Elle a été créée à Lviv, par le Parti social-nationaliste d'Ukraine, dirigé par Oleh Tyahnybok. L'organisation paramilitaire est officiellement dissoute , lorsque le Parti social-nationaliste d'Ukraine prend le nouveau nom de Svoboda[1],[2],[3].
Le parti est relancé en 2005[4],[5]. Si le parti a officiellement rompu ses liens avec ce groupe en 2007 en raison de divergences[6], ils restent liés l'un à l'autre de façon non officielle[7],[8],[9].
Pendant les manifestations de l'Euromaïdan, des militants des Patriotes d'Ukraine étaient des participants actifs aux accrochages avec la police anti-émeute. D'après Igor Krivoruchko, un des dirigeants de la branche de Kiev de l'Assemblée sociale-nationale, le , ils brûlent les bureaux du parti au pouvoir, le Parti des régions, à Kiev[10],[11].
En 2014, le régiment Azov s'est constitué principalement à partir des membres de Patriotes d'Ukraine, qui appelle notamment à une croisade chrétienne contre les juifs et les autres minorités qu'ils considèrent comme des «sous-hommes»[12]. Andriy Biletsky déclara: «La mission historique de notre nation dans ce moment critique est d'amener les races blanches du monde dans une croisade finale pour leur survie […] Une croisade contre les Sionistes»[13].
Idéologie
Les Patriotes d'Ukraine ont promu une plateforme nationaliste extrême, raciste, islamophobe et néonazie[14],[15],[16],[17],[18], comprenant[19],[20]:
Tadeusz A. Olszański, «Svoboda Party – The New Phenomenon on the Ukrainian Right-Wing Scene», Centre for Eastern Studies, vol.OSW Commentary, no56, , p.6 (lire en ligne, consulté le )
Volodymyr Batchayev, Oleg Martynenko, Association of Ukrainian monitors on observance of human rights, Ukrainian Law Enforcement, Yevhen Zakharov, Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group, «12. Protection against discrimination, racism and xenophobia», ANNUAL HUMAN RIGHTS REPORTS / HUMAN RIGHTS IN UKRAINE, 2009-2010, Helsinki Human Rights Group (consulté le ) : «On the public request, the authorities stopped the musical festival «Traditions of Spirit» near Kyiv, scheduled for June 26–27, 2010, under the aegis of the radical «Social Nationalist Assembly» with the goal to promulgate among the youth the ideas of neo-Nazi and chauvinism. During the festival, the performances of ultra-right musical bands were planned («Sokyra Peruna», «Seitar», «Nachtigall», «White Lions»), who in the lyrics of their songs openly approve and show in romantic light the skinhead movement, promote Hitlerist aesthetics, and encourage to harass national minorities.»
Anton Shekhovtsov, Right-Wing Populism in Europe: Politics and Discourse, A&C Black, (lire en ligne), p.256
«Interestingly, 'street combat movements' like the SNA no longer focus on ethnic issues: in contrast to the older Ukrainian far right, the new groups are, first and foremost, racist movements. Their disregard for the perceived 'Ukrainian versus Russian' ethno-cultural cleavage allows them to gain support from many 'white' ultra-nationalists. Once drawn to these movements, 'white racists' also contribute to the organizational efficiency of the Svoboda party, which is, to reiterate, considered the only representative of 'white racism' in the Ukrainian electoral sphere.»
Anton Shekhovstov, «The Creeping Resurgence of the Ukrainian Radical Right? The Case of the Freedom Party.», Europe-Asia Studies, vol.63, no2, , p.203–228 (DOI10.1080/09668136.2011.547696, S2CID155079439):
«During the second half of the 1990s, the SNPU recruited Nazi skinheads and football hooligans. At the same time, the party decided to reorganise its 'popular guard units' to form the Tovarystvo spryyannya zbroinym sylam ta viiskovo-mors'komu flotu Ukrayiny 'Patriot Ukrayiny' (Society of Assistance to Armed Forces and Navy of Ukraine 'Patriot of Ukraine'), headed by Andrii Parubii. However, although the 'Patriot of Ukraine' was formed in 1996, it was not until 1999 that it became a full-fledged organisation. Its first convention took place in Lviv in December 1999 and was celebrated by a night-time torch procession through the city streets… [In 2004, the SNPU] the convention disbanded the Patriot of Ukraine, as this paramilitary organisation as such and its overtly racist stances in particular posed a threat to the new 'respectable' image of the Freedom Party… The Kharkiv local organisation of the Patriot of Ukraine refused to disband and renewed its membership in 2005. The following year, it managed to register as a regional social organisation, but, from then on, it had no organisational ties with the maternal party.»
