo-Nazis in Ukraine. For a thinking person, the intensity of such negatives speaks volumes of itself. Meanwhile, the fascists and neo-Nazis in Ukraine are not just there, they have been around for a long time and are very active. And the Saturday attack on the Russian embassy in Kiev with the connivance of the authorities is a clear confirmation of this.
What are the Ukrainian national radicals outside of a kind of artificial federation “Right Sector”, created for media purposes? And what should we expect from them today, when the main “revolutionary” function has been fulfilled, and on the “throne”, the far from main candidate, from their point of view, is the candidate? Let's figure it out.
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First of all, it should be noted that the Ukrainian national-radicals for the most part represent strike combat organizations.
Those responsible for ideological work shifted to the parliamentary plane in connection with obtaining the parliamentary status of VO “Svoboda”.
As a result, the national-radical “theorists” (“Freedom”, the Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists, and others) are moving away from practical activity. Therefore, on the Maidan, they were not as prominently represented as outside it. The deputies of Freedom preferred to attack the head of the NTU after the coup, rather than participate in direct clashes with the police and the Berkut. Therefore, militant national radicals today perceive Freedom, which has long been skeptical, as traitors to Ukrainian radical nationalism.
This is quite curious, because “Freedom” has the same roots as its activity as “Patriot of Ukraine”, one of the most aggressive organizations included in the “Right Sector”.
Both inherit the Social-Nationalist Party of Ukraine, which, after transformation at the party level, in VO "Svoboda" simultaneously singled out a street combat unit ("Patriot of Ukraine"). The conflict between these two parts is explained not only and not so much by the differences in the “methodological” part, but by different curators.
VO Svoboda at the national level enjoyed the support and sponsorship of large political parties (the Party of Regions, Our Ukraine and its heirs) and large oligarchs, concentrating its work primarily in the western and central regions. Another thing - today's "Patriot of Ukraine." By the way, “Patriot of Ukraine” (created in 1999, headed by A. Parubiy) was officially dissolved simultaneously with the transformation of the SNPU into “Freedom”.
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But the Kharkov cell, at that moment tiny, refused to carry out the decision and gave birth to that “Patriot of Ukraine”, which is known today. This organization is all-Ukrainian, but is registered in Kharkov, where it has the largest representation. Here, “Patriot of Ukraine” and “Freedom” are directly connected with the notorious “Prosvita”, which positions itself as a humanitarian organization. It is known that the "Prosvita" since perestroika times was supervised by the KGB, then the SBU.
“Patriot of Ukraine” in Kharkov was and remains not just a shock street force, but also a significant tool of secret control. He also participates in the work of the SBU: a part of the “office” has always been a direct cooperation with the city and regional authorities, while the other part in charge of the “Patriot of Ukraine” preferred not to cooperate, but to keep them on a leash. Naturally, such a tool as a militant national-radical organization in such a struggle will not interfere.
“Patriot of Ukraine”, both in Kharkov and in other cities, has its own training bases (in most cases abandoned pioneer camps and military units), where it carried out and carries out “vishkili” - combat training with cold and firearms weapons. It was through the "Patriot of Ukraine" that arms were supplied for national-radicals during the active phase of the Maidan. The infamous shooting in Rymarska in Kharkov near the office of the Patriot of Ukraine (he is also the office of Prosvita) was carried out from such weapons. Today, “Patriot of Ukraine” is a typical “assault squad” in the wings of the special services. A significant part of the personnel structure of this organization is “inscribed” in the punitive battalions “Azov”, “Slobozhanshchina” and “Kharkiv-1”, thus obtaining a completely legal status.
The fact that today the leader of the Patriot of Ukraine, Biletsky, formally leads the southeast wing of the Right Sector, does not at all indicate his subordination to Dmitry Yarosh. Biletsky and his organization have little connection with the Kiev authorities, with Poroshenko and Kolomoisky. Dot sponsorship is not counted. The SBU has real control over the “Patriot of Ukraine”, primarily its Kharkiv branch and personally the main sponsor, Arsen Avakov (and not because of his position). Recruit-source for the "Patriot of Ukraine" were and remain high school students, college students, students and football ultras.
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Yarosh, the nominal leader of the “Right Sector”, is directly connected with the organization “Trident named after S. Bandera” that is no less well-known than the “Patriot of Ukraine”.
“Trident” is an analogue of the “Patriot of Ukraine”, the same fighting wing, just not the SNPU, but the Congress of Ukrainian nationalists. In the past.
Today, “Trizub” is an independent national-radical organization, which emphasizes the anti-communist and anti-Russian struggle (“Patriot of Ukraine” in this regard is biased towards large-scale racism) and actively cooperating with the UNA-UNSO. Like the UNA-UNSO, "Trident" is controlled, first of all, by sponsors from among the oligarchs, as well as by the international "breadwinners" of the right-wing radicals, among whom there are foreign special services.
In contrast to the “Patriot of Ukraine”, “Trident”, which, together with the UNA-UNSO, joined the Right Sector political party, is less inclined to street provocations: they are not interested in media, but in material effects. In this regard, today's "Trident" is different from the very sample of 2010-2011, when its militants blew up a monument to Stalin in Zaporozhye. Today, they will prefer to blow up a political opponent, rather than some kind of symbol.
This is explained by the transition to a completely different level of financing and responsibility: it was Trident that became the central core of the Right Sector on the Maidan and ensured the success of the coup; It is on the "Trident" that financial and arms flows are directed throughout Ukraine. Today, "Trident" is no longer the Kiev version of the "Patriot of Ukraine", but a full-fledged tool of mass political terror. And if “Patriot of Ukraine” is a kind of local version of the SA, then “Trident” is the SS germ, not for “elitism” and qualification, but for its intended purpose.
