Andriy Biletsky
Андрій Білецький
Biletsky in 2017
Commander of the Azov Battalion
In office
5 May 2014 – October 2014
Succeeded byIhor Mykhaylenko
Personal details
Born
Andriy Yevheniyovych Biletsky

(1979-08-05) 5 August 1979
Kharkiv, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
CitizenshipUkrainian
Political partyTryzub (2002–2005)
Patriot of Ukraine (2005–2008)
Social-National Assembly (2008–2016)
National Corps (since 2016)
Spouse
Yulia Biletska
​
​
(m. 2003; div. 2016)​
[1][2]
Children1 son
Residence(s)Kyiv, Ukraine
Alma materUniversity of Kharkiv[3]
ReligionRodnovery
Military service
AllegianceUkraine Ukraine
Branch/service Militsiya (Special Tasks Patrol Police) (2014)

National Guard

Ukrainian Ground Forces
Years of service2014–2016[4][1]
2022–present[5]
Rank Lieutenant colonel of police[6][7]
Unit Azov Battalion (2014–2016)
3rd Assault Brigade (2022–present)[5]
CommandsAzov Battalion (2014–2016)
Azov Tactical Group (2022–present)[5]
Battles/warsWar in Donbas

Russian invasion of Ukraine

AwardsOrder for Courage, III class[8]
25 Years of Independence of Ukraine Medal

Andriy Yevheniyovych Biletsky (Ukrainian: Андрі́й Євге́нійович Біле́цький, romanized: Andríj Jevhénijovyč Biléćký, IPA: [ɐnˈd⁽ʲ⁾r⁽ʲ⁾ij jeu̯ˈɦɛn⁽ʲ⁾ijowɪdʒ biˈlɛtsʲkɪj]; born 5 August 1979[9]) is a Ukrainian far-right politician. He is the leader of political party National Corps. He was the first commander of the volunteer militia Azov Battalion,[4][1] which he founded in 2014, and a co-founder of the nationalist movement Social-National Assembly.[10][11][12][13][14][15] From 2014 until 2019, Biletsky was a People's Deputy of Ukraine.

Biography

Andriy Biletsky was born in 1979 in Kharkiv, Soviet Union. Biletsky's father Yevheniy Mykhailovych Biletsky hailed from an old Cossack family that founded the village of Krasnopavlivka (Lozova Raion), while Biletsky's mother Olena Anatoliyivna Biletsky (née Lukashevych) descended from a noble family from Zhytomyr region, to which belong the Decembrist Vasiliy Lukashevich (Vasyl Lukashevych) who founded the "Little-Russian Secret Society".[9]

In his youth, Biletsky practiced several types of martial arts and boxing. Unlike many Ukrainians, he declined to join the Vladimir Lenin All-Union Pioneer Organization. Biletsky, along with senior schoolmates, raised the Ukrainian flag over his school.[16] His major patriotic influence in his youth was his father's gift of a book prohibited in the Soviet Union, History of Ukraine for Children by Anton Lototsky.[16] During the Kosovo War, Biletsky and a group of other Ukrainians attempted to join the Yugoslav Army as volunteers to fight against the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), but the war ended before they arrived at the front.[17][18][19] In 2001, Biletsky graduated with honors from the History faculty of the University of Kharkiv. His thesis was about the Ukrainian Insurgent Army.[3] The same year Biletsky participated in the Ukraine without Kuchma (UBK) protests, for which he was placed under administrative arrest. The Security Service of Ukraine pressured the university administration to expel Biletsky from the institution.

Political activism (2002–2013)

In 2002 Biletsky became a leader of the Kharkiv branch of the political organization Tryzub, and was a member of the Kharkiv section of the Social-National Party of Ukraine (SNPU), but opposed the idea of its transformation into Svoboda.[3]

After the transformation of SNPU into Svoboda and liquidation of the original Patriot of Ukraine, in 2005 Biletsky initiated a revival of the Patriot of Ukraine,[3] independent from any political factions. The new Patriot of Ukraine initially consisted of the Kharkiv branches of UNA-UNSO, Tryzub, and former SNPU. Since 2005, Biletsky also cooperated with the newly established Ukrainian Conservative Party.

