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Right Sector (Template:Lang-uk, Pravyi Sektor) is a Ukrainian militant group consisting mostly of young men with right-wing, ultra right-wing, borderline fascist or neofascist views. Members come from different regions of Ukraine and are both Ukrainophone and Russophone. According to various reports, the organization has between 2,000 and 3,000 active members in Kiev.

Overview

According to some Right Sector members and Right Sector leader Dmytro Yarosh, the organization is affiliated with several small Ukrainian far-right groups including "Trident," Patriot of Ukraine, "White Hammer" and the Ukrainian National Assembly – Ukrainian National Self Defence. One Right Sector member, Andriy Tarasenko, has stated that the organization was set up in late November 2013 and "most participants are just ordinary citizens having no relation to any organizations."

Right Sector does not associate itself with Ukraine's largest nationalist party, Svoboda, which it considers to be too liberal and conformist. In an interview, Yarosh has stated that Right Sector and Svoboda "have a lot of common positions when it comes to ideological questions," but that Right Sector “absolutely don’t accept certain racist things they share.”

Speaking about his attitude towards non-Ukrainians, Yarosh referred to controversial WWII figure Stepan Bandera as a model. For those fighting with Right Sector "for Ukraine," Yarosh stated that they should be treated "as comrades." For those opposing "the Ukrainian people's national liberation struggle," Yarosh stated that they should be treated "in a hostile way." Like many Ukrainian nationalists, Right Sector uses red-and-black symbols, similar to the battle flag of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army.

Andriy Tarasenko in an interview stated, among other things, that territories of Poland like Przemysl should become part of Ukraine and that it should regain nuclear weapons

In the aftermath of the collapse of the Yanukovych government, Yarosh and Victoria Siumar were proposed as possible deputies to the National Security and Defense Council.

On 1 March, the Twitter account of Right Sector leader Dmytro Yarosh asked Dokka Umarov, chechen militant associated with al-Qaeda, for support in Ukraine, and said, that it was a good moment to restore battle against Russia, however, the BBC reported Right Sector press secretary Andriy Skoropadsky as saying this was the work of a hacker.

History

According to Volodymyr Ishchenko, in an op-ed piece on The Guardian, Right Sector was responsible for the violent 1 December 2013 attack on the Ukrainian administration, and has led other violent provocations with police. The leader of Right Sector, Dmitro Yarosh, has stated that Right Sector has amassed a lethal arsenal of weapons.

Right Sector was one of the main actors of the January 2014 Hrushevskoho Street riots during Euromaidan. Unlike most Euromaidan supporters most of the Right Sector activists do not support Ukrainian EU membership, since they consider the European Union (EU) to be an "oppressor of European nations". The group believed that situation in Ukraine during Euromaidan was an opportunity "to destroy the state skeleton" and start building a new state. Right Sector cooperated with the main Euromaidan actors, but often sharply differed with their views. The Ukrainian government has classified Right Sector as an extremist movement, threatening its members with imprisonment.

In February 2014, Right Sector issued a statement warning of the possibility of a terrorist attack by Russian or Ukrainian police operatives, leading the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) to announce that it was on heightened alert. In response, fearing a staged provocation for which it could be blamed, Right Sector stated that it was planning no terrorist attacks and that it opposed terrorist political tactics.

Following the collapse of the Yanukovych government in 2014, Right Sector leaders visited the Israeli embassy in the Ukraine, telling Israeli ambassador Reuven El Din that the group rejects anti-semitism, chauvinism, and xenophobia.

On 1 March 2014, the Right Sector called the "Crimean Tatar People" to a "partisan war against the occupants".

Ideology

The Right Sector regards de-Russification as a just and necessary phenomenon, but that it should not be forced and that they recognize the right of national minorities to the education of their own identity and culture. They view organic de-Russification as a return of ethnic Ukrainians to their language, history and culture.

