The chief of the Berkut riot police in Volyn Oblast has revealed that all Volyn members of the Berkut who were transferred to Kyiv during the protests received a bonus of 5,000 to 15,000 UAH. They had also been promised apartments in Lutsk.
Dmytro Beliayev, chief of the Volyn Berkut, provided the information during questioning by Lutsk activists on the local Euromaidan. The commander of the special forces spoke last, after each of the 30 or so members of his unit had been questioned by the activists.
Beliayev said he lives in the village of Prylutske in Kivertsi District of Volyn, but he warned from the outset that he lives with family, including his aunt, who, he says, is not to blame.
“When you burn my house down, keep in mind that my aunt lives there too. She’s not to blame for anything,” Beliayev said.In response, the leader of the Right Sector and the local self-defense, Pavlo Danylchuk, said that, had this been their objective, it would have been done long ago.
“We are not you. We aren’t going to stoop to your level. We want lustration. We want people to change. We will ensure that the people who are complicit in the killing, those who issued orders, [and those] who shot and threw grenades are punished. I, myself, will manage this issue in Volyn,” Danylchuk said.
Dmytro Beliayev then proceeded to describe how events had unfolded starting from November 23, 2014:
“At approximately 3pm on November 23, Oleksandr Tereshchuk, Chief of Internal Affairs in Volyn, ordered the special forces to travel to Kyiv. I have documentation to confirm this. We arrived on the 24th. We came to the Cabinet of Ministers building [and we] numbly guarded the premises. We were then transferred to the Presidential Administration.”
“The guys were paid for this trip. Some more, some less – depending on who stayed longer, whose mother had died, who took turns. Some got 7,000 UAH, some 5,000 UAH, but most received 10,000 UAH,” the chief of the special forces explained. At the same time, he, as commander, received 20,000 UAH then.
“We returned on January 14,” Beliayev recounted. “We stayed in Lutsk until January 21. On January 19, I was at home celebrating the Epiphany with my family. Around 9 p.m., I received notice from the Department of Public Safety (DPS) that there had been an order from the DPS vice chief, militia colonel Serhiy Bolotov, for an emergency relocation to Kyiv. We arrived in Kyiv at 6 a.m. on January 20 and were stationed on Hrushevskiy Street. There were interior troops in front. And behind us there were burning barrels, which is where we warmed ourselves up.”
Beliayev stated that they did not bring a single firearm to Kyiv from Lutsk.
“We brought 30 shields, 35 rubber batons, 80 canisters of gas, 35 sets of handcuffs, and 35 shock helmets. This can all be verified in the registration book. There were grenades there as well. About 6 gas grenades and 7 ‘Teren-7’. Not many because we are a small unit.”
At the same time, the commander of the Berkut unit admitted that weapons were provided in Kyiv.
“Weapons were issued. On the 18th [of February – ed.], when the Cabinet of Ministers building was blocked. We just stood there by the barricade behind the interior troops. I don’t know if it was a sniper, but after they took out twelve of our guys, I brought the boys back and told them I would never place them in the line of fire again. In five minutes, they got twelve men. “
Beliayev said that several Berkut were wounded literally within 5 minutes by an unknown sniper. However, after the 18th [of February – ed.], the Volyn members of Berkut, according to their chief, were simply left behind.
“They gave an order: get yourselves out. All of the troops including patrol service were quietly being moved out and the security was removed from the Parliament on the 21st [of February – ed.]. The first thing I did – and that’s why I didn’t leave: I pleaded all day for people to remove the wounded. As commander, I couldn’t leave my personnel. We left the Cabinet of Ministers and drove to the Kyiv regiment. About twelve units had gathered there. We threw all our equipment onto the street, all our devices, and over the next two days, I drove the boys out – one by one or two by two. Some were picked up by relatives. Once the last one had gone, I left myself.”
According to Beliayev, the weapons were being issued to large units at the Cabinet of Ministers.
“The Dnipropetrovsk Bekut was armed. Large units from eastern Ukraine were receiving weapons. If you check out filed documents in the armament service of the State Security Department, you’ll see my report to Zakharchenko: the chief of the Volyn Berkut, in light of heavy losses in the unit and the reduction of the unit’s combat capability, refuses to receive automatic firearms. What was being issued is not pistols, but Kalashnikovs – 5.45mm.”
Dmytro Beliayev also spoke of how Berkut was funded and who paid out the money.
“I received money. The first time, I received money at the department of physical provisioning and accounting of the Ministry of Interior Affairs of Ukraine. That money was already packaged into bags. I don’t recall how much there was exactly. Around 150,000 to 200,000 UAH for that one time. They told us this was a bonus for our living expenses in Kyiv.”
Beliayev indicated that these funds were controlled by an assistant advisor to one of the Party of Regions MPs. The assistant’s name is Yaroslav. Beliayev also noted that, during the second trip, the unit had been promised apartments in Lutsk.
When asked whether the Berkut had collaborated with the titushkiy, Beliayev answered in the affirmative. According to him, the Volyn troopers did not work with them but occasionally there were people behind their backs who sported yellow ribbons and were dressed up as activists.
“Those who stood behind us and didn’t throw anything had to be let through,” explained the chief of the Volyn Berkut.
Pavlo Danylchuk, the leader of the Right Sector, said that he had obtained information on the fact that the Volyn Berkut had received awards.
Beliayev confirmed that, on December 20 of last year, he received a personalized pistol, while two [of his] men received departmental badges. The personnel received a bonus of 300 UAH. He indicated that he was willing to hand his earnings to the families of those from Volyn who had died.
Like each of the other Berkut there that day, he knelt down and asked the people of Volyn for forgiveness.
Source: 4vlada (http://4vlada.com/testpop/33572)
Video available: Dmytro Chirkov (lutskonline). Dmytro Belyayev: at 12 minutes 30 seconds.
Translated by Lesia Stangret
