11 Years Ago: First Firefight of the Russo-Ukrainian War?
An obscure skirmish in Kharkiv that helped decide the fate of the city.
After the success of the Revolution of Dignity in February, Kremlin-organized and supported reactionary chaos spread through the south-east of Ukraine. Followers of Russian ultranationalist and imperialist ideology, both local and not, would come out in their thousands in almost every significant south-eastern city. And while they had little success in the south, the militants in Donbas had developed a loose structure under the fascist Pavel Gubarev. Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, was somewhere inbetween. In early March, just as in every other town like it, Ruscist protests would grow into riots that oversaw takeovers of government buildings and assaults on pro-Ukrainian counterprotestors. However, the Russian ultranationalists in Kharkiv would soon meet their match.
“Back then, the Kremlin wanted revenge for the Maidan. In the south and east, the police would, in best case scenario, wait to see who comes out on top. In early March the pro-Russian forces captured the Kharkiv City Administration. They had all the opportunities to take over the city. However, at the same time our group captured the base of the ‘Oplot’ [pro-Russian militant group] basically bare-handed, and we fought every day in insurgent-like raids.
This is how Andrii Biletskyi, founder of the in/famous Ukrainian “Azov” Special Purpose Brigade and at the time, head of a far-right organization - the “Patriot of Ukraine” (POU), describes his experience fighting for his city in early March 2014. His organization, POU, is a Kharkiv-based semi-paramilitary group that originated in the late 1990s as a civilian support group for the Armed Forces But after budget cuts and changes of leadership it morphed into an essentially full-on neo-nazi group, heavily tied to the Ukrainian ‘social-nationalist’ movement. From the moment it lost its association with the army and the state, it was led by Biletskyi, who turned it into the security wing of the Ukrainian ‘Social-National Assembly.’
The group remained understandably fringe and marginal both in membership and in influence. Its hardline views scared off many potential supporters: on the Chernihiv march pictured above, the slogans included: “White child - bright future!,” “White man - greater Ukraine!,” and an admittedly pretty good verse about the local cops:
"Working's not my thing And I'm too afraid to steal Let me travel to Chernihiv And join the police"
However, POU would emerge in the Ukrainian news cycle as the Yanukovych government started a sudden crackdown. Within a month, most of the leadership of local branches was arrested on sham charges of preparing terrorist acts. Biletskyi himself would first be almost assassinated in October 2011, with the case being flushed down the toilet, and then arrested himself in December. This followed Yanukovych’s general policy of arresting activists and political dissidents, including his rival in the 2010 election Iulia Tymoshenko. And though I am not saying to root for the poor neo-nazis, it was a clearly undemocratic process designed to pre-emptively destroy any opposition to a Yanukovych dictatorship.
After the victory of the Maidan, a general amnesty was issued to those arrested for political transgression, including both little-known activists like Biletskyi and the aforementioned Tymoshenko, whose release was widely celebrated. Upon returning to the chaos-stricked Kharkiv, Biletskiy picked up the remains of his organization and began to combat the Ruscist bands attempting the takeover. For this, he would band together with the local branch of another nationalist organization, ‘Right Sector.’
The city’s ‘Maidanites,’ however, were greatly disorganized, leading to ineffectiveness such as when they failed to defend the City Administration on March 1st. As one member described:
Just so you understand - nobody commanded anyone. 20 minutes before the assault I became head of ‘Right Sector - Kharkiv.’ Andrii Biletskyi managed to reach Yarosh [Right Sector leader], he said: “Well, now you command ‘Right Sector - East.’ But there was no structure! We started working on this. And here’s me, “commander” for 20 minutes, sitting there when Dania runs in and says, “We’re being stormed! Why are you sitting here?”
- ‘Kryk,’ a Right Sector activist
They would headquarter in the patriotic-nationalist ‘Prosvita’ [Eng. ‘education’] club on the Rymars’ka St. Prosvita soon became the center of all anti-Ruscist resistance within the city.
Our boldness seriously complicated the plans of the ‘Antimaidan,’ which is why on March 14th they decided to attack our base at Rymarska St.”
On the evening of March 14th, Ruscist activists armed with all sorts of melee weapons, traumatic pistols, gas grenades, and everything else they could get their hands on, began gathering near the Rymars’ka Street. They included members of the largest Russian ultranationalist organization in the city, the ‘Oplot’ martial arts club, and other locals. But interestingly enough, the event’s main participants arrived from all over Ukraine and Russia under the leadership of a character soon to become infamous: Arsen ‘Motorola’ Pavlov, who would become one of the primary Russian paramilitary leaders later in the year.
Only some 40 ‘Right Sector’ and POU members were inside the building. Their opponents made clear their intention of breaking into the building, presenting not only a threat to the lives of those inside but also a possible extinguishment of organized resistance to the Ruscist agitators in Kharkiv.
