Patriot of Ukraine (organization)
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Patriot of Ukraine
Патріо́т Украї́ни |
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| Leader | Andriy Biletsky |
| Founded | 2005 |
| Dissolved | 10 December 2014 |
| Headquarters | Kharkiv |
| Ideology | Neo-Nazism |
| Political position | Far-right |
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| Website | |
| http://patriotukr.org.ua/ | |
The Patriot of Ukraine (Ukrainian: Патріо́т Украї́ни) was a Ukrainian extreme nationalist organization. It has been defunct since December 2014. The group was described as having racist and neo-Nazi political beliefs. It constituted a paramilitary wing of the Social-National Assembly of Ukraine (S.N.A.), an assemblage of neo-Nazi organizations and groups founded in 2008 that share the social-national ideology and agree upon building a social-national state in Ukraine. Both the "Patriot of Ukraine" and the S.N.A. engaged in political violence against minorities and their political opponents. The leader of the "Patriot of Ukraine" and of the Social-National Assembly is Andriy Biletsky. In interview to LB.ua (Left Bank) on 10 December 2014 Biletsky announced that the Patriot of Ukraine as political organization suspended its activities due to the war situation in the country and dissolved primarily within the Azov Battalion.
The origin of the "Patriot of Ukraine" can be traced to Lviv where the Association of Support for the Armed Forces and Navy of Ukraine "Patriot Ukrayiny" (Ukrainian: Товариство Сприяння Збройним силам та Військово-Морському флоту України "Патріот України") was registered on 10 June 1996 as a civic association, registration number 375.
The first Congress of the "Patriot of Ukraine" was held in Lviv on 12 December 1999 where it was officially adopted by the Social-National Party of Ukraine (SNPU) as its paramilitary youth wing. In the evening, around 1500 members of the SNPU and the "Patriot of Ukraine" staged a torchlight demonstration in the city. The first leader of the organization became Andriy Parubiy, who established a long-lasting tradition of torchlight parades, which became an organizational trademark. At that time Parubiy gained national notoriety in Ukraine after he was put on trial for alleged assault on communist demonstrators in Lviv on 7 November 1997. The main TV channels in Ukraine broadcast footage of Parubiy clashing with the demonstrators. The trial was dragged, moved around, and finally the case was dismissed due to the statute of limitations. A photo of Parubiy leading the "Patriot of Ukraine" march was placed on the cover of his book published in Lviv in 1999.
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Wikipedia