Ukrainian Nationalist Volunteers Committing ‘ISIS-Style‘ War Crimes

By Damien Sharkov

9/11/14 at 4:23 PM

Groups of right-wing Ukrainian nationalists are committing war crimes in the rebel-held territories of Eastern Ukraine, according to a report from Amnesty International, as evidence emerged in local media of the volunteer militias beheading their victims.

Armed volunteers who refer to themselves as the Aidar battalion “have been involved in widespread abuses, including abductions, unlawful detention, ill-treatment, theft, extortion, and possible executions”,Amnesty said.

The organisation has also published a report detailing similar alleged atrocities committed by pro-Russian militants, highlighting the brutality of the conflict which has claimed over 3,000 lives.

Amnesty’s statement came before images of what appeared to be the severed heads of two civilians’ started circulating on social media today, identified by Russian news channel NTV as the heads of rebel hostages.

Shortly after, Kiev-based news network Pravilnoe TV reported that it had spoken with one of the mothers of the victims who confirmed her son was a rebel, captured during fighting in Donetsk.

She said she had received her son’s head in a wooden box in the post, blaming nationalist volunteers for her son’s death. …

There are over 30 pro-nationalist, volunteer battalions similar to Aidar, such as Ukraina, DND Metinvest and Kiev 1, all funded by private investors.

The Aidar battalion is publicly backed by Ukrainian oligarch Ihor Kolomoyskyi, who also funds the Azov, Donbas, Dnepr 1, Dnepr 2volunteer battalions, operating under orders from Kiev. Last spring Kolomoyskyi offered a bounty of $10,000 of his own money for each captured Russian “saboteur”. …

“According to the government these volunteers always operate under an overall command and control of one of their regular forces,” Denis Krivosheev of Amnesty International told Newsweek.

Amnesty’s report, however, indicates Kiev’s loose regulation on volunteer groups and its “members… act with virtually no oversight or control”.

Amnesty has asked for Kiev to clarify the legal status and affiliation of its volunteer battalions and fully integrate them into “clear chains of command”, making all of its servicemen aware of international law and implementing “effective investigations” into abuses of human rights.

Meanwhile Norwegian channel TV2 presented footage yesterday of theAzov battalion flying flags with the symbols of Ukraine’s neo-Nazi party – Patriot of Ukraine.

… However, numerous powerful paramilitary groups are reportedly involved in the Ukrainian conflict such as Patriot of Ukraine, Right Sector and White Hammer.

Ukrainian soldiers with Nazi symbols on their helmets, including theswastika and the SS runes of Hitler’s infamous black-uniformed elite corps.

German TV Shows Nazi Symbols on Helmets of Ukraine Soldiers

Germans were confronted with images of their country’s dark past on Monday night, when German public broadcaster ZDF showed video of Ukrainian soldiers with Nazi symbols on their helmets in its evening newscast. In a report on the fragile cease-fire in eastern Ukraine, Moscow correspondent Bernhard Lichte used pictures of a soldier wearing a combat helmet with the “SS runes” of Hitler’s infamous black-uniformed elite corps. A second soldier was seen with a swastika on his gear. “Volunteer battalions from nearly every political spectrum are reinforcing the government side,” the ZDF correspondent said in his report.

The video was shot last week in Ukraine by a camera team from Norwegian broadcaster TV2. “We were filming a report about Ukraine’sAZOV battalion in the eastern city of Urzuf, when we came across these soldiers,” Oysten Bogen, a correspondent for the private television station, told NBC News. Minutes before the images were taped, Bogen said he had asked a spokesperson whether the battalion had fascist tendencies. “The reply was: absolutely not, we are just Ukrainian nationalists,” Bogen said.

via: http://dearkitty1.wordpress.com/2014/09/12/ukraines-own-isis-the-aidar-battalion/