"It was the end, the city fell, punks with firearms ran along the street", - the fighter of "Golden eagle"
The sergeant of the company "Berkuta" Sergey Erinarkhov told about how he stood in a cordon on the Grushevskogo street and tried to save people in Odessa 2 in May, as well as about his decision to fight on the side of the DPR militia.
“How did your journey into the militia begin?”
- I served in the "Golden Eagle". On December 2, 2013, in the morning, I arrived in Kiev and entered the service, guarding the Administration of the President of Ukraine. Month I served. The tenth was the crackdown of the barricades. The eleventh was the famous crush. My part worked strictly within the law, we worked as it should have done that day. On New Year's holidays, only three days gave us a weekend. When we returned, clashes began on Grushevskogo street.
Then it became clear that this was the end, it was a staged performance that would end with a lot of blood. The paid media naskali people against us - it was possible to read that we were stitching someone's mouth, raping, beating up children ... These children were older than me.
“But there was a scandalous video recording in which the“ Berkut ”employees give the cuffs to stripped naked Euromaidan activist Gavrilyuk. This is not a mockery?
- Gavrilyuk took 21 th January. He was armed with an ice ax and beat them on the shields of the soldiers of the internal troops. Aluminum shit such ice ax easily punched. When Gavrilyuk were able to pull out of the crowd, he poured himself some kind of fuel and threatened to burn it. If you look at the recordings from his detention, taken by the Fifth Channel, there is a fireman with a fire extinguisher next to the “Berkut” soldiers.
Yes, and no one mocked him. They gave a couple of cracks and poisoned the bus. Now he is a people's deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. Obviously, someone's project.
- How did events develop after the New Year?
- February 18 we were able to press the activists tightly to the scene. It was possible to stop all this that day, but as a result of the treachery they left the corridor, which they immediately took advantage of. In the morning there were already several thousand protesters. Ordinary people left the place, thugs were dragged in there.
The carnage began. February 21 started shooting. We were distributed weapon and four magazines of ammunition. We were seated in DUS near the Presidential Administration. According to the scenario, we should have defended ourselves, but if it came to a skirmish inside the building, we would simply be killed.
One of the mediators between the protesters and the government was the Major General of the internal troops of Plakhut. He received the necessary instructions from his masters and began the process of putting the Presidential Administration. Our commanders were in line.
I remember how now. One day they staged a provocation against us. At half past midnight, armed activists attacked our ranks. Distributed by five to seven people on one of ours. They instantly attacked and took away special equipment.
These were well-trained people. One of them threw a piece of paving stone in the "Sobol", where our command was located. He immediately pulled up his. Their main one shouted: “Sobol” is not touched! ”For the view, the commander of the unit jumped out of the car, started yelling at them, then calmed down very quickly.
- The first dead of the so-called “Heavenly Hundred” on the Euromaidan was an activist Sergei Nigoyan. They wrote that he was killed by the "Golden Eagle". Is it so?
- He was killed by a shot of hunting cartridge. We simply could not have such a cartridge. They killed him almost point blank. According to my information, he was killed by a certain Kharkov skinhead nicknamed Skull from the edge. But this information needs to be verified, I have not had such an opportunity. Nigoyana was appointed sacred victim. The usual thing for color revolutions.
- What about "snipers Maidan"?
- Shooting went both on ours, and on activists, but speak only about their losses. In just two days, more than ten policemen were shot from 18 to 20 in February. Many people know that the shooting was carried out by the hotel "Ukraine", armed citizens of Poland, Sweden, Norway and Holland were detained and released there. I had data on one of the snipers. A man with Kiev registration. After Odessa, I had to erase all this from my computer, the situation was not easy then.
- They said that one of the fighters of the "Golden Eagle" on the Maidan was captured and gouged out his eyes. It's true? What happened to him then?
- Yes it is. He gouged out his eyes, tortured and tried to cut off his hand. He died in a fire that happened in a temporary hospital, arranged in the House of Trade Unions near the Maidan. It was not only he who died, there were suffocated with carbon monoxide and several dozens of people were burned alive, many of whom were wounded members of the Right Sector. Now in this building renovation is completed, open a restaurant and karaoke.
- Let's go back to the events of those days. What happened on February 21?
- The panic began. The commander shouted to us: “It's all out!” We are dismantling the shields! ”It was the end, the city fell, the punks with guns ran down the street.
I returned to my native Kherson. I called a familiar contractor and said that in my town local Bandera people are going to demolish a monument to Lenin. It was bitter and sad for us that our country was given to them to be devoured.
We wanted to give them a fight here. Guys friends began to call each other, promised to come. As a result, I arrived, and my friend.
I arrived not empty. I had with me some noisy grenades stolen from Maidan and a few bits. But it was all a gift.