Today's UNA-UNSO, in the past concentrating in itself all Ukrainian national radicals without exception and “made famous” by the participation of its militants in the Chechen wars on the side of the terrorists, doesn’t differ from the “Trident” anything.
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The Right Sector party, created after the coup, merged Trident and the UNA-UNSO, both ideologically, militarily, and in sponsorship.
The peculiarity of “Trizub” and the UNA-UNSO is their complete independence even from today's fully national-fascist Ukrainian special services and security officials, including Avakov.
Among the politically significant figures in the curators of "Trizub" and the UNA-UNSO, we should first of all call Parubiya and Pashinsky.
In this respect, the national radicals united in the new party are a potential danger even for Poroshenko: their alliance with him is of a short-term nature.
Among other, less significant, national-radical organizations are the Kiev “White Hammer”, “Sich” or “Autonomous Nationalists”.
Today, the absolute majority of Ukrainian national radicals rotate in orbits around the "Patriot of Ukraine", "Trizub" and the UNA-UNSO.
At the same time, these orbits by no means coincide, and, depending on the specific interests of the sponsors and curators, at any moment they can intersect not in a collaborationist, but in a conflict mode. And this will contribute to changes associated with the "accession" of Poroshenko.
Not only they, of course. The unbroken resistance of Novorossia will also play its role: hopes for a blitzkrieg and a daily war were not justified, the war is dragging on, the militiamen are suffering losses, but are gaining experience. Considering that by the level of professionalism they were already head and shoulders above both the ukroarmia and purely punitive battalions, it is not surprising that even today we can observe a sharp decline in combat enthusiasm among the units staffed by personnel of various national-radical organizations.
The Donbass, Azov, Slobozhanshchina, and Dnepr battalions are copies of the SS division Galicia. In modern style. They are suitable only to suppress the uprising of civilians. And when they begin to shoot and kill, they are all the forces trying to change the location and occupation.
Therefore, it should be expected that in the near future, national radicals from military units will switch to other forms of activity that do not imply clashes with an armed enemy. They switch, of course, against their will: by their will, they can only desert from their battalions back to the “street fighters”. And you can be sure that the national-radicals led by various masters will start to enter into direct clash with each other insofar as the interests of their above-mentioned masters will collide.
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Poroshenko’s election has already led to significant personnel changes: Pashinsky left the post of head of the presidential administration — one of the curators of Trizub and the UNA-UNSO (“man with a rifle”). And although the head of the government Yatsenyuk does not seem to be biased, but the power unit is still waiting for the shuffling.
As a result of these shuffles, other curators of national radicals — Paruby, Nalyvaychenko, Avakov — may also be left behind. At the same time, apparently, the rotation will not affect the acting. Minister of Defense Koval, who signed hardly Poroshenko’s personal love after the inauguration. Koval and the army team are in a tense relationship with the militant groups of national radicals: the latter are at the same time competitors and wardens in relation to the army.
Accordingly, with the described changes in Poroshenko’s power unit, official security officials (army, police, SBU) and, partly, football ultras, which he shares sponsorship with other active oligarchs (primarily with Kolomoisky), remain as military tools.
National radicals automatically turn into a way of pressure on the president. And if someone comes to mind to collect, for example, the third Maidan (appointing Poroshenko to the presidency by the Americans is annoying not only the completely “militant” Yulia Tymoshenko), then this Maidan will be equipped with well-armed attack aircraft. Of course, Poroshenko is well aware. He will either try to enlist the support of at least some of the national radicals, or he will try to neutralize them — right up to liquidation.
Given that the national radicals do not have real unity and are controlled by different centers (Kolomoisky, Avakov, Nalyvaychenko, Parubiy), the situation of such “feudal” wars between different national-fascist groups seems most likely. Which, of course, is in the hands of the militia of Novorossia: internal strife is able to weaken the Kiev authorities to such an extent that the rigid position of not recognizing the DPR and the LPR and refusing to negotiate with them becomes technically impossible, since the official security forces will have to fight at least two fronts.
Again, for all the evidence of the intellectual weakness of the Kiev junta, it would be presumptuous to believe that Poroshenko does not see all these problems and dispositions. Therefore, along with neutralization and simple “agreements” with national radicals, a scenario in which they receive an even more “institutionalized” legal status than now is no less likely.
It can be expected that, firstly, the so-called volunteer battalions like “Donbass” and “Azov” will be fully equipped with armaments (including heavy ones) and represent an alternative to the army and motley National Guard, which idea was clearly not possible to translate into reality.
Secondly, the status of these national-radical combat units will be maximized, up to the appointment of their personal combat reserve of the president.
And finally, thirdly, for personnel work in these reorganized “presidential” detachments will try to attract the maximum number of participants of the national-radical organizations and movements we considered, simultaneously concluding agreements with already established associations like the Right Sector and continuing to fight “personal guards "oligarchs and competitors.
However, the manual national radicals of the oligarchs one way or another will play on Poroshenko’s side, which is based on an agreement with “the oligarch of all oligarchs” Kolomoisky. Of course, in this case, the consequences for the militia of Novorossia (especially in those cities where the uprising has not yet moved to an armed level) will be threatening.
- Alexander HAYDAMAK
- http://odnarodyna.com.ua/content/nacional-radikaly-rol-v-tekushchem-ukrainskom-krizise
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