First to attack were Ruscist bikers from the “Night Wolves” gang at 6 PM. They blocked off escape routes with their bikes and shot at their Ukrainian counterparts using traumatic weaponry. This grew into a melee brawl, after which the ‘Wolves’ retreated. Now the main group, including ‘Oplot’ and the large contingent led by Pavlov, arrived.
“I think there were several hundred of them there. They were probably organized like they were at the City Administration: a mob with a trained and cohesive group within. The mob acted only as cover for such groups.”
Those inside the building included “civilians” - journalists and regular activists who were in the wrong place at the wrong time. They had to join the energetic defence: several “cocktail bars” were organized to back the enemy off with Molotov cocktails, while one member would constantly run back and forth throughout the building as a ‘messenger pigeon.’ Attackers broke a glass wall on the side of the building and threw in several flashbang grenades, starting a little fire but causing no injuries. According to the defenders, the attackers’ arsenal included some automatic weapons:
“We don’t know what weapons they had, but they sounded automatic. […] One kid who sat on the upper floor in a steel helmet was grazed by a bullet, leaving a characteristic mark on his helmet”
At roughly 22:00 a man living opposite the Prosvita building recorded the events:
The attackers break down the doors and enter the building, only to be met with shots from hunting rifles and shotguns. They scurry back out, losing two men dead and another five wounded in this single incident. This started a slow rout of the mob. From that point on, they would disperse and take occasional potshots.
They saw that we’re ready to kill. To breach into a building, you need a lot more people, some professional equipment and acceptance of the fact that you might die. And so they set up on different ends of the street, periodically shooting from automatic weapons. Some did it covertly, some didn’t bother to hide.
A group of them climbed a neighbouring roof and, carrying riot shields, attempted to advance. The roof was uneven and hard to walk through, and as a flashbang exploded beneath their feet, they began to panic and fall back. According to Danylo, one of them was shouting “Topaz, you bastard, give us some orders!” This referred to the Russian militant Ignat Khromsky, one of the leaders of the Kharkiv ‘antimaidan.” At that point, he already possessed automatic weapons.
“They were seriously disoriented. First of all, Topaz is an idiot. What orders can he give? And second of all, did they not understand what to do themselves? Shoot at us, slowly approach. Get onto the roofs. Suppress our “cocktail bar” with something.”
- ‘Kryk,’ another participant from the Ukrainian side.
Soon, the hostile mob began to disperse as police and ambulances arrived. A number of Kharkiv maidanites who heard of what is happening were also trickling in to support those holed inside ‘Prosvita.’ The police sent a negotiation team - headed by Kharkiv’s former governor and foremost oligarch, Henadii Kernes. A large crowd pf pro-Russian civilians formed outside by morning, hearing of this as a Right Sector attack on pro-Russian protesters. Those inside ‘Prosvita’ were issued an ultimatum. Either they surrender to the police, or the building gets stormed by a special police unit. While Kernes negotiated terms, the rest of the group started to relax.
“Here comes ‘Pidzhak’ with mlyntsi. He said, “if we surrender, we might as well have a snack beforehand. We also had a pot of maccaroni, where ‘Pidzhak’ later hid his pistol.
Leaving was the scariest part. We were surrounded by pro-Russians as we entered the police buses. What if they decided to throw the buses over? What if we came to be in the midst of those who just tried to kill us?
After Rymarska, we arrived to the Ordzhonikizevskyi Police Station. As ‘Vitus’ left the bus, he was immediately beaten by Berkut [infamous riot police unit]. The cops let that ‘Topaz’ [the militant] enter the area with our detained guys. He punched ‘Metan.’ ‘Metan’ told him that he punches like a girl. He hit ‘Metan’ again. Then he came up to me, stared me in the eyes, and moved on. When he came up to ‘Simeinyi,’ he took his head and smashed it against a curb. Meanwhile, two Berkut pigs held him by his arms. ‘Topaz’ would grab heads and hit them against the curbs.
Most of the defenders were let out of police captivity after the arrival of the SBU, who were “confused” and had no idea what to do with them. The police’s hostility can be explained not only by the predominant cynical attitude in the force, but also the fact that one of the wounded was a police officer who assisted the mob in their attack. Again, all of this was blamed on the defenders of Rymarska St., promoted on pro-Russian media as a murder of two innocent protesters by the bloodthirsty Right Sector. Kernes would come out with a public statement condemning the defenders, and would attend the funerals of the two killed.
The firefight at Rymars’ka Street, sometimes called the first one of the war, seems minor and insignificant compared to what followed and especially what is going on now. But without the bravery and fighting spirit of those inside ‘Prosvita,’ whatever horrid political positions they might’ve held, it is likely that Kharkiv would’ve followed the fate of Donetsk and Luhansk.
On the day before there were clashes in Donetsk. They led to the first dead on our side. On the 13th, they killed Dmytro Cherniavskyi. For us, it is very important that the next day we made clear that we are ready to kill too.”
- ‘Kruk’
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