The Primorsky Partisans were a group of six young men who waged a

guerrilla war Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, raids, petty warfare, hit-and-run tactic ...

against the

Russian police The Police of Russia () is the national law-enforcement agency in Russia, operating under the Ministry of Internal Affairs from . It was established by decree from Peter the Great and in 2011, replacing the Militsiya, the former police service. ...

, who have long been accused of corruption and brutality.

History

From the small village of Kirovsky in Primorsky Krai,

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Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The ter ...

they had long had encounters with the police they described as brutal, and degrading. The group decided on a violent solution to the appalling conditions with the police and waged a campaign against them including shooting traffic policemen, raiding a police station, and stabbing a police officer to death. The police began a large scale

manhunt Manhunt may refer to: Search processes * Manhunt (law enforcement), a search for a dangerous fugitive * Manhunt (military), a search for a high-value target by special operations forces or intelligence agencies Social organisations * Manhun ...

and the Partisans were tracked down to a flat belonging to one of the members 17 miles from the Chinese border, in Kirovsky. Before the shoot out began they posted a video on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

describing their motives. As about a dozen militsiya officers and OMON troops approached, two of the four occupants opened fire with pistols, wounding two police officers. The police were later joined by a platoon of internal troops with BTR armored vehicles. After negotiations lasting five hours, two committed suicide, and the other two surrendered. This created a storm of controversy in Russia, as many Russians sympathized with the Partisans, and resented the police. In a non-scientific poll by the popular radio station Echo of Moscow, 75% of responders said they viewed the Partisans as Robin Hoods, and 66% stated they would shelter the Partisans if given the chance. Nationalist politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky voiced his support for the Primorsky Partisans at a session of the State Duma. On July 20, 2016 the jury trial came up with an

acquittal In common law jurisdictions, an acquittal certifies that the accused is free from the charge of an offense, as far as criminal law is concerned. The finality of an acquittal is dependent on the jurisdiction. In some countries, such as the ...

verdict for all members following the second trial. Their guilt for committing the mass murder and creating an organized crime group was not proved. Vadim Kovtun and Alexei Nikitin were immediately set free. The rest of the Partisans remain behind bars, being accused of other crimes.

Members

*Aleksandr Kovtun (russian: Александр Ковтун), leader of the group. His brother Vadim Kovtun (russian: Вадим Ковтун) was also arrested and charged with aiding and abetting, although not as part of the group. *Andrei Sukhorada (russian: Андрей Сухорада, July 25, 1987 – June 11, 2010) former member of

National Bolshevik Party The National Bolshevik Party (NBP; russian: Национал-большевистская партия), also known as the Nazbols (russian: нацболы), operated from 1993 to 2007 as a Russian political party with a political program of Nat ...

. On March 3, 2004, Sukhorada was arrested when police raided a group of National Bolsheviks who were staging an occupation of the

United Russia United Russia ( rus, Единая Россия, Yedinaya Rossiya, (j)ɪˈdʲinəjə rɐˈsʲijə) is a Conservatism in Russia, Russian conservative List of political parties in Russia, political party. As the largest party in Russia, it hold ...

Party HQ in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. Eduard Limonov alleged that Sukhorada implied to him he'd carry out violent militant acts in his native region. *Aleksandr Sladkikh (russian: Александр Сладких, September 18, 1989 – June 11, 2010) *Vladimir Ilyutikov (russian: Владимир Илютиков) *Roman Savchenko (russian: Роман Савченко) *Maksim Kirilov (russian: Максим Кириллов) *Alexei Nikitin (russian: Алексей Никитин), arrested on July 31, 2010 as a supposed abettor.

Motivation

On October 9, 2010, a 13-minute video entitled "Video Appeal of the Primorsky Partisans" was released on

. In the video the ''partizans'' of the group declared a guerrilla war against corruption and Russian

Militsiya ''Militsiya'' ( rus, милиция, , mʲɪˈlʲitsɨjə) was the name of the police forces in the Soviet Union (until 1991) and in several Eastern Bloc countries (1945–1992), as well as in the non-aligned SFR Yugoslavia (1945–1992). The ...

. The video was removed from the YouTube server several times due to complaints.

Reaction

A poll of listeners to the Echo of Moscow radio station indicated that 60–75 percent of listeners sympathised with the Primorsky Partisans and would offer them help.Если члены "приморской группы" обратятся к Вам за помощью, поможете ли Вы?
/ref>

Explanatory notes

References

External links

*
Why Russians backed anti-police rage
- article on

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

CC: The Primorsky Partisans 25 Nov 10

Crossing Continents: The Primorsky Partisans

interview with artist Josef Zacek (RFE/RL)14 September 2011

* Jan Machoni
Too Creative Dissident
A2 16/ 2016 {{Russian nationalism 2010 crimes in Russia 2010 in Russia Primorsky Krai Guerrilla organizations Human rights abuses in Russia Paramilitary organizations based in Russia Politics of Russia Terrorism in Russia