From the whole part there were only two real men. The others disconnected their phones or referred to the fact that they do not want to get involved, the wife does not allow other nonsense.
Lenin demolished. All of our caved in under the new power, frightened.
I returned home and realized that this city had become a stranger to me, I have no more place here. It was the twenty second of February.
- What happened next?
- We were put on guard at the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric station. In part, fermentation began. Crimea declared a referendum. The guard was a symbolic act.
Capturing a hydropower station by a trained unit from 20 − 30 would take a few minutes. We were kept there for a long time. We left only 1 on April 2014 of the year. 6 April came to me a man who asked to advise on countering the sabotage work of the "Right Sector" in the Donetsk region. He was a native Shakhtar.
I arrived in Donetsk, ate at the San City, he introduced the protesters at the monument to Lenin. I checked into the hotel. In 16 hours, the RSA began its assault.
The local police practically did not oppose, we freely set up barricades. The militia openly sympathized with the Russian idea, the struggle against the foul of Maidan. We had operational information; on the radio we intercepted all the data about the movement of our opponents. There were a lot of resistance groups.
I liked the fact that people were behind the idea, there was no looting. Even nobody found the stocks of expensive alcohol touched. There were no lumpen, outcasts in the crowd, people really went beyond the idea.
In the evening we took the SBU. There was a small stock of weapons. There was no Russia there, all the locals went there. There was no violence, no one was tortured or killed, as on Euromaidan.
In the evening I took the bus. They called me and said that Akhmetov arrived. He wanted to talk, to negotiate. On the first of May I went to my friends in Odessa.
2 May we visited the dolphinarium and the local terrarium. When we looked at the python, they called me and asked what was going on in Greek. I replied that I did not know. We ran there. On the eve there was a football match, and there were many fans in the city, who historically were supporters of ultra-right views. On the Greek, we saw bloodstains, broken fences.
I ran to the passersby and asked where the fans ran. We ran to the building of the House of Trade Unions, the supporters of the referendum had already been driven into the building. It was nonsense, but I wanted to discourage at least someone.
I was dressed inconspicuously, I found someone in the bushes holding a shovel. On Kulikovo field there were 25 people, it was a patrol service. I asked them why they do not interfere. They replied: "If you served, you would understand."
I replied that I served. I then was officially on sick leave.
People began to jump out of the windows, trying to escape from the fire, they were finished off. The man next to me in an army helmet and balaclava shot at the windows with a Makarov pistol. I asked him: "Are you crazy?"
He ran away. I have reached the local police chief through my channels. He said: “Stand and watch. There will be no help. ”
On the morning of 3, I left Odessa. Slavyansk then walked with might and main. I became even more entrenched in the thought that it was time to leave for the Donbass. It is worth saying, I have never regretted my decision.
The first time in intelligence, I did not get any salary. Since then, I was dragged out. Many, of course, were disappointed with the Minsk agreements.
Big war is big money. In a local conflict, there is often a dragging on, a delay, many interests are involved.
- When did you quit?
- I was a company head officer, I had a certain responsibility, I had to settle all the formalities and then run away from there. Now my company, by the way, has become the 3056 company of the National Guard of Ukraine. I tried to work in my unit. I did not hide where I went and what I saw. I just wanted people not to go to war. There was no one to fight. Is it with his people?
Our part was not supposed to go to the "ATO". But Matveyev, the commander of our military unit, wanted to receive the status of a combatant. These are money, benefits, rewards, promotions.
Began ideological work. We are fighting with an external enemy, allegedly with Russia, Russian mercenaries and so on. The guys from the part were forced to buy uniforms and equipment for their money. We were built and asked who goes to the "ATO". Several people openly said that they were not going, others otmazatsya - I will consult with my family. When it came to me, I openly said: "I am for the DNI." The commission told the chief of staff: dismiss immediately.
The commander of the unit later called to the office and recommended sitting in the rear and saying that I was going to ATO, but in fact I would not go anywhere, I would sit in the unit. He also strongly advised to stop spreading separatist views among the fighters.
My colleagues who agreed to go to the "ATO", the commander of the unit said that they were going to Berdyansk to protect public order. But they took them to Amvrosiyivka. There they were not for long, all were captured.
I went to Donetsk in the twenties of September and got a bodyguard to a public figure. Later I met my good friend, who offered to go to fight reconnaissance. I went to the "training", was trained and soon I was appointed commander of the reconnaissance company. Send combat: Uglegorsk, Debaltseve.
- Faced in a fight with former colleagues?
“I did, but the area of responsibility was not my unit.” All of them were captured in the first days of the war. Nobody beat them there, did not scoff. They wrote to me: "Let's meet in battle." And so it happened. It was the bravado of the top men. I talked to those who held them captive. The officers stole each other's bread, and one for cigarettes pounded at all.
