Vigilante justice and informal policing in post-Euromaidan Ukraine

ABSTRACT

During and after the Euromaidan, the Ukrainian society experienced an emergence of non-state groups that combined elements of civic activism and paramilitarism. They operated independently from the state and often used extra-legal violence to restore law and order, deliver justice, and protect Ukraine from external and internal threats. Their conduct closely resembles vigilantism. This article draws on the body of criminological and sociological research on vigilantism in order to understand the diverse landscape of vigilante groups in post-Euromaidan Ukraine. It explores the complex relationship between the most representative vigilante groups, the Ukrainian government, and the political and business elites; analyzes the legal boundaries of vigilantism in Ukraine; and discusses the outcomes of vigilante justice for democratic consolidation, rule of law, and human rights. This article offers a new paradigm for theorizing popular mobilization in Ukraine and sheds light on important dimensions of the formation of an informal system of policing and justice.

KEYWORDS:

• Euromaidan
• vigilantism
• political violence
• volunteer battalions
• Right Sector

Notes

1. In January 2019, Yanukovych was sentenced (in abstentia) to 13 years in prison, having been found guilty of high treason for his efforts to crush the 2014 pro-Western demonstrations that eventually toppled his government.

2. Given the focus of the article on vigilante groups, vigilante acts committed by single persons are excluded from the analysis.

3. Voivode is a general term for military chiefs and principal commanders of a military force.

4. Titushki (Ukrainian, pl.) is an eponymous term derived from the surname of Vadym Titushko, a martial arts amateur from Bila Tserkva, Kyiv region. He physically assaulted a female journalist during an opposition protest in Kyiv.

5. Lustration is a personnel reform that aims to cleanse a new regime from the cadres of the past/previous regime (see more in Zabyelina 2017).

6. “#TrashBucketChallenge Lands Ukraine Politicians in Dumpsters.” 6 October 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6EWEZPO28Q.

7. The High Council of Justice (HCJ) is a collective independent constitutional body of public authority and judicial governance functioning in Ukraine on a permanent basis to guarantee independence of the judiciary, among other functions. The new Council was established following reorganization of the HCJ that had functioned in Ukraine between 1998 and 2016.

8. The official website of the Registry of Judges’ Reports on Interference with Judicial Activities can be accessed in Ukrainian at http://www.vru.gov.ua/add_text/203.

9. In February 2019, the Ukrainian Parliament voted in favor of changing the name of Dnipropetrosvsk Oblast to Sicheslav Oblast, commemorating the Zaporizhian Sich.

10. This category also comprises volunteer territorial defense battalions (Ukrainian: batalyony terytorialnoyi oborony) established in May 2014 in the regions of Ukraine in accordance with the Law of Ukraine No. 1932-XII of 6 December 1991 “On Defense of Ukraine” and the Law of Ukraine No. 1126-VII of 17 March 2014 “On Approval of the Decree of the President of Ukraine ‘On Partial Mobilization.’” They are incorporated into the regular armed forces of the Ministry of Defense (MoD) (e.g. Aidar, Dnipro-2, etc.). Territorial defense battalions played a significant role in providing support to Ukrainian troops in the Donbas conflict. Given the focus of the article on policing, volunteer territorial defense battalions are excluded from the analysis.

11. The National Guard is a military wing of the Ministry of Interior (MoI) with law enforcement functions. It was disbanded in 2000 and re-established in 2014. It is tasked to ensure state security and protect the state’s borders, as well as to respond to terrorist organizations, illegal militias and armed formations, and organized crime groups. See more in the Law of Ukraine No. 876-VII of 13 March 2014 “On the National Guard of Ukraine.”

12. Unified Registry of Nongovernmental Organizations (http://rgo.informjust.ua/) established in accordance with the Constitution of Ukraine (Art. 36) and the Law of Ukraine No. 4572-VI of 22 March 2012 “On Non-Governmental Organizations.” It includes voluntary associations of individuals and/or legal entities that exist to protect rights and freedoms.

13. Official website of Right Sector (Pravyi Sektor): https://pravyysektor.info/pro-ruh.

14. “Yarosh: We Are Not a Formal Agency, We Fight with Trophy Firearms.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VtC7VE6lp8.

15. Official website of the National Brigade (Natsionalni Druzhyny): http://ndrugua.org/.

16. Tornado’s leader, Ruslan Onyschenko, was found guilty of the following counts: Article 146: Illegal confinement or abduction of a person; Article 353: Unauthorized assuming of an office or official title; Article 127: Torture; Article 153: Violent unnatural gratification of sexual desire; and Article 342: Resistance to a representative of public authorities, law enforcement officer, a member of a community formation for the protection of public order, or a military servant. More information about the investigation and trial can be obtained from The Media Initiative for Human Rights at http://tornadocase.tilda.ws/#rec18633265.

17. At the time of writing, the Tornado case had been submitted to the Kyiv Court of Appeal.

Additional information

Funding

This study was sponsored by a grant from the Professional Staff Congress of The City University of New York [PSCCUNY Cycle 49]. The opinions, findings, and conclusions expressed in this publication, however, are those of the author and do not reflect either those of John Jay College of Criminal Justice or The City University of New York.