Self-defense of the Maidan

In December 2013, they were organizationally divided into 17 " hundreds ", each from 70 to 300 people ^[11] . By February 2014, their number reached 12,000 fighters, the goal is to bring the number of organizations to 100 thousand members ^[12] . Organizationally, Self-Defense is divided into 39 "hundreds" ^[13] . The main structural unit of “hundreds” is “ten” (“swarm”) of 8-12 people, which, in turn, can be combined into “chota” (3-4 “swarms”).

The "Maidan Self-Defense" included veterans of special services, as well as participants in the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Chechnya (which mainly served as instructors), as well as students and youth.

On February 11, 2014, the head of the Maidan Self-Defense units announced the creation of the “All-Ukrainian supra-party public movement“ Maidan Self-Defense ”” ^{[14] [15]} . The corresponding Decree No. 1 was signed by Andrey Parubiy .

With the active support of the Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists, Self-Defense Units are also being created in Transcarpathia , Chernivtsi and Lvov ^[16] .

On the night of February 21-22, according to the message of the commandant of the Maidan, Andrey Parubiya, the participants of the "self-defense of the Maidan" units occupied the Verkhovna Rada and the presidential administration ^[17] .

February 22, 2014 appointed by the Verkhovna Rada and. about. Minister of Internal Affairs Arsen Avakov said that representatives of Self-Defense will be included in the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine ^[18] . Valentin Nalyvaichenko , appointed Commissioner for Monitoring the Activities of the Security Service of Ukraine , invited representatives of the Maidan Self-Defense to "joint work" ^[19] .

On February 24, in the village of Gostomel in the Kiev region, a group who presented themselves as “self-defense of the Maidan” broke into the house of the son of the leader of the Communist Party of Ukraine Petro Symonenko . They searched for values ​​and incriminating evidence, and then threw a Molotov cocktail into the house, which caused a fire ^{[20] [21]} . The mansion of the former Prosecutor General of Ukraine Viktor Pshonka, taken under the protection of Self-Defense, was defeated and plundered ^{[22] [23]} .

One of the activists of the Maidan Self-Defense, Mykola Velichkovich, was appointed February 26, 2014 as Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine ^[24] .

Some members of the Self-Defense, getting out of control of the leadership, committed several acts of looting ^{[25] [26]} , stole rare cars from the residence of Viktor Yanukovych ^[27] . The deputy from the "Fatherland" Moskal in late February said that banditry, including looting, robbery and extortion is carried out by people from hundreds of Independence Square ^{[28] [29]} .

According to KAMAZ OJSC , on March 13, 2014, Maidan Self-Defense, near the city of Chernigov , during the drive from Ukraine to Kazakhstan , 43 KAMAZ vehicles worth more than one hundred million rubles were confiscated, and another 150 KAMAZs in stock were threatened with illegal seizure ^{[ 30]} .

In late February, a group of activists, including those from Self-Defense and the Right Sector, threatened to force the deputies of the Irpin city council to assemble for an extraordinary session and vote for the mayor’s resignation. According to the deputy, the threats were as follows: “if you don’t raise your hand, we will cut off your hand, we will be at your place, we will deal with your families, with your property” ^[31] .

On February 28, 2014, draft law No. 4327 “On Guard” was introduced into the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine , if adopted, the legal issues of the Maidan Self-Defense would be settled ^[32] .

On March 12, 2014, the Verkhovna Rada adopted the Law of Ukraine “On the National Guard of Ukraine ”. In accordance with it, military units are formed with law enforcement functions, which are part of the system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine ^[33] . The National Guard is formed on the basis of internal troops, and it includes fighters of the Self-Defense of the Maidan and the "Right Sector" ^[34] . However, on March 18, Dmitry Yarosh stated that not one of his soldiers joined the ranks of the National Guard and his organization would not surrender weapons ^[35] . On March 31, 2014, it became known that out of 450 self-defense defenders training in the National Guard, only 274 expressed a desire to sign up for a contract in the reserve, the rest plan to return to the Maidan or did not fit for health reasons ^[36] .

On March 16, 2014, First Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Yarema announced that from next week all Self-Defense units would be outlawed. According to him, during a meeting with Alexander Turchinov, it was decided to stop the activities of the Self-Defense Forces and consultations are currently being held with the Maidan Council on their disbandment ^[37] .

