Patriot of Ukraine

Patriot of Ukraine

Патріо́т Украї́ни
Patriót Ukrayíny
Patriot of Ukraine Патріо́т Украї́ни; Patriót Ukrayíny
Leader	Andriy Biletsky
Founded	1996; 2005 (relaunch)
Dissolved	2004; 10 December 2014
Succeeded by	National Corps[citation needed]
Headquarters	Kharkiv
Paramilitary wing	Azov Battalion
Ideology	Ukrainian nationalism; Ultranationalism; Ethnic nationalism; Anti-Russian sentiment
Political position	Far-right
National affiliation	Social National Party of Ukraine (1996-2004); All-Ukrainian Union "Freedom" (2005-2008); Social-National Assembly (2008-2014)
Party flag
	Politics of Ukraine; Political parties; Elections;

The Patriot of Ukraine (Ukrainian: Патріо́т Украї́ни, romanized: Patriót Ukrayíny) was an ultranationalist organization in Ukraine founded in 1999, disbanded in 2004, revived in 2005 and defunct since December 2014.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]

In its original form, it was launched in 1999 and became paramilitary wing of the Social-National Party of Ukraine (SNPU), and dissolved in 2004 when the latter rebranded in a less extremist form as Svoboda. Some members of the original group formed one of the constituent elements Svoboda.^[4] Some members of the Patriot of Ukraine refused to disband, and in 2005 Andriy Biletsky relaunched the group and it expanded into a political movement with national reach.^[5]

In its 2005 incarnation, it was affiliated to the Social-National Assembly of Ukraine (S.N.A.), an assemblage of far right organizations and groups^[6]^[7]^[8] founded in 2008 that share the social-national ideology and agree upon building a social-national state in Ukraine.^[9]^[10]^[11] Both the Patriot of Ukraine and the S.N.A. engaged in political violence against minorities and their political opponents.^[5]^[12]^[13]

In an interview to the Left Bank on 10 December 2014, Biletsky announced that the Patriot of Ukraine as political organization suspended its activities due to the war situation in the country and dissolved primarily within the Azov Battalion.^[14]

In 2016, former members of the Azov Battalions and the Patriot of Ukraine founded a new party named National Corps.^{[citation needed]}

