| Country: | Ukraine |
| Details of Formation: | The group became a PGM when the Interior Ministry under Arsen Avakov started supporting it. |
| Details of Termination: | The Interior Ministry officially integrated the group into the National Guard in November 2014, although there are reports stating that this process started in October 2014. |
| Purpose: | The special-purpose battalion was intended to fight armed rebels in the separatist regions, supporting the regular army, and performing tasks such as self-defence and conducting reconnaissance and combat operations. It also guarded police stations, protected borders and was used by the Interior Ministry to participate in the government’s antiterrorist operation. |
| Organisation: | The group was subordinated to the Interior Ministry. It received financial assistance from oligarch and Dnipropetrovsk governor Ihor Kolomoyskyi and oligarch Serhiy Taruta. The commander of the PGM was Andriy Biletsky and there were suspected ties to Oleh Lyashko of the Radical Party. |
| Weapons and Training: | The group was armed with automatic weapons, artillery guns and other heavy weaponry by the Defence Ministry and also received training. |
| Size: | In May 2014 the group had roughly 60 members, a later report estimates the number at 120. |
| Reason for Membership: | Members came from different backgrounds and were reportedly motivated by the commitment to taking the fight for their country into their own hands. |
| Treatment of Civilians: | Human Rights Watch accused the group of unlawful detention, torture, and enforced disappearances. The United Nations also reports unlawful detention and torture, as well as mass looting, rape and the targeting of civilians. The PGM was suspected of ordering attacks on civilians by Russian investigations. |
| Other Information: | The group was linked to Interior Ministry and People's Front Party. It was also linked to the Radical Party of Oleh Lyashko, but this party was not in government until November 2014. There is diverging information about whether it was founded by the Interior Ministry or by like-minded patriots. The group had a strong radical nationalist ideology, used neo-Nazi symbols and had ties to radical right-wing groups. It is sometimes referred to as a private army of oligarchs. According to the Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov the group participated in an attack on the Russian Embassy in Ukraine. Some members were from a variety of other European countries and Russia. Related organisations were the Azov Civil Corps (an NGO) and the political party National Corps. The PGM was based in Mariupol (Donetsk region). It was also referred to as “little black men”. |
| References: |
Human Rights Watch. 2016a. “Human Rights Watch Letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.” https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/07/12/human-rights-watch-letter-prime-minister-justin-trudeau Human Rights Watch. 2016b. “Arbitrary Detentions, Enforced Disappearances, and Torture in Eastern Ukraine.” July 21, 2016. https://www.hrw.org/report/2016/07/21/you-dont-exist/arbitrary-detentions-enforced-disappearances-and-torture-eastern Human Rights Watch. 2017. “World Report 2017: Ukraine.” https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2017/country-chapters/ukraine Information was taken from news sources listed in the PGMD. |