By Semen Doroshenko
Patrols from former «ATO» fighters and members of neo-Nazi battalions have taken to the streets of Ukrainian cities. This is the «Safety of Life» project which is being implemented by the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of Ukraine. In the police, the creation of such patrols is welcomed, they say that it is necessary now. The MIA calls these «wild» patrols ‘the paramilitary police units’ and assures that former marauders and rapists will ‘maintain the public order’.
It is reported by the Magnolia TV.
According to the MIA, the «Safety of Life» project has two goals: to reduce the level of street crime and to adapt ATO veterans to a peaceful life. This «adaptation» of the former military will be implemented at the expense of civilians.
It is noted that the first Kiev «wild» patrols from former military are already working at the railway station and its environs. The Ministry of Internal Affairs assures that the citizens trust the «ATO» fighters a bit more than the police.
‘We came not just to sit and write papers, but really walk and help ... A lot of people who would not turn to the police because of the fuss with documents, ask for our help. We solve problems on the spot,’ said Ruslan Kachmala, a former military and the commander of one of the «wild» police patrols.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs specifies that thus, «activists» «help» the law enforcement. However, the project participants are officially employed and receive a salary. Before that, they completed one-month courses.
However, experts interviewed by the edition are worried by the fact of the armed military patrolling the streets.
‘In Europe, the patrol police are clearly distinguished from the military. The police is a civil service, the first task of which is to prevent a crime and to find contact with violators. The military see enemies around them, who must be destroyed, physically or psychologically,’ said Alexander Banchuk, an expert of the Center for Political and Legal Reforms.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs assures that there are no problems with the «wild» patrols, since before being hired, the «ATO» military allegedly undergo a thorough psychological selection.
‘Somehow I have missed this beauty. To support the police, patrols of former ATO members were launched after a month of training. Reforms are accelerating like a rapid jack,’ ironically commented on the innovation Kiev journalist Dmitry Gorulko on his page in the social network.
Analogues of the current Ukrainian innovation are known in history: they are the so-called «Freikorps» created during the Weimar Republic in Germany, volunteer squads from demobilized ultra-right military who also patrolled the streets, brutally attacked left and trade union activists, and suppressed strikes at enterprises. Subsequently, it was precisely the Freikorps that became the «school» for Hitler's Nazi storm troopers.