^ Cite error: The named reference eus1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference ishchenko was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference wodak was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ ^a ^b Ghosh, Mridula (2013). Ralf Melzer (ed.). The Extreme Right in Ukraine's Political Mainstream: What Lies Ahead?. Friedrich Ebert Stiftung. In its own internal flows of communication and control, Svoboda has always been a top-down organization that does not permit dialogue or encourage critical thinking and dissent. Yet it has made good use of "open" forms of grassroots exchanges, communicating with the public and attracting new recruits via social networks like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and VKontakte. In this context, special mention should be made of the relations that Svoboda has maintained with what may be called the "informal" far-right, a category that includes the neo-Nazi underground, radical football fans, and hooligans. Members of these groups constitute hidden reservoirs of support for Svoboda and its ideology, Among them are those who openly propagate intolerance (e.g., by supporting total bans on immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers), including one part of UNA-UNSO; the Ukrainian National Labor Party and Patriots of Ukraine; skinheads; followers of Hetman Pavel Skoropadskiy; Fans of the Third Hetmanate; and the Delegation of the Right from the regions. There are also those who do not champion racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism, but nevertheless harbor other radical ideas...
^ ^a ^b ^c Cite error: The named reference likhachev was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Shekhovtsov, Anton (2013). "17: From Para-Militarism to Radical Right-Wing Populism: The Rise of the Ukrainian Far-Right Party Svoboda". In Ruth Wodak (ed.). Right-Wing Populism in Europe. Bloomsbury Academic. pp. 249–263. ISBN 978-1780932453. At the same time, Nova Syla's Yuriy Zbitnyev is one of the leaders of the neo-Nazi group Social-National Assembly, an organization that is also close to the younger members of Svoboda, but Nova Syla itself, while remaining on the fringes of Ukrainian politics, is not much influenced by these relations.
^ Brayman, Lolita (28 February 2014). "Ukrainian nationalists strive to shake off allegations of anti-Semitism". Haaretz. Retrieved 12 May 2014. Some Pravy Sektor protesters on the Maidan sported yellow armbands with the wolf hook symbol revealing their specific political party affiliation—that of the Social National Assembly (SNA), a largely Kiev-based neo-Nazi organization. Other more openly anti-Semitic parties are White Hammer and C14, the neo-Nazi youth wing of the Svoboda party.
^ Volodymyr Batchayev; Oleg Martynenko; Yevhen Zakharov. "12. Protection against discrimination, racism and xenophobia". Annual Human Rights Reports / Human Rights in Ukraine, 2009–2010. Helsinki Human Rights Group. Retrieved 12 May 2014. On the public request, the authorities stopped the musical festival «Traditions of Spirit» near Kyiv, scheduled for June 26–27, 2010, under the aegis of the radical «Social Nationalist Assembly» with the goal to promulgate among the youth the ideas of neo-Nazi and chauvinism. During the festival, the performances of ultra-right musical bands were planned («Sokyra Peruna», «Seitar», «Nachtigall», «White Lions»), who in the lyrics of their songs openly approve and show in romantic light the skinhead movement, promote Hitlerist aesthetics, and encourage to harass national minorities.
^ (in Ukrainian) Андрій Білецький (Andriy Biletsky). Український расовий Соціал-Націоналізм – ідеологія організації "Патріот України" (Ukrainian racial Social-Nationalism - ideology of the Patriot of Ukraine). In: Український соціальний націоналізм (Ukrainian social nationalism). (Бібліотека організації "Патріот України". The Patriot of Ukraine library.) Харків (Kharkiv): Патріот України (The Patriot of Ukraine), 2007, с.3-5.
^ (in Russian) Олег Однороженко. Социал-националистическое движение и его основные задачи (Social-nationalistic movement and its agenda). In: Український соціальний націоналізм (Ukrainian social nationalism). (Бібліотека організації "Патріот України". The Patriot of Ukraine library.) Харків (Kharkiv): Патріот України (The Patriot of Ukraine), 2007, с.46-54.
^ Shekhovtsov, Anton (2013). Right-Wing Populism in Europe: Politics and Discourse. A&C Black. p. 256. ISBN 9781780932453. Interestingly, 'street combat movements' like the SNA no longer focus on ethnic issues: in contrast to the older Ukrainian far right, the new groups are, first and foremost, racist movements. Their disregard for the perceived 'Ukrainian versus Russian' ethno-cultural cleavage allows them to gain support from many 'white' ultra-nationalists. Once drawn to these movements, 'white racists' also contribute to the organizational efficiency of the Svoboda party, which is, to reiterate, considered the only representative of 'white racism' in the Ukrainian electoral sphere.
^ Cite error: The named reference ghosh2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Volodymyr Batchayev; Oleg Martynenko; Yevhen Zakharov. "12. Protection against discrimination, racism and xenophobia". ANNUAL HUMAN RIGHTS REPORTS • HUMAN RIGHTS IN UKRAINE 2009-2010. Helsinki Human Rights Group. Retrieved 12 May 2014. As a result of the raid, several Vietnamese containers were closed, together with the goods of the aliens, and the counters of Uzbeks and Gypsies were removed. The majority of Ukrainians, who were at the open air market at that time, were approving of the actions of national-socialists. As it was already mentioned before, Ukrainians entrepreneurs who sell at the market are firmly against aliens, in particular Vietnamese, Gypsies, and Uzbeks, etc., selling their goods there. Ukrainian entrepreneurs were supported by Social National Assembly, and by the organization «Patriot Ukraiiny». With joint efforts, the patriots and the entrepreneurs forced out the majority of aliens from the open air market of Vasylkiv during the last 2 weeks.
^ Shvets, Ye. "Андрій Білецький: "Половина "Азова" розмовляє російською мовою. Але вони вбивають і вмирають за Україну"" [Andriy Biletsky: Half of Azov speaks in Russian language. But they die and kill for Ukraine]. LB.ua. Retrieved 2023-04-05.

[eus1-1] Cite error: The named reference eus1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[ishchenko-2] Cite error: The named reference ishchenko was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[wodak-3] Cite error: The named reference wodak was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[ghosh-4] Ghosh, Mridula (2013). Ralf Melzer (ed.). The Extreme Right in Ukraine's Political Mainstream: What Lies Ahead?. Friedrich Ebert Stiftung. In its own internal flows of communication and control, Svoboda has always been a top-down organization that does not permit dialogue or encourage critical thinking and dissent. Yet it has made good use of "open" forms of grassroots exchanges, communicating with the public and attracting new recruits via social networks like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and VKontakte. In this context, special mention should be made of the relations that Svoboda has maintained with what may be called the "informal" far-right, a category that includes the neo-Nazi underground, radical football fans, and hooligans. Members of these groups constitute hidden reservoirs of support for Svoboda and its ideology, Among them are those who openly propagate intolerance (e.g., by supporting total bans on immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers), including one part of UNA-UNSO; the Ukrainian National Labor Party and Patriots of Ukraine; skinheads; followers of Hetman Pavel Skoropadskiy; Fans of the Third Hetmanate; and the Delegation of the Right from the regions. There are also those who do not champion racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism, but nevertheless harbor other radical ideas...

