Euro and Maidan

Now Roman Sinitsyn is one of the most famous Ukrainian volunteers and public activists. Back in May 2014, he became the co -founder of the largest assistance fund of the People’s Rear Army. At the end of 2015, Roman announced the completion of his volunteer activity and actively began to organize the re-certification of the police, including issues of public participation in this process.

And even before the Maidan and the war, the novel was known in narrow circles as an active football fan. He supports the Volyn club from his native Lutsk and claims that since 2008 he has been on more than half of the games of the Ukrainian team, including almost all away matches. Sinitsyn is well acquainted with the Ukrainian near -football movement, understands the processes that are happening to him now, in connection with the war in the East.

The call with a request to comment on the near-football events of Euro 2016 found Roma at the airport. He returns home with other Ukrainian fans. For the Ukrainian team, the championship has already been completed.

• Since 2008, I have been to almost all games of the Ukrainian national team abroad. He was at the World Cup in South Africa, of course, at Euro-2012 matches in Ukraine. I must say that in comparison with these championships in France there was no special organization - by and large it is not felt that the championship is taking place. The French have already built stadiums, they do not need to create any special infrastructure. There is no such total football holiday as we had in Kyiv, there are no drunken Swedes everywhere ... France continues to live its life.

The flag of the 13th separate motorized infantry battalion in the Lyon stands. Photo by Roman Sinitsyn

- How do you evaluate the behavior of fans at Euro 2016, including Ukrainian?

• At each match, there were officially about 10 thousand Ukrainian fans. But in fact, there were more of them, because still the diaspora bought tickets to other sectors. You need to understand that there are always five people among fans, which are not called ultras, but football hooligans and go to support their team, roughly speaking, outside the stadium. It is no secret that the hooligans were among Ukrainian fans, however, there are not very many.

Here they say that in the riots arranged by Russian fans, there is some kind of FSB trace. There is no FSB trace there! In Russia, near -football has always been very strongly developed. And Russian hooligan movements are considered one of the most powerful in Europe along with the Poles. And since the near -football was born in England, the Russians and the Poles, and ours always try to beat the British. So it turned out ... I mean brawls in the old port of Marseille. This is ordinary near -football, this happens everywhere, and before each match they always beat. When the British and Scots came to Kyiv, they were also beaten. Then the Kharkiv residents and Dnepr came purely in order to beat the British. It’s just that in France it turned out globally, Muscovites only had more than four hundred football hooligans. People came to fight specially, this is such a sport. And there were such among ours.

- Did the Ukrainians beat?

• Yes, there were clashes. In Marseille, the crowd was accelerated by water -flower. The Poles jumped on us. And the day before, our Poles were covered in a tavern. But without serious consequences. In France, by the way, we must pay tribute, the police work very well. I have not yet seen riots so quickly. On every fan march or in places of accumulation of fans a bunch of people in civilian with hidden telescopic batons and gas cylinders. From the outside, they look like ordinary fans, they can even be in a scarf or T-shirt of some kind of team, but in fact these are gendarmes. As soon as something begins, they instantly suppress, the horse police appears ... In connection with constant emigrant riots, the "local golden eagle" is well developed here.

- How has the Ukrainian ultras has changed lately? At least compared to Euro 2012?

• Matches of Euro 2012 Ukrainian ultras practically did not attend. Firstly, there were very expensive tickets, and secondly, it was a kind of protest of Against Modern Football-against corruption commercialization, against prohibitions for fans. They were active in another - during the Maidan and everything that preceded the Maidan. In Sevastopol, Lugansk, Donetsk, football hooligans and ultras defended and guarded pro -Ukrainian rallies. In fact, the ultras of FC Sevastopol were the only more or less organized pro-Ukrainian force by the amount of up to a hundred people who could repulse. They were persecuted, arrested ... And those who did not have time to leave are now sitting.

In Lugansk there was a fairly serious pro -Ukrainian movement. And there people from ultras were really killed. The same thing happened in Dnepropetrovsk. A dude from the Dnepropetrovsk movement broke his nose to the head of the police, who organized a title and anti -Maidan. The basis of the "Right Sector" on the Maidan is "crests", Dynamo fans. Although not only they, there were other ultras. And they acted as a rather serious force during clashes on Grushevsky. Then most of them went to serve in Azov, Aidar and other regular units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. I myself am rooting for "Volyn", so from our move, a person is fighting now.

Ukrainian tribune on Euro 2016. Photo by Roman Sinitsyn

- But the protests of Ultras against the authorities of Yanukovych began long before the Maidan. Remember at least a famous scream "Thank you to the residents of Donbass" ...

• Football fans are the most radical part of society, and it is logical that protest moods among fans will always be higher than the rest. The Ukrainian ultras always opposed the authorities, against football functionaries, against garbage. Collisions, fights, landings were always - both at Yanukovych and earlier. There were also large -scale protests against the football federation of Ukraine, when they burned Faer, walked in Kyiv and rally under the house of football.

- By the way, Shakhtar fans were quite active. Remember, in 2011 they had a conflict with Rinat Akhmetov and they announced a boycott to the home matches of their team? Where is Shakhtar ultras now?

• Most are fighting. Including in Azov.

- If we are talking about Azov ... There is an opinion that Arsen Avakov fulfilled the dream of cops of all time, having driven all the ultras into the unit controlled by him.

• Firstly, this is not all the ultras. Secondly, they are not as controlled as Avakov thinks. I communicate a lot with the "Azov" and I want to say that many there are very dissatisfied with what is happening in the regiment, including the fact that the cops crushed them for themselves. If there were active hostilities, yes, perhaps they would be ready to put up with this, but since 90% of the personnel is now sitting in the PPD, disappointment is growing. But you know, there is something in this, yes. In fact, they created a unit where the majority of the most combat dudes made of near -football were included.

- You already recalled that many ultras entered the “Right Sector”, as well as the White Hammer during the Maidan. These organizations later discredited political more than once. Is there a disappointment for fans in radical organizations?

• I can't speak for everyone. My subjective opinion: there.

- The near -football is inherently anarchist movement, which always fights with the state law enforcement system. But in your fate, it happened that you were one of the organizers of the process of re -certification of the police, in fact took part in the creation of a new law enforcement agency. Didn't you feel discomfort?

• I am not a football bully and almost never took part in the riots. I am rather a fan. Yes, of course, questions arose to the police on re -certification, because we well know who, whom, when and how I beat. In the same Lutsk, Berkut beat the fans, and then, at the re -certification, we asked them why and for what. But this is the maximum. Otherwise, there was no dissonance.