Ukraine government VS Right Sector: who is rocking the boat and for what purpose?

It’s no secret that the government of Ukraine has never been happy with the formation of volunteer battalions in the country. From the very start of the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine it was precisely the volunteer battalions that had succeeded in slowing the advance of the separatist gangs and the regular army of the Russian Federation.

It would seem that the government would fully support those citizens who of their own free will stepped in to defend the country, but in fact the opposite has happened.

The volunteers were not eligible to be awarded military status for their efforts and as a consequence they did not receive a salary, or subsidies, or any compensation, and their family could not count on any government assistance if the breadwinner of the family was killed. Weapons were not provided for the volunteers (many of them used and still use their trophy weapons). Losses among the volunteer battalions were generally not included in official reports. And in separatist captivity the volunteers were treated much worse than were the soldiers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Still, the number of people willing to fight in the battalions of the Right Sector, the OUN and Azov only increased.

The volunteer battalions were at the forefront in all the hot spots, at Donetsk airport, in Pisky, Vodiane, Shyrokine, Saur Mohyla and in Debaltseve. They were indispensable in large-scale battles. But even then they were under pressure. The government simply did not provide them with arms. The conflict seemed to have no end. Any warrior who has fought for months and months, who has witnessed death, has lost friends, and has sacrificed so much for the future of his country would not be satisfied with the empty promises from the government. Whether the enemy of his country is foreign or domestic, he will fight the enemy to the end.

The officials who came to power after the Maidan understood this perfectly well. They realized that sooner or later a new way of life would begin, and not because a presidential candidate said so but because that is what the people of Ukraine want. The old government and oligarchic leadership is incapable of change, though. They are not happy with the fact that so many people in the country are prepared to fight for a new way of life. So the government concentrated its efforts in fighting the patriots who are defending Ukraine instead of fighting the Russian invaders and the separatists who are killing Ukrainian citizens in the Donbas, or fighting the corrupt officials and thieves who have destroyed Ukraine and are continuing to destroy Ukraine even in a time of war as they shamelessly profit from blood and death.  To this day not a single important case has been investigated, be it the old corruption schemes of the previous government, or the mass murder of citizens on the Maidan in January and February, 2014, not to mention the crimes committed by the Yanukovich regime. No mention is made of the thousands of victims who were beaten, injured, and crippled, who were incarcerated for no reason. None of the notorious murders have been investigated: the murder of Sashko Bilyi, committed right after the Maidan, the Trade Union Building arson in Odesa, the murders of the opposition figures which the Russian misinformation machine immediately used for spinning anti-Ukrainian propaganda. In the end, not a single high-ranking separatist has been convicted and put in prison even though the whole country knows who they are. And at the moment when Europe is ready to turn its back on Ukraine due to the lack of reforms the Ukrainian authorities have found no challenge more important than intimidating the volunteer battalions.

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The media is already spreading information that the Minsk Agreement includes provisions in regard to the dissolution of the battalions. And is it a coincidence that actual efforts to disarm and disband the volunteer battalions are being launched right after Mr. Poroshenko’s candy factory was seized in Russia by the Russian authorities?

On April 10th of this year the positions of the volunteer battalions in Pisky were already surrounded by the soldiers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. At that time the soldiers of the Right Sector had agreed to withdraw rather than to confront the troops. They did that knowing that the enemies of Ukraine would immediately use this incident to their advantage. But now, when the battalion isn’t involved in any fighting, why was it necessary to provoke them by surrounding their base with army units? The question remains open…

 Lili des Cévennes, EMPR

EMPR, O.R. conrtibuted to this publication