Evgeny Zhilin is a leader of Oplot, a Kharkiv nongovernmental organization known for cage-match, no-rules fighting.
Now he is violently coming to the defense of
President Viktor Yanukovych agains the anti-government EuroMaidan
demonstrators.
The organization became more famous recently with
a video clip in which Zhilin admits that his team cut off the ear of an
activist with AutoMaidan, the car caravan protests outside the luxury homes of
Ukrainian officials.
In a recent interview with Hromadske TV,
excerpted in detail by Ukrainska Pravda, Zhilin says he’s not afraid of violent
clashes. He called on women to prepare black shawls and men to prepare for blood.
Today, Oplot is part
of Ukrainian Front, the organization created by pro-presidential Party of
Regions leaders under the patronage of the Kharkiv Governor
Mikhail Dobkin and Kharkiv Mayor Gennady Kernes.
“After graduation, I was immediately taken to the anti-organized crime unit. Then I was transferred to the Security
Service of Ukraine, participated in some operations,” Zhilin told Hromadske
Tv. “And after the (2004) Orange Revolution, I was arrested. I spent three years in investigatory
isolation ward accused of various crimes, gave and very grave ones. But then I was justified.
“Then I created a law firm Oplot, audit firm Oplot, charitable foundation Oplot, sports club Oplot, now there is a supermarket Oplot and fight club Oplot.
My parents worked as engineers at the factory named after Malyshev, who produced Ukrainian tanks Oplot, so I called my social organization Oplot, out of respect
for my parents.”
Here’s some of the quotes from his interview:
‘Preparing for possible war’
“Mixed martial
arts in a cage are the most effective forms of
martial sport. I am preparing my people for a possible war. Nobody knows when we’ll have to fight with anyone, just need to be constantly ready.”
‘Russia is not a foreign country’
“I have never been abroad. I love my land and spend money on my people. I was born in the USSR, so Russia is not a foreign country. I am sure that sooner or later we will again unite with Commonwealth
of Independent States countries. I want neither Russia nor the EU and the United States to meddle in Ukraine’s affairs.”
Against ‘gatherings on Maidan’
“There is a situation that I do not like. This is gatherings on Maidan, seizure of administrative buildings,
holding illegal meetings and resistance to police officers requirements and assault
on police officers. Peaceful protest is when you go out and
speak your mind. You have the right to gather, and I have the right to drive on Khreschatyk. If you exercise your rights at the expense of mine, you are an intruder.”
‘Do not like that people put pressure on my president’
“As (opposition leader Vitali) Klitschko said, according to the
current constitution, the president is the only one who decides where we are
going, and I also do not like it much. Talking about Yanukovych, if you do not like him, you can elect another
one in 2015. You know, in politics people often bluff. So did Yanukovych. And I do not like that people put pressure on my president, it
offends me.”
‘We chose him’
“But we chose him, I voted for him, he is the
legitimate president of our nation, and I would like it to be respected only for the fact that
it is the choice of the majority. I wish that he was
tougher. I require tougher measures from him. I am dissatisfied with him not acting according to the law. I want him to act in
accordance with the laws, to protect me. You may not believe, but today I feel defenseless. When things like Maidan
happen – it is necessary to impose emergency
rule, and people will understand you.”
Question & answer
Q: “If the court is controlled by the authorities, how to determine level of corruption?”
A: “That’s the system we have, we elected this kind of power.
Q: “What should those do, who do not want to serve a three-year term while being innocent?”
A: “Serve a term. There is no other way to protect the rights.”
‘Division of the country is inevitable’
One part of the population will commit violence against the other in
any change of power… It means we need to change the constitution,
there is no alternative. Part us with border, let their federation, the Galicia have its heroes, and my federation – mine. There can be no common ground with the
different heroes. Division of the country is inevitable. I would not like it, but maybe
that’s a better way.
‘This chaos is caused by’ EuroMaidan
During the wartime, law enforcement system can hardly work. And this chaos is caused by Maidan. They broke the system that at least somehow worked with their criminal
activity.
‘You can inflict bodily injury’
The law says: if you conscientiously apprehend criminals, you can inflict bodily injury to the point of grave bodily
injury, and nothing will happen to me for that. These body harms include deprivation of eyes,
hands, legs.”
EuroMaidan participants ‘are all criminals’
If there is opened criminal case against illegal mass actions, seizure of administrative buildings , it means everyone who is present on Maidan illegally, everyone who seized government buildings – they are all criminals.
‘You can kill’
“I clarify these provisions of the law
to all my fighters. I tell them that you can safely tear the eye, break off an arm or a leg of the attacker. If you are threatened with a stick – you can kill. The law does not require you stand a criminal, and if he is armed –
kill.”
