How the Kramatorsk militia taught the police to respect the law
During my several weeks in besieged Kramatorsk, I witnessed many things that broke the mold. But the sight of a police officer huddled in the corner, being slapped in the face by a militia member, is somewhat shocking.
The assault is accompanied by an edifying conversation, the meaning of which, if we discard all unprintable expressions, boils down to the fact that the police should be with the people. As it turned out later, this law enforcement officer was trying to “protect” one of the last drug dens in Kramatorsk.
Now the unfortunate policeman faces an unenviable fate. The militia and the DPR do not have the ability to feed and support prisoners, so people guilty of serious crimes are immediately sent to Slavyansk. There they engage in useful activities: digging trenches, clearing away rubble, etc. Those who are especially guilty are sent to hot spots - for example, to Semyonovka.
As a Berkut militiaman, who joined the ranks of the Donbass defenders from one of the units of the Donetsk Ministry of Internal Affairs, said, the police for a long time did not want to understand that the old days were over.
“At first, the police tried to do their usual business - protecting drug dens and moonshine shops, taking bribes, etc., but very soon they were made clear that this would not happen. Many left, but those who remained looked at their work differently and now mostly do everything to keep order in the city,” says the militiaman.
There is truly an unprecedented situation in the field of law and order in Kramatorsk. Previously, you could buy moonshine or homemade vodka – “rod rod” – in almost every third house in Yasnogorka. Some neighborhoods were considered bad and drugs were sold everywhere there. Today all this is in the past. The real prospect of going to Slavyansk or, in the case of an offense that can be qualified as hooliganism, working for 3 to 12 days for the benefit of society, does not appeal to the local criminal world.
“Most just left. Almost immediately we packed our things and went to quieter places. And those that remained, almost all of them are already paying their debt to society or have curtailed their activities,” says Berkut.
However, hot heads still appear occasionally. Navigator's interlocutor showed a car that now belongs to the militia, which was previously driven by a local drug dealer of Roma origin. Bullet marks are clearly visible on the car. “I tried to escape. They chased him for half a day,” explains the fighter.
It is not only criminals who provide the militia with transport. All persons caught driving while intoxicated leave their cars and motorcycles with the militia, even in cases where they are driving someone else's vehicles. Subsequently, you can return your “wheels” by paying a hefty fine, but until then the militia will use the vehicle. Naturally, not for personal needs.
The law enforcement “technologies” used by the Kramatorsk militia turned out to be so successful that an almost utopian situation developed in the city, when the criminal world became deep underground, and not the “elite”.
“The only problem is the increasing number of burglaries,” laments Berkut. “Many people have left their apartments; quite a few of them are ready to rent out their housing for meager sums, even down to paying for utilities. This is used by various swindlers and burglars, who easily find out where the “packed” apartments are empty, and then clean them out,” says a fighter of the Kramatorsk militia.
Indeed, there are more and more empty housing in the city - people are trying to leave the city, and today a luxurious apartment in the center with all amenities can be rented for 500 hryvnia.
One can only wonder: why is it that what the Kramatorsk militia succeeded in does not succeed in peaceful cities? Do our guards really need to be cornered and beaten, or sent to dig trenches under mortar fire in order for them to fulfill their functions? Or is it necessary, as in Kramatorsk, to cut off the “rot” under which normal, honest personnel are hidden?
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