[likhachev-5] Cite error: The named reference likhachev was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[wodak2-6] Shekhovtsov, Anton (2013). "17: From Para-Militarism to Radical Right-Wing Populism: The Rise of the Ukrainian Far-Right Party Svoboda". In Ruth Wodak (ed.). Right-Wing Populism in Europe. Bloomsbury Academic. pp. 249–263. ISBN 978-1780932453. At the same time, Nova Syla's Yuriy Zbitnyev is one of the leaders of the neo-Nazi group Social-National Assembly, an organization that is also close to the younger members of Svoboda, but Nova Syla itself, while remaining on the fringes of Ukrainian politics, is not much influenced by these relations.

[brayman-7] Brayman, Lolita (28 February 2014). "Ukrainian nationalists strive to shake off allegations of anti-Semitism". Haaretz. Retrieved 12 May 2014. Some Pravy Sektor protesters on the Maidan sported yellow armbands with the wolf hook symbol revealing their specific political party affiliation—that of the Social National Assembly (SNA), a largely Kiev-based neo-Nazi organization. Other more openly anti-Semitic parties are White Hammer and C14, the neo-Nazi youth wing of the Svoboda party.

[helsinki2-8] Volodymyr Batchayev; Oleg Martynenko; Yevhen Zakharov. "12. Protection against discrimination, racism and xenophobia". Annual Human Rights Reports / Human Rights in Ukraine, 2009–2010. Helsinki Human Rights Group. Retrieved 12 May 2014. On the public request, the authorities stopped the musical festival «Traditions of Spirit» near Kyiv, scheduled for June 26–27, 2010, under the aegis of the radical «Social Nationalist Assembly» with the goal to promulgate among the youth the ideas of neo-Nazi and chauvinism. During the festival, the performances of ultra-right musical bands were planned («Sokyra Peruna», «Seitar», «Nachtigall», «White Lions»), who in the lyrics of their songs openly approve and show in romantic light the skinhead movement, promote Hitlerist aesthetics, and encourage to harass national minorities.

[9] (in Ukrainian) Андрій Білецький (Andriy Biletsky). Український расовий Соціал-Націоналізм – ідеологія організації "Патріот України" (Ukrainian racial Social-Nationalism - ideology of the Patriot of Ukraine). In: Український соціальний націоналізм (Ukrainian social nationalism). (Бібліотека організації "Патріот України". The Patriot of Ukraine library.) Харків (Kharkiv): Патріот України (The Patriot of Ukraine), 2007, с.3-5.

[10] (in Russian) Олег Однороженко. Социал-националистическое движение и его основные задачи (Social-nationalistic movement and its agenda). In: Український соціальний націоналізм (Ukrainian social nationalism). (Бібліотека організації "Патріот України". The Patriot of Ukraine library.) Харків (Kharkiv): Патріот України (The Patriot of Ukraine), 2007, с.46-54.

[11] Shekhovtsov, Anton (2013). Right-Wing Populism in Europe: Politics and Discourse. A&C Black. p. 256. ISBN 9781780932453. Interestingly, 'street combat movements' like the SNA no longer focus on ethnic issues: in contrast to the older Ukrainian far right, the new groups are, first and foremost, racist movements. Their disregard for the perceived 'Ukrainian versus Russian' ethno-cultural cleavage allows them to gain support from many 'white' ultra-nationalists. Once drawn to these movements, 'white racists' also contribute to the organizational efficiency of the Svoboda party, which is, to reiterate, considered the only representative of 'white racism' in the Ukrainian electoral sphere.

[ghosh2-12] Cite error: The named reference ghosh2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[helsinki1-13] Volodymyr Batchayev; Oleg Martynenko; Yevhen Zakharov. "12. Protection against discrimination, racism and xenophobia". ANNUAL HUMAN RIGHTS REPORTS • HUMAN RIGHTS IN UKRAINE 2009-2010. Helsinki Human Rights Group. Retrieved 12 May 2014. As a result of the raid, several Vietnamese containers were closed, together with the goods of the aliens, and the counters of Uzbeks and Gypsies were removed. The majority of Ukrainians, who were at the open air market at that time, were approving of the actions of national-socialists. As it was already mentioned before, Ukrainians entrepreneurs who sell at the market are firmly against aliens, in particular Vietnamese, Gypsies, and Uzbeks, etc., selling their goods there. Ukrainian entrepreneurs were supported by Social National Assembly, and by the organization «Patriot Ukraiiny». With joint efforts, the patriots and the entrepreneurs forced out the majority of aliens from the open air market of Vasylkiv during the last 2 weeks.

[shvets-14] Shvets, Ye. "Андрій Білецький: "Половина "Азова" розмовляє російською мовою. Але вони вбивають і вмирають за Україну"" [Andriy Biletsky: Half of Azov speaks in Russian language. But they die and kill for Ukraine]. LB.ua. Retrieved 2023-04-05.

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