You're reading: Graphic video shows Right Sector fighters killed by Kremlin-backed militants; Yarosh vows revenge (VIDEO)

A video released through the Youtube account the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic confirms reports of the deaths of several activists of the Ukrainian nationalistic Right Sector on Aug. 12.

A Russian-backed militant on the video describes the ambush. “A bus
with the Right Sector… ran into our checkpoint … So, the guys
took up the fight, roughly speaking with no losses,” he says. “This
is it, nothing else to say. This will happen to anyone who show up on
my native land.”

The
young man went on to criticize the Ukrainian government for its
conduct of the anti-terrorist operation, and even praised the dead
Right Sector group which he said “was brave enough” to get here,
rather than shell the militants like the Ukrainian army does.

A video from Russian-backed militants purports to show slain members of the Right Sector, a Ukrainian nationalist politial party, after fighting in Donetsk Oblast. The party confirmed 12 casualties.

It’s
not clear from the video how many people died, but Right Sector spokesman Boryslav Bereza said on his Facebook page on Aug. 12 that 12
people died.

“The
heavenly army has an addition of the souls of 12 warriors. It’s a
tragedy for us. For Ukraine, the death of patriots is a catastrophe.
The best sons of the Motherland are dying. These scums like to take
video of the dead fighters, It’s a fetish for them. We promise that
we will do our best to make sure each of these fetishists gets their
own personal coffin.” Bereza wrote.

Right
Sector leader Dmytro Yarosh also said on his Facebook page that the
death of his people will be avenged. “I’ve
just left for the capital and one of our military units ran into the
bastards. We have terrible casualties… We’ll take revenge!”
Yarosh said. 

There
are different accounts of how many people died, however. Russia’s RIA
Novosti reported on Aug. 12
, citing committee of social
communications of Donetsk People’s Republic, that only seven people
died.

“At
night on Tuesday a bus with armed people unexpectedly attacked our
checkpoint in the village of Mandyrkino (southern suburb of Donetsk).
They shot one of our snipers, after which the militants started
firing heavily at the bus,” the Russian news agency quoted one
militant as saying.

The
same source told the agency that 13 people were wounded and
hospitalized in Donetsk. Several people hid in the sunflower field
nearby, but the militants did not chase them because the fields are
mined, according to the source. The
agency says that the militants discovered Right Sector IDs on the
bodies.

The
agency’s source said that the bus must have got lost during its
attempts to get back to the Ukrainian army check points. The army has
mostly surrounded Donetsk last week.

Kyiv Post+ is a special project covering Russia’s war against Ukraine and the aftermath of the EuroMaidan Revolution.