And the obvious Russian secret service agent, Vyacheslav Fursa, is at large and flying on a charter flight from Kyiv to Moscow.
On the occasion of Right Sector leader Dmytro Yarosh's birthday, I'll tell you how he became the sole leader of this public organization, and subsequently, a political party. This is especially interesting because Right Sector's second leader and founder, Mykola Karpyuk, is currently in prison in the Russian Federation, where he even made a statement about Arseniy Yatsenyuk's participation in the Russo-Chechen War of the mid-90s.
As the politically minded reader may recall, the Right Sector social movement emerged spontaneously in late November 2013 from representatives of the UNA-UNSO political party, the All-Ukrainian organization "Trident named after Stepan Bandera," and several marginal groups such as "Patriot of Ukraine," "White Hammer," "Black Committee," and "Carpathian Sich." The de facto leaders were UNA-UNSO deputy chairman Mykola Karpyuk and Tryzub leader Dmytro Yarosh, assistant and consultant to MP Nalyvaichenko.
After Yanukovych's escape, the people behind Yarosh decided to transform Right Sector into a political party for the elections. But since only parties that had been in existence for at least a year were allowed to participate in the electoral process, the question arose: buy or otherwise acquire the founding documents and seal of an already registered party, hold its congress, and rename it Right Sector.
The easiest way to manipulate this would have been with the UNA-UNSO party, which was effectively led by Karpyuk, one of the founders of the Right Sector (the aging Yuriy Shukhevych was considered the formal leader). But Mykola Karpyuk—a longtime UNSO member, a political prisoner, convicted during Kuchma's time for participating in the March 9, 2001, protest—was against it.
Nevertheless, the congress at which the UNA-UNSO party was supposed to change its name was scheduled for March 22, 2014. The congress took place without Karpyuk, and Dmytro Yarosh became the sole leader of the Right Sector, effectively "raiding" the UNA-UNSO party. On March 29, 2014, Yarosh's associate Andriy Denisenko announced on Shuster Live that Nikolai Karpyuk had been kidnapped in the Chernihiv region by the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation on March 21, 2014.
In fact, Karpyuk arrived in Russia not on March 21, but on March 17, 2014. He was spirited out of Ukraine and handed over directly to the FSB, not by some mysterious spies, but by Vyacheslav Fursa, the head of the Right Sector headquarters in the Kyiv region. Clearly, this was done in agreement with the Russian intelligence service, which was eliminating Karpyuk to prevent him from interfering with the FSB's plans in Ukraine.
To maintain the appearance of legality, the following was done. After partying with Karpyuk in the village of Talalayevka, Nizhyn district, Chernihiv region, Fursa picked up Nikolai and the driver, Ihor Yankovskyi, in his Mercedes, registration number AI 2662 BI. While Fursa and the intoxicated Karpyuk sang patriotic songs, the car crossed the Bachevsk border crossing into Ukraine in Sumy region and drove right up to the barrier on the Russian side. There, FSB officers—now at the Troebortnoye border crossing in the Russian Federation—detained all three, allegedly because the driver failed to follow a border guard's instructions to stop a certain distance from the barrier.
To provide Fursa with an alibi, an administrative report was filed against him, and the following day, by order of a magistrate, he was arrested for 15 days. After serving his sentence, Fursa quietly returned to Ukraine. A similar order was issued against Karpyuk, who was then transferred to Moscow and charged with allegedly participating in military operations in Chechnya.
Over the next year, Nikolai, along with another Ukrainian, Stanislav Klich, who was detained separately, were mercilessly tortured. It's unclear whether Karpyuk actually took part in the Russian-Chechen war—all I know is that he allegedly fought on the Georgian side during the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict. During interrogation, Karpyuk, for laughs, claimed that Arseniy Yatsenyuk had also volunteered to fight among the Chechens—in order to make a mockery of his tormentors.
As for Vyacheslav Fursa, he is a well-known Vyshgorod crime boss who later even ran for parliament, posing as an activist of the Right Sector.
An interesting detail: on January 16, 2014, during the Maidan protests, when Russian media were frightening "dear Russians" with the evil "Right Sector," Fursa flew unhindered to Moscow on charter flight 574. He visited Russia repeatedly after Karpyuk's arrest.
Incidentally, it was Fursa and his men who captured and plundered Yanukovych's Mezhyhirya and Pshonka's estate (in memory of this, Fursa was left with the legendary "golden loaf").
A month after Karpyuk was transported to Russia, Fursa, accompanied by machine gunners, showed up at the office of BRSM-Nafta, a company that owns a chain of gas stations, and, on behalf of the Right Sector, demanded monthly "material assistance." When he refused, he threatened to blow up one of the gas stations. The consequences were immediate: on April 22, 2014, a BRSM gas station in Pereyaslav-Khmelnytskyi was blown up, killing six people.
Fursa also took an active part in arson and explosive planting at other BRSM gas stations, particularly in Brovary, during an attempted corporate takeover by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The attempted corporate takeover culminated in a massive fire at the BRSM oil depot near Kyiv, but, as far as I know, the company's owners have so far resisted the blackmail.
Fursa is also known for founding the so-called "battalion brotherhood," which clearly has ties to Russia's intelligence services. In February 2015, he was arrested for organizing riots near the Presidential Administration building, but was soon released.
A logical question arises: is Dmitry Yarosh involved in all these events? I don't think so. Yarosh doesn't really understand what's going on around him and has no control over the people who call themselves "Right Sector," with the possible exception of a few close associates.
(Published with minor abbreviations.)
—
Vladimir Boyko, published on the author's Facebook page
Subscribe to our channels in Telegram, Facebook, Twitter, VC — Only new faces from the section CRYPT!