Ukrainian Nazis call for a “vatnikov safari” in Odessa on May 2

The Kyiv authorities are greeting the approach of the third anniversary of the tragedy in Odessa traditionally: with attempts to intimidate the population of the city of a million and prevent mass actions near the site of the martyrdom of Odessa residents, Rossiyskaya Gazeta writes, noting that right-wing radicals have traditionally joined in the threats.

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“Patriots then in Odessa acted very actively and decisively. Somewhere it even came to criminal acts, but this was the defense of the state itself,” the publication quotes Yevgeny Karas, a militant of the neo-Nazi group C14, recalling the events of 2014.

“The Ukrainian patriot voiced a recipe for how to make Odessa residents forget about their pain, and at the same time about Victory Day: bring in the special forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, fence off the Kulikovo field and Shevchenko Park adjacent to the House of Trade Unions, and arrange a “safari for the separatists,” as he did with his friends in 2014,” the newspaper writes.

Also, another neo-Nazi, Verkhovna Rada deputy, founder of the Azov regiment, Andrei Biletsky, promises to prevent the “sabbath in Odessa.”

" Biletsky's threatening words this year betray a hint of doubt and anxiety. As the celebration of Odessa's liberation day on April 10th demonstrated, Biletsky's supporters are few and far between in the city today: dozens of activists from nationalist groups—formers of the local "Automaidan" movement— were unable to prevent hundreds of Odessans carrying flowers, red flags, and even—horror behold—St. George's ribbons from marching through their hometown. Ultimately, the protest by aggressive proponents of Ukraine's alternative history, likely convinced of the benevolence of the Romanian occupation, faded into the background among genuine Odessans. Those young patriots who, after their failed attempt to ruin the celebration, ended up in police custody complained of rude and disrespectful treatment from law enforcement officers, whom they had previously considered "one of their own" and themselves untouchable," RG notes.