References

1. Shuster, Simon (4 February 2014). "Exclusive: Leader of Far-Right Ukrainian Militant Group Talks Revolution With TIME". Time. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
2. ^ Profile: Ukraine's key protest figures, BBC News (27 January 2014)
3. Ghosh, Palash (19 February 2014). "Euromaidan: The Dark Shadows Of The Far-Right In Ukraine Protests". International Business Times. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
4. ^ Shuster, Simon (4 February 2014). "Exclusive: Leader of Far-Right Ukrainian Militant Group Talks Revolution With TIME". TIME. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
5. Ishchenko, Volodymyr (7 February 2014). "Ukrainian protesters must make a decisive break with the far right". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
6. McPhedran, Charles; Luigi Serenelli (27 February 2014). "Ukraine protesters unsatisfied with presidential field". USA Today. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
7. "Coup in Ukraine: A warning to the international working class". World Socialist Web Site. 25 February 2014. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
8. ^ Groups at the sharp end of Ukraine unrest, BBC News (1 February 2014)
9. ^ English translation of an interview with the leader of Right Sector by Ukrayinska Pravda's Mustafa Nayem and Oksana Kovalenko. Ukrainian original published by Ukrayinska Pravda on 4 February 2014. English translation by William J Risch, published by Sean Guillory on his blog on 7 February 2014.
10. "Opposition in western Ukrainian region sets up self-defence units". BBC Monitoring Kiev Unit. 10 February 2013. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
11. "Бандерівець". February 2014. Archived from the original on 3 February 2014.
13. Olearchyk, Roman (26 February 2014). "Arseniy Yatseniuk poised to become Ukraine prime minister". Financial Times. Retrieved 27 February 2014. In a bid to appease protesters demanding an end to government corruption, Mr Yatseniuk's cabinet will have civic activists to oversee it. Andriy Parubiy, a lawmaker who served as commander of the protest movement's guards, was chosen to serve as chair of the national security and defence council. Victoria Siumar, a civil society activist, and Dmytro Yarosh, head of Right Sector, a militant protest group, were proposed as his deputies.
14. http://lifenews.ru/news/128197
15. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26405082
16. Ishchenko, Volodymyr (22 January 2014). "Ukraine protests are no longer just about Europe". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
17. "Right Sector confirms its participation in events at Hrushevskoho". Radio Svoboda. 23 January 2014.
18. Radicals a wild card in Ukraine’s protests, The Washington Post (2 February 2014)
19. Eugen Theise, "Radical 'Pravy Sektor' group shifts Kyiv protests to the right," Deutsche Welle World (11 February 2014). Retrieved 01 March 2014.
20. "Ukrainian emergencies service put on heightened alert amid protests". BBC Monitoring Kiev Unit. 12 February. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Check date values in: |date= (help)
21. "Ukrainian right-wing group denies plotting terrorist attacks". BBC Monitoring Kiev Unit. 12 February 2013. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
22. http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2014/02/27/7016529/
23. Message of the Right Sector to the Crimean Tatar People, Statement of the group on vk.com (ukrain.)
24. ""Правый сектор" заявил, что к русскому языку относится по-бандеровски - Крым.comments.ua". Crimea.comments.ua. Retrieved 2014-02-26.

v t e Euromaidan and the Revolution of Dignity
21 November 2013 – 23 February 2014
Main topics	Timeline of the Euromaidan Domestic responses to the Euromaidan International reactions to the Euromaidan Casualties Heavenly Hundred Order of the Heavenly Hundred Heroes Damaged communist monuments
Main events	1 December 2013 riots Fall of the monument to Lenin in Kyiv 11 December 2013 assault Ukrainian–Russian action plan Anti-Maidan Vasylkiv terrorists case Anti-protest laws in Ukraine 2014 Odesa clashes 2014 Hrushevskoho Street riots 2014 RSA occupations Agreement on settlement of political crisis in Ukraine Revolution of Dignity
Aftermath	2014 pro-Russian unrest Timeline Russian military intervention 2014 annexation of Crimea by Russia Timeline War in Donbas timeline First Yatsenyuk government Lustration in Ukraine Decommunization in Ukraine
Elections	2014 Ukrainian presidential election 2014 Ukrainian local elections 2014 Kyiv local election 2014 Crimean status referendum 2014 Donbas status referendums 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election
Main places	Maidan Nezalezhnosti Mezhyhirya Khreshchatyk Lypky Bankova Street European Square Hrushevskoho Street Dynamo Stadium Kyiv City Council Trade Unions Building Ukrainian House Mariinskyi Park October Palace Kyiv Conservatory
European integration	Ukraine–European Union relations Eastern Partnership European Union Association Agreement European Union–Ukraine Association Agreement Constitution of Ukraine
Protest figures	Organizations Maidan People's Union Euromaidan Press Parliamentary opposition parties Batkivshchyna Svoboda UDAR Other parties Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists Democratic Alliance UNA–UNSO United Left and Peasants Civic organizations Automaidan Road Control Vidsich Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People Militant groups Right Sector Spilna Sprava Lead figures Vitali Klitschko Arseniy Yatsenyuk Oleh Tyahnybok Petro Poroshenko Yuriy Lutsenko Oleksandr Turchynov Yulia Tymoshenko Andriy Parubiy Andriy Sadovyi Arsen Avakov Ruslana Tetiana Chornovol Dmytro Bulatov Dmytro Yarosh Refat Chubarov
Anti-protest figures	Organizations Second Azarov government Ministry of Internal Affairs Internal Troops of Ukraine Security Service of Ukraine Berkut Militsiya (Ukraine) Party of Regions Titushky Night Wolves Don Cossacks Antimaidan Lead figures Viktor Yanukovych Mykola Azarov Serhiy Arbuzov Vitaliy Zakharchenko Oleksandr Yefremov Andriy Klyuyev Hennadiy Kernes Mykhailo Dobkin Viktor Pshonka Olena Lukash Yuriy Boyko Leonid Kozhara Dmytro Tabachnyk Oleksandr Klymenko

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