The Council of Maidan Self-Defense Organizes “United Revolutionary Army” throughout Ukraine

The Council of Maidan Self-Defense approved the decision to create and expand the Ukrainian Self-Defense League throughout the nation. The newly founded organization, coordinated by the National Resistance Headquarters in Kyiv, is non-partisan. The announcement was made by Andrey Parubiy, Madian commandant and member of the Batkivshchyna party .

Screenshot of the video from Parubiy’s press conference

According to Parubiy, the main tasks of the Ukrainian Self-Defense League is the coordination, mobilization, and protection of the activists for Kyiv.

“We see a need for our ranks to grow from 10,000 -15,000 to 30,000 – 40,000 people who could get to Kyiv and efficiently oppose the regime. Therefore, in the coming days, our self-defense leaders will go throughout Ukraine to coordinate the activities of all the divisions of defense units that already exist. Where no such units exist, we seek to create them. We are moving beyond the Maidan barricades, because Maidan is not just us here in the capital–it is all of Ukraine”, he said.

The main rank-and-file structures of self-defense will be the regionally grouped Sotni (groups of 80-150 people). Sotni will be coordinated by their regional staff composed of a Chief, a Deputy Chief and an Executive Committee.

“Self-defense has become our offense. Beginning today, self-defense is the resistance. We emphasize that we are preparing a plan for non-violent, but very active, resistance. We will fight local corruption, we will make an effective lustration, we will wage our own information war. We will have our own active revolutionary army. Beginning today, every self-defense fighter is not only a guard, but also revolutionary political soldier,” said Andriy Levus, deputy commandant of the Maidan self-defense.

Currently, Maidan defense consists of 12,000 volunteers.

The day before, on Thursday (Feb. 6), Maidan defense units in Kyiv marched through the government district. They described this act as a warning.

Source: Radio Svoboda

February 7th 2014, Kyiv 18:44

Translated by Vitalii Usenko, edited by Michael Stecyk