Situationen i Ukraina just nu.

– Kan du tänka dig, de har automatvapen och nu tar de fler vapen, säger mannen till sin fru.

Paret filmar från sitt fönster stormningen av polisstationen i Slovjansk på andra sidan gatan. Tjugo män i balaklavor, militära uniformer och automatvapen tar sig in i en av någon anledning tom polisstation.

De beväpnade ser professionella ut och liknar soldaterna som tog makten på Krimhalvön. Inga militära blåbär utan snarare av typen fallskärmssoldater. Men borgmästaren i Slovjansk en känd Janukovytjsupporter, som dyker upp lagom till stormningen säger att soldaterna inte är ryska.

– Det här är våra egna killar, ni kan vara lugna det är inte några banditer från väst, säger Nelli Sjtepa, borgmästare i en megafon hon får från en av de maskerade.

Few in Ukraine – Including in the East — Support Separatism or Joining Russia, Poll Shows

He calls his troops “the Blue Helmets of Maidan,” but brown is the color of the headgear worn by Delta — the nom de guerre of the commander of a Jewish-led militia force that participated in the Ukrainian revolution.

Under his helmet, he also wears a kippah.

Delta, a Ukraine-born former soldier in the Israel Defense Forces, spoke to JTA Thursday on condition of anonymity. He explained how he came to use combat skills he acquired in the Shu’alei Shimshon reconnaissance battalion of the Givati infantry brigade to rise through the ranks of Kiev’s street fighters.

As platoon leader, Delta says he takes orders from activists connected to Svoboda, an ultra-nationalist party that has been frequently accused of anti-Semitism and whose members have been said to have had key positions in organizing the opposition protests.
“I don’t belong [to Svoboda], but I take orders from their team. They know I’m Israeli, Jewish and an ex-IDF soldier. They call me ‘brother,’” he said. “What they’re saying about Svoboda is exaggerated, I know this for a fact. I don’t like them because they’re inconsistent, not because of [any] anti-Semitism issue.”

But Delta says the Kremlin is using the anti-Semitism card falsely to delegitimize the Ukrainian revolution, which is distancing Ukraine from Russia’s sphere of influence.

“It’s bullshit. I never saw any expression of anti-Semitism during the protests, and the claims to the contrary were part of the reason I joined the movement. We’re trying to show that Jews care,” he said.

Balaclava-clad far-right paramilitaries fire into the air at the funeral in Ukraine of an anti-government protestor. This is not a tribute to a fellow right-wing nationalist, but to a Jewish construction worker, Alexander Scherbanyuk.

Scherbanyuk “was buried with a gas mask, a hardhat, and a kippah,” Likhachev wrote on the website of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress.


The inclusion of a far right group, Right Sector, at Scherbanyuk’s funeral in Chernivtsi on February 23, underlines the diversity of the Ukrainian revolution.
It also shows how Jews and right-wing nationalists get along in today’s Ukraine.

Right Sector is an umbrella organization that represents many groups, including the Neo Nazi Social-National Assembly, Likhachev said. But other paramilitary groups that included Jews also fought under the Right Sector umbrella, he said.

Nationalists and paramilitary groups, like Right Sector, played a small but significant role in the revolution. So, too, did ethnic Russians, Jews and other minorities who now hold key positions in Ukraine’s new interim national and local authorities.

Right Sector assures Israeli Ambassador that they reject antisemitism

“Right sector” leaders have assured Reuven Din El, Israeli Ambassador, that they reject any signs of chauvinism and xenophobia in their ideology. This was discussed during the meeting in the embassy, according to the information on the official website on Thursday.

Yarosh also stressed that all negative phenomena, especially anti-semitism, will not only lack support from “Right Sector”, but will also be persecuted by all lawful means. He ensured that the movement aims to build a democratic Ukraine with transparency in governmental structures, mechanisms to counteract corruption, and equal opportunities for people of all nationalities, the union of which will make possible to build a national state governed by the people. The sides have agreed to create a “hot line” in order to avoid provocations and to find solutions for any further issues that may arise.

"The right sector" offered protection the Odessa Jews

As reports "Forumdaily", the representative of nationalists, the commander of the Ukrainian national self-defense (UNSO) Valery Zagorodny met the chief rabbi of Odessa and the South of Ukraine Abraham Wolf and offered it protection, in particular the help in protection of the Jewish city facilities. Zagorodny noted that the act of vandals isn't connected in any way with "The right sector" and expressed readiness to render assistance in capture of malefactors. Together with Abraham Wolf the commander of nationalists personally painted over part of anti-Semitic graffiti on houses.