More specifically, the Prime Minister of Ukraine Arseniy Yatsenyuk ^[38] :

However, the Maidan Self-Defense is not in a hurry to the National Guard of Ukraine, but continues its activities:

• On March 23, 2014, the 11th hundred tried to get into the building of the Russian Center for Science and Culture in Kiev , declaring their desire to use the premises and their property and that their headquarters would now be there, and then stole the center’s car ^[39] .
• On March 23, 2014, several dozens of people from the Maidan Self-Defense in Zaporozhye, armed with hammers, axes and shoulder blades, stones, fittings, sticks and bottles, attacked the Melitopolites who made the Friendship rally. There are wounded, about 10 cars are broken ^[40] .

On April 10, the building of the All-Ukrainian Central Union of Consumer Societies located in the center of Kiev was attacked by Maidan Self-Defense fighters. There were about 80 attackers and they behaved aggressively. According to them, they received anonymous information that valuable documents and equipment would be taken out of the building. This was announced on his Facebook page by the deputy director of the Ucoopsoyuz department, Denis Gorokhovsky ^[41] . Later, a representative of the Self-Defense claimed that the activists did not allow the removal of securities ^[42] . According to Radio Liberty, Maidan’s self-defense still prevented the export of a number of documents from the Ukrkoopsoyuz building. After arriving at the scene, law enforcement officials sealed the machine in which the papers were taken out for further investigative actions ^[43] .

May 16 was the founding meeting of the All-Ukrainian public organization "Self-Defense of the Maidan." The meeting was conducted by the head of the "Maidan Self-Defense", Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Andriy Parubiy. The meeting was attended by representatives of the regions of Ukraine, centurions of self-defense, as well as representatives of battalions of the National Guard, territorial defense, special battalions under the Ministry of Internal Affairs, formed from self-defense activists participating in the military operation in eastern Ukraine. On the same day, the Second Battalion of the National Guard took the oath, consisting of activists of the "Self-Defense of the Maidan", which is also preparing to send "to the front to fight for Ukraine." On May 16, Andrei Parubiy himself was appointed head of the Ukrainian part of the Ukraine-NATO Joint Working Group on Military Reform ^[3] .

Self-defense of the Maidan sets itself the following tasks ^[14] :

• Preserve the sovereignty and unity of Ukraine;
• Defend the European choice of Ukraine;
• Protect the rights and freedoms of citizens;
• Resist the current regime until it is completely eliminated.

In accordance with Order No. 1, among the main functions of the Maidan Self-Defense ^[14] :

• Active opposition to attempts by the authorities to establish a dictatorship in Ukraine;
• Protection of civil rights of Ukrainians, namely the right to fair elections and peaceful protest;
• Countering the influences of the Russian authorities on Ukraine;
• The fight against manifestations of corruption and arbitrariness of officials;
• Purification of power from criminal and anti-Ukrainian elements;
• Maintaining public order in territories free from control by the Ukrainian authorities, as well as expanding such territories, supporting and protecting new effective public administration practices in these territories.

• Andrey Parubiy

• Right Sector (23rd Hundred)
• Vidcic (16th hundred)
• VO "Freedom" (various hundreds)

• * S. Byshok , A. Kochetkov . "Neonazis & Euromaidan: From Democracy to Dictatorship . " ISBN 978-5-8041-0709-4
• We feel like the Ukrainian rebel army of the 21st century
• Hto і vid of okhoronya єvromaydan? . Wolin Post. 01/05/2014
• Self-defense Єvromaydanu: zavadannya, structure, methods of robots . Radio Liberty. 12/21/2013
• Power block of the Maidan
• Klußmann Von Uwe. Konflikt mit Russland: Die fatalen Fehler der Regierung in Kiew (German) // Der Spiegel -online: Online Journal. - 2014-03-03.

• Maidan online - self-defense
• Maidan self-defense on Facebook
• BBC News. Ukraine The far right groups patrolling Kiev (English) . BBC (March 1, 2014). Date of treatment March 2, 2014.
• On the streets of Kiev along with ultra-right patrols (neopr.) . Video report . Russian service of the BBC (March 4, 2014). Date of treatment March 4, 2014.
• Correspondent: Self-defense of the Maidan. And then what? March 12, 2014
• In the fighting hundreds of Maidan, a split is ripening. Vesti March 31, 2014
• Self-defense refused to march with the National Guard.