Kiev revolutionaries’ weapons (photo)

“They are not even sending people to guard strategic objects. There is a room in the Ministry of Energy used for controlling all nuclear objects in the country. Alfa members are supposed to guard it but they are not doing it! Why? They are guarding Yanukovich’s residence in Mizhgorye now,” a member of the radical organization Spilna Sprava told journalists.

The young man is not referring to rumours – he and his accomplices seized the nuclear stations control room in a few minutes yesterday. Then they seized the Ministry of Justice. The organization’s headquarters can be found in the Ministry of Agricultural Policy. Alexander Danilyuk is the head of the organization. The number of its members and sources of financing are kept a secret.

Baseball bats, sports ammunition and helmets were scattered all over the building of the Ministry when I came there to meet oppositionists. There are no weapons although Spilna Sprava activists keep talking about them all the time. You can call it a seizure but all this is very relative – there are very few revolutionaries inside.

One more radical organization in Maidan is Pravy Sector. It is an informal extremist grouping without a leader. The actions of numerous small groups are coordinated in social networks. The approximate number of its members is about 400 or 500 people. They are not trying to assault buildings but they were the first people to start throwing Molotov cocktails at Berkut members on January 19 and they keep doing it now.

Kiev radicals are actively arming themselves in Kiev.  You cannot see any firearms in Maidan or Grushevski Street (although I heard about them many times) but there is a lot of cold steel. This is the biggest change I noticed there. Maidan resembled a merry carnival with Yanukovich representing the Devil a month ago. But people have stopped singing hymns and are raising pitchforks now.

The most popular weapons are wooden sticks, metal pipes and baseball bats. Revolutionaries are using various helmets to protect themselves from bullets and hits. They are wearing knee-pads and elbow pads. They also have a lot of ‘trophies’ – police shields, batons and helmets.

Kiev radicals are actively arming themselves in Kiev.  You cannot see any firearms in Maidan or Grushevski Street (although I heard about them many times) but there is a lot of cold steel. This is the biggest change I noticed there. Maidan resembled a merry carnival with Yanukovich representing the Devil a month ago. But people have stopped singing hymns and are raising pitchforks now.

The most popular weapons are wooden sticks, metal pipes and baseball bats. Revolutionaries are using various helmets to protect themselves from bullets and hits. They are wearing knee-pads and elbow pads. They also have a lot of ‘trophies’ – police shields, batons and helmets.