Volodymyr Ishchenko, «Fighting Fences vs Fighting Monuments: Politics of Memory and Protest Mobilization in Ukraine», Debatte: Journal of Contemporary Central and Eastern Europe, vol.19, nos1–2, , p.369–395 (DOI10.1080/0965156X.2011.611680, S2CID145492425):
«...rightist non-partisan groups including overtly racist "autonomous nationalists" (http://reactor.org.ua) and the neo-Nazi "Patriot of Ukraine" (http://www.patriotukr.org.ua/). For the far right sector politics of memory actions comprised 29.2% of all protest actions with their participation, this was larger than the shares of social-economic, political struggle, and civic rights protest issues (Table 7)… After the notorious death of Maksym Chaika in a fight with antifascists in Odessa in April 2009, Yushchenko unambiguously supported the far right interpretation of the accident claiming the victim to be "an activist of a patriotic civic association" consciously murdered by "pro-Russia militants" ignoring Chaika's connections with rightist football hooligans and his membership in the "SICH" ("Glory and Honor") organization, a participant in the Social-Nationalist Assembly (http://sna.in.ua/) together with the neo-Nazi group "'Patriots of Ukraine.'"»
Anton Shekhovstov, Right-Wing Populism in Europe, Bloomsbury Academic, , «17: Para-Militarism to Radical Right-Wing Populism: The Rise of the Ukrainian Far-Right Party Svoboda.»:
«Svoboda also seems to benefit from the increasing popularity of extreme-right youth movements and organizations like the Social-National Assembly (SNA), 'Patriot of Ukraine' and Autonomous Resistance, whose aim is to create 'a uniracial and uninational society'. The activities of these groups are not limited to physical or symbolic violence against ethnic and social minorities, as they also take an active part in numerous social campaigns — generally along with representatives of Svoboda — ranging from mass protests against price rises to leafleting against alcohol and drug use. Needless to say, members of these extreme-right movements are often members of Tyahnybok's party. Interestingly, 'street combat youth movements' like the SNA no longer focus on ethnic issues: in contrast to the older Ukrainian far right, the new groups are, first and foremost, racist movements.»
Mridula Ghosh, The Extreme Right in Ukraine's Political Mainstream: What Lies Ahead?, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, :
«In its own internal flows of communication and control, Svoboda has always been a top-down organization that does not permit dialogue or encourage critical thinking and dissent. Yet it has made good use of "open" forms of grassroots exchanges, communicating with the public and attracting new recruits via social networks like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and VKontakte. In this context, special mention should be made of the relations that Svoboda has maintained with what may be called the "informal" far-right, a category that includes the neo-Nazi underground, radical football fans, and hooligans. Members of these groups constitute hidden reservoirs of support for Svoboda and its ideology, Among them are those who openly propagate intolerance (e.g., by supporting total bans on immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers), including one part of UNA-UNSO; the Ukrainian National Labor Party and Patriots of Ukraine; skinheads; followers of Hetman Pavel Skoropadskiy; Fans of the Third Hetmanate; and the Delegation of the Right from the regions. There are also those who do not champion racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism, but nevertheless harbor other radical ideas...»
Viacheslav Likhachev, «Right-Wing Extremism on the Rise in Ukraine», Russian Politics and Law, vol.51, no5, september–october 2013, p.59–74 (DOI10.2753/RUP1061-1940510503, S2CID144614340):
«The main extrasystemic ultraright group in Ukraine in recent years has been Patriot of Ukraine (led by Andrii Bilets'kyi). The core of the organization was formed in Kharkiv in 2004, when a group of activists belonging to the SNPU's paramilitary youth wing of the same name refused to accept the leaders' decision to disband the militarized organization while "rebranding" their party. By 2006, Patriot of Ukraine had become a public movement with branches in many regions of the country. Activists appeared in camouflage uniform with neo-Nazi symbols. Many public actions were organized—targeting migrants, political opponents, and others. Violence (including the use of firearms) was repeatedly used against political opponents and members of ethnic and sexual minorities. In 2011, during the investigation of several criminal cases (one charge concerned the preparation of a terrorist act), almost the entire leadership of the organization in Kyiv and Kharkiv ended up behind bars; this paralyzed the movement and caused it to split… Members of almost all the organizations listed are known to have engaged in ideologically motivated violence.»
MRIDULA GHOSH, Diversity and Tolerance in Ukraine in the Context of EURO 2012, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, :
«An analysis in 2008 stated that, police investigation reports of the growing number of hate crimes after the year 2005 against foreigners and visible minorities showed that in the majority of cases the perpetrators were radical youth groups. The analysis covered such groups as Patriot of Ukraine, Ukrainian Peoples Labor Party, Ukrainian Alternative, National Action "RID", Sich, Character Kozatstvo, Svyato-Andriyivsky, Kozachiy Kurin and others… They demand total ban on migration, are against refugees and asylum seekers and the concept of tolerance. Groups such as Skinheads, followers of Hetman Pavel Skoropadskiy, Fans of the Third Hetmanate, Movement against Illegal Migration and Delegation of the Right from the Regions are those who support similar ideas.»