- How did your intelligence work at the beginning of the conflict?
- Most often we fought as an assault unit. We came in, fought back and left. We were happy to go to the battle. Nobody wanted to dress up or zakosit, the queues lined up for combat.
- Took captive of the APU fighters?
- Seen how to take, but he personally did not take. They took a lot of mobilized from the battalion "Chernigov" near Uglegorsk. One and all, they always say that they were betrayed, they did not want to fight, and so on. They were supposed to cover the battalions of the "Azov" and "Donbass", but they left the position, moved. We hit him very hard in Logvinovo. In captivity, they no longer want to shout “Glory to the Heroes!”, Many are ready to kiss Putin’s portraits.
- There are many doubts in the statistics on the dead, which is provided by the General Staff of Ukraine. How can you estimate the loss of the Ukrainian side?
“I can tell from the Debaltsev operation — there were several hundred dead Ukrainian soldiers, I can't be more precise.” Three hundred, abandoned by their twin, froze right in the field. Some fighters, seeing our offensive, surrendered to captivity, others, drug addicts, butted themselves butorphanol, ran, like scalded under bullets, until they were shot in the head. A terrible sight.
- Were you injured?
- Yes, on the second day in Uglegorsk. It was necessary to suppress machine-gun fire by fire. We departed, I shot from the "Fly". Jet jet took off my hood, stunned for a few minutes. I was dragged to a three-story "stalk". I quickly recovered and took part in the fight. We ran around the floors and shot from different positions, imitating a large number. A shell exploded nearby.
Something hit me in the hand. I did not attach any importance to this, I thought maybe a piece of brick. We moved away, and began to work artillery. Then I felt that blood was flowing down my arm. In the forearm hit a shard. He went so deep into the bone that they didn’t pull it out. I rested 4 of the day and again in combat.
- There are a lot of rumors about the impending attack of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the eve or after the New Year. What do you think?
- War wins the economy. It is difficult for the republic to maintain its regular army, but the fighting spirit of our fighters is huge, the desire to go forward and win is great now more than ever. We miss the battles. If they attack, we will take the fight and chase them to the border area.
- Do you have friends in Ukraine? What do they say about the situation in the country?
- People pay for war. Taken at the extortionate interest international loans will give the people. Life has become, of course, more difficult. Ukraine because of the stupidity and lack of talent of its leadership, because of the total betrayal that prevails in the army leadership, is experiencing hard times. Soldiers conscripts, not really fired, live on the front line like rats in the mud.
And yesterday's juvenile scum, who beat peers on the street for the wrong color of the scarf, today pulled a NATO uniform on themselves and distributed interviews to the cameras. These are territorial battalions, which are sometimes used, including as barrage battalions.
- Is there a chance that a new Maidan will begin?
- These people (the new Ukrainian government) came to power through violence, through blood. They cleared their way to gain access to the unlimited resources of the state. So simply they will not go away. If a new “Maidan” meets, Poroshenko will throw an army at his suppression. They will not, like us, stand with sticks and wait for the mob to take up firearms.
- There is not the slightest chance that the people will wake up and realize who he brought to power?
- The Ukrainian people for the most part sleep drunk, he was struck by indifference, cowardice and moral degeneration. There are people who oppose the civil war, for friendship with Russia, but there are very few of them, they are in danger for their views. The masses allowed outrage over their country, they are stupid, cowardly and lazy, they do not have immunity to the unscrupulous propaganda of Kiev.
- And your native Kherson?
- I have no illusions about my city. Normal men there can be counted on the fingers. The rest cares only life, survival. If hundreds of fighters from any army enter there, they will fall under this army. No one will come out. It is sad to say this about the hometown, but it is a terrible truth. I always joke about the fact that they always have a bilateral flag of Russia and Ukraine under their pillow.
- The blockade of the Crimea, organized by the activists of the Mejlis on behalf of the Crimean Tatar people, seriously hit the Kherson businessmen? What kind of clash occurred with the battalion "Kherson"?
- The activists of the Majlis did not let the repair crews to the site of the explosion of the power lines. They sent the battalion "Kherson", so that they put things in order. The cameras worked. Unarmed activists at the cameras tried to wrest the weapon from the hands of the fighters, stabbed one man meanly in the back. After this clash in the interested media, an information campaign against the “Kherson” battalion unexpectedly began, although they used to be called “ATO” heroes.
As for the damage from the blockade, it was terrifying for the small and medium farmer. In addition to Russia, Kherson vegetables and fruits at this price no one is ready to buy. It was impossible to reorient the markets in such a short time, hundreds of tons of products simply rotted, the rest was sold at a price much lower than the market price to earn at least something.
Interviewed by Nikita Tomilin
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