RIGHT WING DEVIATION OF THE EUROMAIDAN Information compiled from Ukrainian sources A key role in the events in Grushevskyi Street is plaid by the ‘revolutionary youth’ –without a leader, but ready to move ‘from rhetoric to action’ – the so-called Right Sector. It is a confederation of youth groups. Activists of the Right Sector urged to oppose the ‘Maidan’s pacifists’. ‘Those who will follow the radicals, will possibly sit in the power chair (if they behave badly we will overthrow them),’ wrote the far-right nationalists. The leader of the nationalist VO Svoboda Oleg Tiagnybok has no credibility with them. The Right Sector group is popular among far-right youths. In the social network VKontakte the group has more than 10,000 subscribers. Most of them are less than 30 years old. The supporters of this group declare they became the driving force of provocations in Grushevskyi Street, as well as in Bankova Street on 1 December. The local headquarters of the movement is in the Maidan, those seeking to join can apply to the fifth floor of the Trade Union House which they have occupied or to come to the tent of the Right Sector in the Maidan. The Right Sector’s representatives say that it is quite difficult to find some information about this organisation or movement. The activists are reticent on the internal issues. Representatives of the participating parties or organisations are not seeking to inform about that part of their activities neither. According to the Ukrainian Wikipedia the Right Sector are detachments of Ukrainian nationalists who take an active part in the Euromaidan, and are its radical wing. In fact, it's an informal confederation of several organisations and parties, among which is the Patriot Ukrainy, Social-nationalna assembleia, VO S. Bandera Tryzub, Bilyi Molot, UNA-UNSO, Volia, and others. The Commandant of the Kyiv City State Administration VO Svoboda Deputy Eduard Leonov also specified informality of the organisation. ‘It's a code name of a group of people with similar views on politics, and the prospects of development of Ukraine. These are guys who have fairly drastic, even ‘street’ views, although representing various movements,’ Leonov said. According to him, the Right Sector’s activist tried to form a separate squadron, but abandoned this because of ‘limp’ discipline among fighters. In ‘peacetime’ they are ready to stick to the rules, but at certain moments they are likely to 1 act emotionally rather than rationally and systematically. The First Deputy Head of the VO S. Bandera Tryzub Andrii Tarasenko says their organisation initiated the movement. Now the Right Sector consists of several separate groups of people. After the events in Bankova Street the Patriot Ukrainy ‘laid low’, the UNA-UNSO has been actually acting separately, although the Right Sector coordinates its actions with them. The movement has ‘something like’ a coordination centre, but decisions are not made by voting. ‘We are not democrats; we don't play these games, votes. If we start playing that, we will be absolutely idle,’ Tarasenko said. Activists of the movement are in the squadrons of the Maidan self-defence, and came with them to the police cordon in Grushevskyi Street on 19 January. What happened next is not associated with the actions of some unknown provocateurs which succumbed to the young activists of the movement. There were no orders to storm the cordon. It was just another example of ‘bottom-up initiative’, of self-organisation of people in response to actions of the police. At the same time the Right Sector rejected reports by some media that the movement claimed responsibility for the attack on internal troops and Berkut. Yes, we were at the scene. Yes, we participated –we defended people. But this does not mean that the Right Sector takes responsibility for what happened. The situational and largely accidental association of young radicals in the Right Sector, the lack of an overall ideology binding this movement, of policy objectives, guidelines and even approximate strategy shared by all activists makes it a serious problem for the main parties of the current political conflict. Being uncontrolled, spontaneous and rather eclectic product of Maidan which arose on the soil of irritation by ‘deafness’ of the Government and disillusioned with the opposition leaders, as demonstrated the events of the recent days, can have a decisive impact on intensity and nature of the confrontation, as well as to neutralise the attempts to keep the degree of protests within European standards.’ The Government makes a mistake equating it with the Maidan and trying to talk with young radicals using the language of brute force. Inclined to ‘heroic deeds’ young people only need joint struggle in clashes with security forces, and the ‘romance of revolutionary struggle’ can only unite the disparate groups, help them evolve into a much more monolithic and radical force unified by senses and purposes. And God forbid, joint victims. 2 3 .