The Revolutionary Right-Wing Forces, an ultra-nationalist group that set up a protest camp on Maidan Nezalezhnosti in Kyiv on Feb. 20, says it aims to “open a second front” against the government – in addition to the war front in eastern Ukraine.
The group set up about 10 tents on Maidan
Nezalezhnosti and took over part of the nearby Kozatsky Hotel to establish its
headquarters there. The Revolutionary Right-Wing Forces also engaged in minor
scuffles with National Guard units over the setting up of tents and a stage for
a rally on Feb. 20 and Feb. 21.
They called for impeaching the president,
dissolving the Cabinet, introducing martial law and annulling the Feb. 12, 2015
Minsk ceasefire agreement.
“We decided to meet on Maidan and start the next stage of our revolution
because we think the revolution is not finished,” Igor Gromov, a spokesman for
the group, told the Kyiv Post. “We think we have to open a second front here in
Kyiv because we saw that our government is selling us like chattel.”
If nationalist activists don’t replace the government, it “will kill patriots,”
Gromov claimed.
“We think our government may have a secret plan with (Russian President
Vladimir) Putin to kill the active part of our nation,” he added.
Gromov said, however, that protesters would avoid any provocations and would
demonstrate peacefully. But if the authorities use force against protesters,
the Revolutionary Right-Wing Forces are ready to confront the government, he
added.
“These guys have war experience, and they are ready
to die for the Ukrainian nation,” he said.
The Revolutionary Right-Wing Forces split from
another nationalist group, the Right Sector, last November.
Gromov accused Dmytro Yarosh, the Right Sector’s former leader, of treason and
of working for either Ukrainian or Russian intelligence agencies.
The Right Sector said on Feb. 21 that the Revolutionary Right-Wing Forces were
working against it and accused the group of trying to organize provocations.
Apart from former Right Sector members, the Revolutionary Right-Wing Forces
include war veterans from the Aidar and UNA-UNSO volunteer units and
representatives of the Bily Molot (White Hammer) far-right group.
The group also comprises several Western Ukrainian
battalions that recently split from the Right Sector’s military arm, Andriy
Faflei, commander of Zakhid-4 – one of the battalions – told Ukrainian television
channel 1+1.
Gromov estimated the number if the group’s members
at about 1,000 war veterans and about 1,000 civilians.
The group does not have a single leader and is run by headquarters comprising
about 10 to 15 people, Gromov said.
“We cherish democratic Cossack traditions and
don’t want to allow one person to take all power,” he added.
However, Faflei told 1+1 that the Revolutionary
Right-Wing Forces’ leader is Roman Stoiko, a former Right Sector member accused
of taking part in clashes with the police in the city of Mukacheve last
year.
Kyiv Post staff writer
Oleg Sukhov can be reached at [email protected].
