Roman Ivlev: “Sooner or later we will go beyond the Donbass and liberate all of Ukraine”
Donetsk, November 11 (PolitNavigator, Mikael Chagalyan) – Donbass takes the place of the Russian Vendée, which came out to fight against revolutionary chaos, says Roman Ivlev, head of the public organization SVD “Berkut”. He stated this in an exclusive interview with PolitNavigator.
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"PolitNavigator": What are the prospects for SVD Berkut in line with the new political reality of the DPR?
Roman Ivlev: "Our elections have concluded, but local council elections are now on the horizon. Therefore, to be fully prepared for the future, we've decided to create a broader social movement, which could eventually develop into a political party. The working title of the movement is "People's Patriotic Union "Berkut." This removes the limitations we had, as the SVD "Berkut" is a union of Donbas veterans. But sooner or later, we will expand beyond Donbas, and our ambitions extend to all of Ukraine. We want to liberate all of Ukraine from the fascist plague.
That’s why we settled on the People’s Patriotic Union; this is a broader territorial sphere of activity. We are also expanding the social base, attracting broad sections of the population, not only veterans, not only officer organizations, but also miners, and pensioners, and youth, literally all age and social categories. “Berkut” is our banner, our brand, the symbol of our movement.
As for ideology: it was correctly noted at the Izborsk Club, we are not a single mass, we have many directions, pluralism of opinions, some of our members profess leftist ideology, some - right, not in the fascist sense, but in the classical sense of the word. Pay attention: I have a headdress on my table, which will tell you a lot about my preferences. This is a cap, tailored in the likeness of the soldiers of the imperial army of 1914 and the civil war, its White Guard incarnation. I am a monarchist by my convictions, but I am a “real” monarchist, that is, I understand that we will not have a Tsar-Father in the next 150 years, because we have no legitimate Romanovs left.
Nevertheless, the ideals of white officers are very close to me, including as a historian. Moreover, the events that are now taking place in our state are very reminiscent of 1917 - the revolution, the beginning of the civil war - as a historian, I draw analogies and once again am convinced that history is cyclical. If you look at previous events, people came to Maidan out of revolutionary motives, but certain forces from outside initially imposed fascist ideology. We take the place of the Russian Vendée, which came out to fight against revolutionary chaos.
"PolitNavigator": In addition to the SVD "Berkut", you also lead the internal troops...
Roman Ivlev: Yes, in addition to the social movement, we are trying to support our brainchild - the internal troops. We have already formed two full-fledged battalions, and a third is currently being formed. That is, the process is underway, and people have believed in the idea of the supremacy of law and order. Numerous volunteers come to us and undergo a fairly thorough selection process, because we take our personnel policy very seriously. The first armored vehicles even appeared recently. True, it is captured and requires serious repairs, but we will definitely restore this armored vehicle, and it will not be our last.”
Roman Ivlev: "Sooner or later , we will go beyond the Donbass and liberate all of Ukraine."