| Country: | Ukraine |
| Details of Formation: | The PGM was set up in 2014 in opposition to the Maidan protesters by supporters of President Yanukovych, namely Alexander Bobkov, who was an MP at the time, and Sergei Arbuzov. |
| Details of Termination: | The group is coded as terminated in February 2014 due to a change in government. |
| Purpose: | The main purpose of the group was to take action against the Maidan movement and officially it served as a civilian police auxiliary. |
| Organisation: | The leader of the PGM was Yevhen Zhilin. One source states that there was some temporary funding from Kharkiv Region's former governor (Mykhaylo Dobkin) and the region’s mayor (Hennadiy Kernes). Financial assistance reportedly also came from the surroundings of Rinat Akhmetov. |
| Weapons and Training: | While news sources report that the group itself provided military training, there is no evidence on it receiving any training or being armed by the government. |
| Size: | -- |
| Reason for Membership: | It is reported that the group consisted of “paid thugs”, although it is not explicitly said whom they were paid by. |
| Treatment of Civilians: | There are reports of attacks against Maidan activists having been perpetrated by the group. The PGM has also been accused of arranging murders. |
| Other Information: | Oplot is a martial arts fight club based in Kharkiv and strongly opposed the Maidan. It had ties to Russia and its name translates to “stronghold” in Russian. The group’s leader Zhilin was imprisoned for murder for three years and owns a security and accounting firm besides the Oplot night club. |
| References: | Information was taken from news sources listed in the PGMD. |