In the 2006 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Biletsky unsuccessfully ran for Ukrainian parliament.[16]

Patriot of Ukraine, Azov Battalion (2014)

Biletsky interviewed by Ukrainian TV after a mission near Mariupol.

During the Euromaidan events, members of the Biletsky's Patriot of Ukraine were among the founders of Right Sector on 28 November 2013. On 24 February 2014, the Ukrainian parliament adopted a decision on the freedom of political prisoners. The next day, Biletsky and other prisoners were completely acquitted of all charges and freed from custody.

On 12 March 2014, Biletsky became a party leader in special operations for the "Right Sector - East," which included such regions as Poltava, Kharkiv, Donetsk, and Luhansk oblasts. On 5 May 2014, in Berdyansk Biletsky became a founder of the Azov Battalion (as a territorial battalion of patrol service), and its first commander. The battalion was initially composed of members of the Patriot of Ukraine, SNA, football fans (notably Dynamo Kyiv supporters) and the AutoMaidan movement. The paramilitary unit became known as the Little black men as an opposition to the Russian special operations "Little green men".[16] It would be transformed from a militia into a regular regiment of the National Guard of Ukraine on 20 November 2014.

On 13 June 2014, Biletsky led his detachment in the successful First Battle of Mariupol. According to British military reporter Askold Krushelnycky, "Biletsky was cool in the evaluation of actions and giving orders calmly and, in my opinion, logically".[16] On 2 August 2014, Biletsky, holding a rank of Major of Militsiya, was awarded the Order For Courage (III degree)[20] and promoted to lieutenant colonel of police[6][7] on 15 August 2014.

On 10 September 2014, Biletsky was admitted to the military council of the People's Front, yet did not become a member of the party. On 27 September 2014, he ran as an independent candidate in the 217th electoral district (Kyiv) for the 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election and won by receiving 31,445 votes (33.75%). In parliament, he joined the inter-factional group UKROP.[21] In October 2014, Ihor Mykhailenko replaced Biletsky as commander of Azov Battalion.

In an interview to LB.ua (Left Bank) given on 10 December 2014, Biletsky announced that the Patriot of Ukraine suspended its activities as a political organization due to the war, and would be absorbed primarily into the Azov Battalion.[22] In the same interview Biletsky said that the logo of the battalion is different from the German Wolfsangel and symbolizes Ukrainian national idea.[22]

Elected official (2016–2019)

On October 14, 2016, Biletsky was voted as the leader of the newly formed party National Corps.[23] In October 2016 Biletsky officially left the Ukrainian National Guard because Ukrainian elected officials were barred from military service, but he vowed to continue his military career "without titles".[4]

Andriy Biletsky on the march on the Day of the Defender of Ukraine. Kyiv. 2020.

During his first three years of work in Verkhovna Rada Biletsky participated only in 2% of votes,[24] He took part in only 229 votings, taking the fifth place in the rating of deputies with the fewest votings.[25] He missed 328 sittings of the Ukrainian parliament.[26][27] He missed all sittings of the Verkhovna Rada in 2016 and did not appear in parliament as of March 2017.[28][29][30] According to a research of the Committee of Voters of Ukraine, published in August 2017, Biletsky did not write any laws that were adopted in the Verkhovna Rada. With 30 unsuccessful projects, he is in the first place among the deputies who submitted unsuccessful draft laws.[31][32][33]

In the 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election he was placed 2nd on the joined list of Svoboda with the far-right National Corps, the Governmental Initiative of Yarosh and Right Sector.[34] His party did not win enough votes to clear the 5% election threshold and thus did not gain any parliamentary seats.[35]

2020–present

In 2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Biletsky became the commander of the "Azov Tactical Group", which is part of the 3rd Special Operations Brigade.[5]

Political views

In 2010, Biletsky reportedly said that the Ukrainian nation's mission is to "lead the white races of the world in a final crusade...against Semite-led Untermenschen".[36][37][38] Biletsky denied ever making such remarks.[39]

