Jul 14, 2015

Right Sector gets support from volunteer battalions, claims control of Lviv

by Systematic

The Right Sector Cafe in Lviv (Slon Magazine)

Four Ukrainian battalions supported the protest of the “Right Sector” radicals in Kiev. Soldiers of “Aidar”, “Azov”, “OUN” […] and “Tornado” joined the rally in front of the Presidential Administration of Ukraine, informs the television channel “112 Ukraine” .

— Other volunteer battalions, in particular, “Aidar”, “Azov”, “OUN” and representatives of the volunteer battalion “Tornado” have joined this protest. They already have arranged a field kitchen and put up boxes to collect money to replenish their food stocks. On the road, the protesters lit candles in memory of those killed in Mukachevo — said a journalist of the Ukrainian TV channel.

Earlier today Right Sector informed of the intention to conduct a “Chamber” in the center of Kiev next Sunday, July 19th. The venue of the People’s Assembly will be Independence Square. DNR’s Defense Ministry spokesman Eduard Basurin said that the soldiers of “Right Sector” are massively leaving their positions in the Donbass, and heading towards the Ukrainian capital.

For the second day members of the “Right Sector” are holding a rally in front of the Presidential Administration in Kiev and other cities of Western Ukraine. Its participants declare that the protest will be of unlimited duration. Demonstrators in balaclavas demand the resignation of Interior Minister Arsen Avakov and the punishment of security officials who used force against fighters of radical right-wing groups in the Carpathians.

According to Ukrainian media, on the way to the Presidential Administration in the Ukrainian capital, at the corner of the street Institutska on Bankova, three representatives of right-wing groups are checking the documents of all the citizens who want to go to the rally.

President Poroshenko at the meeting of the NSDC [National Security and Defense Council] War Cabinet urged the Interior Ministry and SBU to disarm all illegal armed groups in the country. In turn, the rebels of “Right Sector” stated that the order of President of Ukraine does not apply to them and they do not intend to disarm.

Recall that the battalions “Aidar”, “Azov”, “OUN” and “Tornado” are known for their radical nationalist, fascist and neo-Nazi views. Militants do not always obey the orders of the Kiev authorities and exhibit extreme cruelty in the area of special operations in the south-east of Ukraine. […]

Life News reports additionally:

After a series of explosions at police stations in Lviv, which resulted in several people injured, the local branch of “Right Sector” […] was quick to distance itself from events that were qualified as a “terrorist attack” . The radicals have declared not only not being involved in the bombings, but also talked about their methods of combating street crime.

— Our organization […] actually controls the city to prevent provocations. To this end, we have set up checkpoints around Lviv so that “titushki” [hired thugs] provocateurs can not enter it and do sabotage here, — said the leader of the local Right Sector branch, Taras Kuzyakov. […]