In Kharkiv, a group of titushkas [armed hired thugs] and Berkut dispersed a group of activists who were attempting to prevent the national guard troops from leaving for Kyiv.  According to Interfax – Ukraine, members of the “Ultras” fan club of FC Metallist, along with other protesters, tried to block the exits from the military base. The national guardsmen, clad in full ammunition, used shields, gas sprays and batons to push the protesters away. In response, the Ultras took to their baseball bats and stones.

Deputy Head of the Military Academy Vladimir Penkov and Eugene Zakharov, head of the Kharkiv human rights group, tried to persuade people to clear the exits voluntarily. Zakharov said that the protesters’ actions amounted to the blocking of a secure governmental facility, which is a criminal offense. Penkov threatened the use of force if the people would not leave.

According to a local news agency, the protesters did not leave, and by 17.00 were attacked by local Berkut forces. After Berkut took out the protesters, masked people in green uniforms, armed with batons, started to dismantle the barricades and abused several journalists by breaking their cameras in front of police, who did not lift a finger to stop the such abuse.

On the contrary, the police allowed the titushkas onto the site, at which point the titushkas promptly started beating the protestors and forcing them over towards “Kharkiv” shopping center. Currently on the site there are about 100 titushkas, arriving via metro, and seven buses, which are supposed to transport the national guardsmen to Kyiv.

Here : http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2014/02/19/7014878/

Translated by Anna Palagina

Proofread by Kateland Bobyn