In a 2007 article, Biletsky stated that "Ukrainian racial social-nationalism" was the ideology of Patriot of Ukraine.[40] During his speech at a 2009 general meeting of the party he said: "How then can we describe our enemy? The general regime in power are oligarchs. Is there anything they have in common? Yes, one thing in common – they are Jews, or their true bosses – Jews – are behind them. Out of one hundred published richest people in Ukraine 92 are Jews, and some others of Tatar origin".[41]

Until 2011 Biletsky was in favour of forming a confederation between Russia and Ukraine, with Kyiv as its capital, according to BBC News Ukrainian.[42]

In 2013 he wrote a brochure called The Word of the White Leader («Слово білого вождя»).[43] The BBC in 2014[44] and The Moscow Times[45] in 2015 described Biletsky as a white supremacist. In 2014, he was accused of being an "actual neo-Nazi" by sociologist Volodymyr Ishchenko because of his involvement in Patriot of Ukraine and Azov.[46]

In 2018, The Guardian reported that Biletsky "has toned down his rhetoric in recent years".[38] Freedom House initiative Reporting Radicalism reported as of 2022 that he has not publicly made racist remarks since 2014, but he does "invoke anti-LGBT+ rhetoric frequently".[47] Umland and Fedorenko wrote in 2021 that he still publicly objects to multiculturalism, but has stated "to be a Ukrainian nationalist today is to believe in values, not racial prejudice", and announced that his party does not use ethnicity to define who can, or cannot, be part of the nation Ukraine.[48]

In 2022, however, The Independent still described him as a white supremacist[49] and reported that he also known as White Leader.[50] According to a 2021 paper by political scientists Umland and Fedorenko, he had been known as white leader before 2014, but subsequently claimed that "if someone called me white leader face-to-face, [that person] would have been beaten".[48]

Earnings

According to the electronic declaration, in 2015, Biletsky received ₴ 58,990 (US$2,087) as salary in the Verkhovna Rada. He had ₴ 250,000 (US$8,846) in cash.[2][51] The declaration also indicated an apartment in Kyiv (see below), which was recorded as belonging to Biletsky's spouse Yuliya.[2][52][53] In the declaration for 2016, Biletsky indicated 115,652 hryvnia (US$4,423) as deputy salary, and ₴ 250,000 in cash.[54]

Personal life

From 2003 to 2016, Andriy Biletsky was married to Yuliya Oleksandrivna Biletska (née Brusenko); their son was born in 2007. In April 2016, the couple divorced.[55][56]

