Title: Maidan 3.0 or the failure of right-wing revolutionaries.
Author: Rev Dia
Topics: fascism, Ukraine
Date: 24 February 2016
Source: Retrieved on 26th January 2022 from a translation of revdia.org

It did not take long for the state to see state control over all major right-wing associations. On the 20th, the anniversary of the Maidan shooting, the few right-wingers who did not join various “security agencies” under political signs (like Azov) had plans to start a new Maidan, only now in favor of a military regime. The demands of the right mainly concerned the war, anti-terrorist operation veterans, change of government, there was one populist tariff point (and it did not appear immediately), which, apparently, conservative revolutionaries wanted to somehow sweeten the pill of appeals to the junta. Expectations of both the government and the right were significant — only one poster of the call to the 20th shows the main right-wing organizations and associations — C14, Azov, Carpathian Sich and many others. Authorities drove as many National Guard battalions to Kiev as they could afford.

But, not surprisingly, the authorities needed the National Guard only on the first day. In the morning, the OUN battalion destroyed the office of Akhmetov’s company and several banks. Despite the fact that the battalion commander Kokhanevsky took full responsibility, another member of the battalion, former Belarusian political prisoner Vasily Parfenkov, was detained a couple of days later. Also, according to police, 10 more participants were identified, including two minors. Apparently, the Ukrainian authorities do not dare to punish those with whom a serious wave of solidarity can go, but they also do not want to simply ignore the pogroms in the city center.

However, what happened after the morning pogroms can be described as the powerlessness of the radical right, as well as the complete apathy and passivity of society. On Independence Square, a split from Azov and the Right Sector — the Revolutionary Right Forces decided to hold an indefinite rally with the obvious goal of recruiting a critical mass of disgruntled people to stage a coup and establish military power in the country. Basically, that’s why their demands and slogans concerned the military — it was an attempt to mobilize those dissatisfied with the disbandment of volunteer battalions, the tragedies in Ilovaisk and Debaltseve. The only slogan concerning civilians was about tariffs and was expressed rather vaguely. Even the seizure (or rent?) of Kozatsky’s hotel did not help mobilize those who fought in the anti-terrorist operation and were dissatisfied with the government, and the press conference itself was covered only by Channel 17. People were drawn to the protest sluggishly, it was obvious that there was no interest in those who called for protest, and in the protest itself in general. For us, as anarchists, this is, of course, a sad sign that Ukrainian society has temporarily lost the ability to mobilize widely, and even more so now it is impossible without extensive media coverage at the right angle.

In response to the protest, the right-wing authorities launched a broad discrediting campaign. In addition to the fact that first C14, and then Azov opposed the RPS and the Maidan, all social networks and the media began to appear materials about the “hands of the Kremlin” and the provocation of the RPS. Obviously, all this is part of one wave coming from one source.

Once again, it can be stated that large right-wing associations are not a danger to the government, but simple guardians, its best friends. Which can simply be bought and even pushed to disperse the undesirable. C14, which initially called for going to the Maidan, apparently after certain signals to their leader, Yevgeny Karas, decided to radically change its attitude to the new Maidan and began to publish articles against the RPS and the people gathered on the stele. The most amusing accusation was that some RPS activists accused C14 of collaborating with the pro-Russian far-right Resistance group. Didn’t C14 together with the Resistance hold joint concerts and even return their imperial flag after losing on a Russian run?

Azov went further in its love of power and hatred of the revolutionary right. On February 22, its activists tried to expel the speakers from the stage. In their statement, they said that it was not a dispersal, but an attempt to search for those who allegedly went to their base. But in the video, it immediately becomes clear that such attempts to justify themselves look extremely ridiculous, unless Azov’s base is not directly under the stele or in the Globus shopping center. Also on the video was the well-known Roman Zheleznov, nicknamed Zuhel, who apparently has a tradition of cooperation with the authorities and the police.

We will not go on to list other small groups and right-wing parties that, following in the footsteps of their older brothers, have begun chanting the Kremlin’s mantra and provocation for the Russian media. It is becoming clear that for Ukraine now, any protest against or opposition to the government will immediately become the hand of the Kremlin, quarreling our local oligarchs with the people, who, according to the logic of nationalists, must be united in their national impulse. Few right-wing information resources remain to support the new Maidan, organized by radical supporters of the junta.

It can be considered that it is a matter of corruptness of certain people and principledness of others. In our opinion, the right is in this situation again and again, not because their leaders “betray” the idea. No, just the opposite. They implement it. It is in support of the police state, authoritarian rule, in the suppression of all protests and the establishment of a rigid hierarchy that far-right ideas are manifested in practice. This may be difficult to understand for those who knew the ideology of the far right from the “right” articles and pictures, but what is happening with Azov is a standard situation for any militarized far right group. From the RNU to Mosley’s Nazis. From Mussolini’s black shirts to the Death Squadrons. Always and everywhere, the far-right idea in practice leads to the emergence of voluntary “aunts” — people who are ready to serve the state for the idea and help it tighten the nuts. And in the ideal situation — to become the same oligarchs, dictators, Yanukovych or Kolomoisky to rule people like slaves.

If you are right and you want to fight the regime, we have bad news for you. Either you should reconsider your ultimate goal (which is the goal of building a totalitarian regime), or you should join the pathetic “aunts” from Azov, who may well begin their real and direct responsibilities — patrolling the streets, conducting searches, imprisonment of the dissatisfied and protecting the regime from the people.