You're reading: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Reviled in Kyiv, heroes in the east, Berkut veterans lick their wounds

DONETSK, Ukraine - Yury Sivonenko bristles with pride at the elite police force he was handpicked to train 25 years ago. Known as the Berkut, or “Golden Eagles,” they were a special police unit geared for crowd control and special operations against organized crime. 

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