References

  1. 1 2 3 (in Ukrainian) The former leader of "Azov" Beletsky declared only salary and $ 5,000, Ukrayinska Pravda (30 October 2016)
  2. 1 2 3 Білецький Андрій Євгенійович. Декларація (щорічна) (in Ukrainian). Unified State Register of Declarations. 29 October 2016. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  3. 1 2 3 4 (in Ukrainian) "We are trying to come to power through elections, but we have all sorts of possibilities" - as "Azov" becomes party, Hromadske.TV (13 October 2016)
  4. 1 2 3 (in Ukrainian) Andriy Biletsky: Avakov - man system, but the system I think is negative, Ukrayinska Pravda (18 October 2016)
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 New Voice of Ukraine (12 May 2023). "Ukrainian military reveals garbage and ammunition left by invaders during retreat from Bakhmut positions". news.yahoo.com.
  6. 1 2 "Andriy Biletsky", Національний Кореспондент [National Correspondent] nackor.org, 8 December 2015
  7. 1 2 "Ukraine's Interior Ministry elaborates on duties of newly created 'national militia units' (Video)", Unian, 30 January 2018
  8. ↑ Decree of the President of Ukraine from 2 серпня 2014 year № 631/2014 «Про відзначення державними нагородами України» (in Ukrainian)
  9. 1 2 "Андрій Білецький" [Andriy Biletsky]. Національний Кореспондент [National Correspondent] nackor.org (in Ukrainian). 8 December 2015. Archived from the original on 27 January 2022. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
  10. ↑ Shekhovstov, Anton (March 2011). "The Creeping Resurgence of the Ukrainian Radical Right? The Case of the Freedom Party". Europe-Asia Studies. 63 (2): 203–228. doi:10.1080/09668136.2011.547696. S2CID 155079439.
  11. ↑ Shekhovstov, Anton (2013). "17: Para-Militarism to Radical Right-Wing Populism: The Rise of the Ukrainian Far-Right Party Svoboda.". In Wodak (ed.). Right-Wing Populism in Europe. Bloomsbury Academic.
  12. ↑ Anton Shekhovtsov, Andreas Umland Ukraine's Radical Right // Journal of Democracy. Volume 25, Number 3 July 2014
  13. ↑ Shekhovtsov, Anton (2013). "17: From Para-Militarism to Radical Right-Wing Populism: The Rise of the Ukrainian Far-Right Party Svoboda". In Ruth Wodak (ed.). Right-Wing Populism in Europe. Bloomsbury Academic. pp. 249–263. ISBN 978-1780932453.
  14. ↑ Ishchenko, Volodymyr (2011). "Fighting Fences vs Fighting Monuments: Politics of Memory and Protest Mobilization in Ukraine". Debatte: Journal of Contemporary Central and Eastern Europe. 19 (1–2): 369–395. doi:10.1080/0965156X.2011.611680. S2CID 145492425.
  15. ↑ Ghosh, Mridula (2013). Ralf Melzer (ed.). The Extreme Right in Ukraine's Political Mainstream: What Lies Ahead?. Friedrich Ebert Stiftung.
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 Bereza, A. Andriy Biletsky. How war changed a political prisoner into a commander of the Azov Battalion. "Novoye Vremya". 22 October 2014
  17. ↑ "Ukrajinci se na Košarama borili na srpskoj strani". Balkanska bezbednosna mreža. 30 May 2022. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
  18. ↑ "Ukrajinci se na Košarama borili na srpskoj strani, i komandant Azova se prijavio". N1 (in Serbian). 31 May 2022. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
  19. ↑ "Андрій Білецький: "Наші хлопці – українофіли, а не ксенофоби»". konkurent.ua (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 31 May 2022.
  20. ↑ "УКАЗ ПРЕЗИДЕНТА УКРАЇНИ №631/2014". president.gov.ua.
  21. ↑ Justice Ministry registered the party Kolomoisky, Korrespondent.net (18 June 2015)
  22. 1 2 Shvets, Ye. Andriy Biletsky: Half of Azov speaks the Russian language. But they die and kill for Ukraine. LB.ua. 10 December 2014
  23. ↑ Talant, Bermet (15 October 2016). "Nationalist Azov Battalion starts political party". Kyiv Post.
  24. ↑ "43 депутата почти никогда не голосовали в Раде - КИУ" (in Russian). Ukrayinska Pravda. 14 November 2017. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
  25. ↑ КВУ склав рейтинг ТОП-10 депутатів, які ігнорують голосування у ВР (in Ukrainian). Committee of Voters of Ukraine. 15 November 2017. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  26. ↑ Опубликован рейтинг наибольших депутатов-прогульщиков Верховной Рады за 3 года (in Russian). 24 Channel. 11 November 2017. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  27. ↑ Ярош, Билецкий, Добкин: Топ-10 прогульщиков Рады за три года (in Russian). TSN / 1+1. 15 November 2017. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  28. ↑ Активисты составили рейтинг прогульщиков и кнопкодавов в Раде (in Russian). Ukrayinska Pravda. 21 December 2016. Retrieved 22 October 2018.
