Andriy Biletsky
Andriy Biletsky is a far-right ukranian politician and commander of the Azov Battalion.
Biography
Early life
He was born on the 5th August 1979, in the city of Charkiv when Ukraine was still in the USSR. He is descendant from the side of his father from an ancient Cossack family who founded the village of Krasnopavlivka and by the side of his mother, he descends from a noble family of Žytomyr.
Already at a young age, he learns martial arts and boxing and he was already influenced by the nationalist ideals expressed by the book banned in the Soviet Union "Istorija Ukraïny dlja ditej" by Antin L'vovič Lotoc'kyj, given to him by his father. Then, in 2001, Bіlec'kyj graduated with honors from the Faculty of History of the University of Kharkiv.
Activity in the political area and military career
After, in 2002, Bіlec'kyj becomes leader of the Kharkiv branch of the political organization Tryzub and collaborates with the Social-National Party of Ukraine for opposing the idea of his transformation into Svoboda. After the transformation of SNPU into Svoboda and the liquidation of the original Patriots of Ukraine, in 2005 Bіlec'kyj initiates the revival of the paramilitary organization Patriots of Ukraine.
In the 2006 elections, Bіlec'kyj unsuccessfully ran for the Ukrainian Parliament. In 2008, he was one of the founders of the National Social Assembly , a ultranationalist organizations, which dissolved in 2015.
In August 2011, members of Patriots of Ukraine and SNA are arrested in connection with the "case of the Vasylkiv terrorists", that was an attepted bombing to a statue of Lenin at Boryspil. On the September 11th 2011, members of Patriots of Ukraine are arrested and charged with attempted murder. On the November 19th 2011, an attempt on the life of Bіlec'kyj occurs in Kharkiv, with two gunshot wounds. Bіlec'kyj manages to reach the city hospital where he is operated. On the December 27th 2011, Bіlec'kyj, along with other members of Patriots of Ukraine, is arrested on the same charges and detained in the Kharkiv investigative prison, in custody.
On the February 24th 2014, after the ouster of President Viktor Yanukovyč, the Ukrainian parliament adopts an amendment on freedom for political prisoners . The next day, Bіlec'kyj and other prisoners are completely acquitted of all charges and released. On March 12th 2014, Bіlec'kyj becomes one of the leaders of Pravyj Sektor.
On the May 5th 2014, Bіlec'kyj founds and becomes the first commander of the Azov Battalion. The battalion is initially made up of members of Patriots of Ukraine, SNA, fans and the AutoMaidan movement. The paramilitary formation is known as the "Little Black Men", as opposed to the Russian special "Little Green Men".
On the June 13th 2014, Bіlec'kyj leads his detachment to conquer the city of Mariupol, in the hands of pro-Russian rebels. On the August 2nd 2014, Bіlec'kyj is awarded the Order for courage and on the August 15th 2014, he promoted to lieutenant colonel of police.
On September 10th 2014, Bіlec'kyj is admitted to the military council of the Popular Front, but does not become a member of the party. On the September 27th 2014, he succesfully ran as an independent candidate in the 217th electoral district of Kiev, for the 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary elections. In parliament, he joined the mixed group "Ukrop". On October 2014, he left the command of the Azov Battalion.
On October 2016, Bіlec'kyj leaves the Ukrainian army because elected officials were prevented from serving in the armed forces, but he promised to continue his military career.
Andrij Bіlec'kyj, during his first 3 years of work in Verchovna Rada, participates with very few votes, ranking fifth in the ranking of deputies with the fewest votes and skipping 328 sessions of the Ukrainian parliament. He also ignored all sittings of the Verchovna Rada in 2016 and did not appear in parliament in March 2017. The reason is because Andrij Bіlec'kyj failed to write any adopted laws in the Verchovna Rada.
In the Ukrainian parliamentary elections of 2019, he was ranked 2nd in the joint list of Svoboda and National Corps, the government initiative of Jaroš and Pravyj Sektor. But in the elections, the party did not get enough votes for the electoral threshold and therefore did not get any parliamentary seats.
Now, he is fighting in the recent war in Ukraine.
Ideology
Andrіj Bіlec'kyj was openly Anti-Semetic and extremely racist. In fact, he viewed other races as inferior, by directly quoting the Nazi theory of the Untermensch. He is also an ultranationalist and an Anti-Communist. Also, he opposes to capitalism and democracy.
But he has toned down his ideology in recent years.
Trivia
- He ranks first among the deputies who have presented the most unsuccessful bills.
- From 2003 to 2016, he was married with a woman called Julija Oleksandrivna Bilec'kaja and had a son together. All of this lasted until April 2016, when the data on an apartment in Kiev were not included in the statement of the deputy.