some kind of them existed in 2013 − 2014, as an aftermath of the revolution
you would be hard pressed to find any right now, especially armed
local level politicians typically ask different military veteran groups to support their cause & protest, that is always peaceful and is done because of the elevated status of the military in the society.
the ones that used to attack pro-LGBT rallies or Romani people are markedly different groups. These are following in the steps of other European neo-nazi movements and don’t have representation in Verkhovna rada or political influence. Many of those groups are less than 100 − 500 people and are disconnected with each other because of major differences.
I don’t think anybody approves of them, but they are defending the country and are getting killed trying to stop the invasion.
there are ultras who are a different radical group altogether and don’t belong in your definition of “street militia”
in Zakarpattya region you could find local “lords” trying to force their power in 2015. I don’t remember if their gangs were armed or not, but there were major standoffs with police. Being a major contraband path + having a large influence from Hungary (to the point of people having both Hungarian and Ukrainian citizenships), and Russia (through Medvedchuk and his colleagues), it’s always has been a bit of difficult region.
Part of the 2022 war, is certainly that anybody who can fight is on the front lines and not engaging in street milita activities. It makes more sense to look at the pre-invasion state of affairs. After the war, there will also going to be a bunch of armed people who need to find other activities to spend their time.
You can measure the political influence of those groups by the amount of government persecution they get when they commit crimes. Being able to attack an ex-president and afterward getting honored by getting given citizenship suggests massive political influence.
Part of what the EU wants from Ukraine as precondition for membership is to pass a law protecting minority rights. If a president campaigns on being pro-EU and is not able to pass such a law that suggests pretty strong opposition to those. What laws get passed matters more than campaign promises.
I can address the topic of street militias:
some kind of them existed in 2013 − 2014, as an aftermath of the revolution
you would be hard pressed to find any right now, especially armed
local level politicians typically ask different military veteran groups to support their cause & protest, that is always peaceful and is done because of the elevated status of the military in the society.
the ones that used to attack pro-LGBT rallies or Romani people are markedly different groups. These are following in the steps of other European neo-nazi movements and don’t have representation in Verkhovna rada or political influence. Many of those groups are less than 100 − 500 people and are disconnected with each other because of major differences. I don’t think anybody approves of them, but they are defending the country and are getting killed trying to stop the invasion.
there are ultras who are a different radical group altogether and don’t belong in your definition of “street militia”
in Zakarpattya region you could find local “lords” trying to force their power in 2015. I don’t remember if their gangs were armed or not, but there were major standoffs with police. Being a major contraband path + having a large influence from Hungary (to the point of people having both Hungarian and Ukrainian citizenships), and Russia (through Medvedchuk and his colleagues), it’s always has been a bit of difficult region.
Part of the 2022 war, is certainly that anybody who can fight is on the front lines and not engaging in street milita activities. It makes more sense to look at the pre-invasion state of affairs. After the war, there will also going to be a bunch of armed people who need to find other activities to spend their time.
You can measure the political influence of those groups by the amount of government persecution they get when they commit crimes. Being able to attack an ex-president and afterward getting honored by getting given citizenship suggests massive political influence.
Part of what the EU wants from Ukraine as precondition for membership is to pass a law protecting minority rights. If a president campaigns on being pro-EU and is not able to pass such a law that suggests pretty strong opposition to those. What laws get passed matters more than campaign promises.