  29. ↑ "5 нардепов пропустили все заседания Рады в 2017 году – КИУ" (in Russian). Ukrayinska Pravda. 9 September 2017. Retrieved 22 October 2018.
  30. ↑ Топ-5 нардепов-прогульщиков: КИУ назвал фамилии избранников, пропустивших все заседания ВР в 2017 году (in Russian). Ukrainian Independent Information Agency. 9 September 2017. Retrieved 22 October 2018.
  31. ↑ "Более 60 депутатов не стали авторами ни одного принятого закона - КИУ". Ukrayinska Pravda. 17 August 2017. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
  32. ↑ "В Верховной Раде более 60 нардепов до сих пор не стали авторами принятых законов, - КИУ". RBK Ukraine. 17 August 2017. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
  33. ↑ "Півсотні депутатів досі не стали авторами жодного прийнятого закону". Committee of Voters of Ukraine. 16 August 2017. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
  34. ↑ "Ярош, Тягнибок та Білецький таки сформували єдиний список на вибори". 9 June 2019.
  35. ↑ CEC counts 100 percent of vote in Ukraine's parliamentary elections, Ukrinform (26 July 2019)
  36. ↑ Tom Parfitt (11 August 2014). "Ukraine crisis: the neo-Nazi brigade fighting pro-Russian separatists". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 28 September 2023. Retrieved 28 September 2023.
  37. ↑ Jerry Harris (2016). Global Capitalism and the Crisis of Democracy. SCB Distributors. p. 93. ISBN 978-0-9972870-4-2.
  38. 1 2 "Ukraine's National Militia: 'We're not neo-Nazis, we just want to make our country better'". the Guardian. 13 March 2018. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  39. ↑ "Anti-Semitism is no vote-winner even for Ukraine's far-right". Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group. 2 October 2015.
  40. ↑ "Open Letter from KHPG regarding the organization "Patriot of Ukraine"". helsinki.org.ua.
  41. ↑ "Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union" (PDF). OSCE.
  42. ↑ "Національний корпус в обличчях: хто ці люди і звідки". BBC News Україна (in Ukrainian).
  43. ↑ Штогрін, Ірина (28 May 2017). "Хто нацист? Особливості українських праворадикалів". Радіо Свобода.
  44. ↑ "Ukraine vote could push the country into chaos". BBC News. 24 October 2014. Andrei Biletsky, a white supremacist commander
  45. ↑ Cohen, Josh (20 July 2015). "Ukraine Should Beware the Azov Extremists". The Moscow Times.
  46. ↑ "Ukraine has ignored the far right for too long – it must wake up to the danger | Volodymyr Ishchenko". the Guardian. 13 November 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  47. ↑ "Andrii Biletskyi - Head of the National Corps party - Reporting Radicalism in Ukraine". reportingradicalism.org. Retrieved 3 October 2022.
  48. 1 2 Fedorenko, Kostiantyn; Umland, Andreas (10 August 2021). "Between Frontline and Parliament: Ukrainian Political Parties and Irregular Armed Groups in 2014–2019". Nationalities Papers. 50 (2): 237–261. doi:10.1017/nps.2021.20. ISSN 0090-5992.
  49. ↑ Sommerlad, Joe (24 March 2022). "Who are Ukraine's neo-Nazi Azov Battalion?". The Independent. Retrieved 5 May 2022. It was organised by Andriy Biletsky, a white supermacist former football hooligan
  50. ↑ "Inside Azov, the far-Right brigade killing Russian generals and playing a PR game in the Ukraine war". The Telegraph. 18 March 2022. Mr Biletsky, also known as the White Leader
  51. ↑ "Страна" Экс-командир полка «Азов» Андрей Билецкий заполнил самую маленькую декларацию (in Russian). Strana.ua. 30 October 2016. Archived from the original on 14 June 2018. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  52. ↑ "Страна" Семья командира «Азова» Билецкого во время боев за аэропорт купила квартиру в киевском новострое (in Russian). Strana.ua. 23 May 2016. Archived from the original on 14 June 2018. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  53. ↑ Экс-комбат «Азова» Белецкий удивил своей декларацией (in Russian). Channel 24. 30 October 2016. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  54. ↑ Білецький Андрій Євгенійович. Виправлена декларація (щорічна) (in Ukrainian). Unified State Register of Declarations. 23 February 2018. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  55. ↑ Alexey Romanov (14 October 2016). "Страна" Квартирный вопрос вождя Билецкого - жилье за 4 миллиона в Киеве и развод с женой (in Russian). Strana.ua. Archived from the original on 15 June 2018. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
  56. ↑ Андрей Билецкий: почему украинский националист не голосует в Раде (in Russian). Politeka.net. 4 August 2018. Archived from the original on 2 July 2019. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
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