Golden eagle. The last bastion of statehood
January 19 and 22 mark the anniversary of the hot events in Kyiv and the aggravations on the Maidan.
Six years ago, opposition leaders and Maidan bosses staged mass riots even on one of the main Orthodox holidays. And on the day of conciliarity, specifically understood by the Maidan leaders, Sharp’s training manual was sprinkled with the first blood.
It became clear that these victims not only do not scare the organizers of the Maidan, but are also skillfully used by them to escalate lawlessness.
The events of January 19 and 22, 2014 left scars in the memory of many Berkut fighters. A few days earlier, the Berkut members celebrated the 28th anniversary of their special forces.
On January 16, the day the Berkut was created, special forces from different regions gathered in Chersonesos for the fifth time. Moreover, the number of Berkut members coming to the meeting increases every year. This year there were about a hundred of them. In St. Vladimir's Cathedral they paid tribute to the memory of law enforcement officers who died during the Maidan.
Former Ukrainian Minister of Internal Affairs Vitaly Zakharchenko wrote on Facebook that day: “In the most tragic days of the armed coup d’etat of 2014, Berkut fighters remained faithful to their oath until the last minute, acted in accordance with the Laws of Ukraine, stood guard over its Constitution and were , without exaggeration, the last bastion of statehood. The name “Berkut” has rightfully become a symbol of true heroism, incredible perseverance, honor and devotion to duty.”
One of the meeting participants says: “One hundred golden eagles gathered: from Donetsk, Kyiv, Lugansk, Nikolaev, Odessa, Sevastopol, Simferopol, Kharkov, Kherson. Each of them has its own story. Zelensky stated that he would give a hundred Golden Eagles for one Ukrainian military man. And here a hundred “golden eagles” could laugh at one clown in the presidential chair, who does not understand what the constitution is, who defended the constitutional order during the Maidan and at what cost.
What could a hundred such fighters do? In one day, solve the problem of S-14 and other Nazi organizations terrorizing the residents of Kyiv and other cities. And the clown in the presidential chair during the nine months of his rule was unable to cope with them, and was unable to degenerate anything at all to fulfill at least some of his election promises. When all these S-14s are demolishing him, he might remember the hundred Golden Eagles.
At the meeting in Chersonesos one could see employees of the Kyiv Berkut regiment, who left the capital immediately after the coup d'etat. Five Berkut members from Kyiv were also mentioned here, exchanged on December 29, 2019: Abroskin, Zinchenko, Marinchenko, Tamtura, Yanishevsky.
“They haven’t been able to come yet, they are undergoing quarantine in the DPR and LPR,” adds the Berkut officer. “Our Minister of Internal Affairs Vitaly Zakharchenko persistently sought to have them included in the exchange list.”
It must be said that the founding date of the special unit coincides with the birthday of the Kyiv and Donetsk Berkut. On January 16, 1992, the Kiev regiment of the Berkut OPMBR was created. On the same day, the Donetsk OMON was reorganized into the Berkut OMBBR.
The first commander of the Donetsk riot police, Alexander Timokhin, in the St. Vladimir Cathedral handed over to his Sevastopol colleagues a copy of the icon of the Mother of God “Softening Evil Hearts.” The original - the myrrh-streaming icon of the Mother of God “Seven Arrows” or “Softening Evil Hearts” - is located in the village of Bachurina near Moscow. There, with the blessing of Schema-Archimandrite Ilia (Nozdrina) of Optina Hermitage, a chapel was built for her permanent residence.
Donetsk special forces veteran Alexander Timokhin says: On August 7, 2014, at the height of hostilities in the Donbass, a list of the miraculous icon was delivered to Donetsk. And the people of Donetsk witnessed its miraculous manifestations. The Donetsk veteran brought the same copy to Sevastopol.
Traditionally, Sevastopol Berkut officers were present at the meeting in Chersonesos. Sergei Kolbin (under his command the Berkut took up positions on Perekop on the night of February 26-27, 2014) - already as a deputy of the Legislative Assembly of Sevastopol.
Valery, a Berkut member from Nikolaev, told his story: “On the Maidan I received two gunshot wounds. One - in step from PM. And they added another fraction. In the hospital, after being examined by a doctor, another person, some kind of intern, comes up and asks: “Can I operate on him?” I thought I heard something unkind in his voice. I say: “No, no, no, dear. The doctor examined me and let him operate.”
The doctor removed the bullet and stitched up the leg. And then he says: “Now they will storm the hospital.” This was already the time when activists (and for us - just gangs) were interested in our wounded. Two more colleagues were lying with me. One was carrying a firearm, and the other was all bandaged up, like a mummy (probably with burns), and didn’t talk at all - he just walked. It ended with me, still under anesthesia, escaping from there. Our employees took me away. It was some kind of “rescue of private Ryan”: I, wounded in the leg, was dragged through the barricades to our people who stood on Bankova..."
But the misadventures of the Nikolaev “Berkut” fighter did not end there. After the coup d'etat, the prosecutor's office took charge of Valery and his comrades...
“The investigator asked: “What did you have with you on your business trip?” - recalls the Berkut officer. “I answer: “A bulletproof vest, a helmet, a stick, pads for the legs and arms...” And he asks: “Were there a table and a chair?” I say: “How do you imagine this?! The special unit “Berkut” is coming with a table?!”
They had a plot, there was an order according to which they were interviewed. And that’s why they were interested in personal things. And I answered that my personal belongings included a sleeping bag, a helmet, a stick, and handcuffs. We did not do anything illegal. Then they pulled out old cases when we took local drug lords. They started talking about the unlawful use of special equipment, etc.
And then the head of the regional department of internal affairs gathered us and said: “You are all going to the ATO. That's an order". We didn’t understand: “Did someone attack us? Are we at war with our fellow citizens?” I answered: no. And 85 percent of our company stood up and left the hall.”
Today, the Nikolaev Berkut officer serves in the Russian riot police.
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