Formation
C14 first organized in 2010 as the youth wing of Ukraine’s ultranationalist Svoboda party.[5] According to the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group, C14 did not deem Svoboda’s platform extreme enough.[6] Svoboda (Freedom) formed in 1991 following the collapse of the Soviet Union.[7] Reporting Radicalism claims that C14 was officially founded on October 14, 2011, during an annual Ukrainian nationalist march known as Pokrova.[8] Certain individuals claim that the group’s name is a reference to American white supremacist David Lane’s fourteen word slogan.[9] Representatives of C14 claim that C14 represents the anglicized spelling of the Cyrillic word Sich (Січ) .Sich refers to the political centers of communities populated by the cultural and ethnic Cossack group through the 18th century.[10]
In 2010, C14 attempted to antagonize leftist student unions Direct Action and Student Action. The unions were campaigning against allegedly corrupt education reforms. C14 attended anti-reform demonstrations in an attempt to elicit responses from the unions. C14 initially attempted to provoke controversy through media such as anti-Semitic cartoons before turning to violence. The group reportedly perpetrated violence against union members throughout 2010 and 2011.[11]
In December 2012, C14 attack activists protesting an anti-LGBT+ bill in Kyiv. Early iterations of C14 also staunchly and sometimes forcefully opposed modern development of historic districts in Kyiv.[12]
Neo-Nazism and Denial of Accusations
Early iterations of C14 suggest that the group may have embraced neo-Nazi ideology. A 2011 poster for a youth football cup the group hosted-presumably as the Svoboda youth wing- stated that the event was “for white children only”.[13] In 2013, leader Yehven Karas attended and spoke at a neo-Nazi march in Kyiv. The march was composed of extremist right wing groups from multiple European countries, including Russia.[14] In 2014, however, Karas went on to deny his association with Nazism. Karas reports that he instead has qualms with non-Ukranian ethnics groups; specifically, he purported to blame national issues on ethnic Russians, Poles, and Jews. Karas later vehemently denied that C14 itself is a Nazi organization, alternatively referring to the group as “Ukranian nationalists”. [15]
Anti-Seperatist Violence
In 2014, C14 began transitioning to targeted violence against individuals suspected of supporting Russian separatism. . In 2013 and 2014, C14 reportedly fought against what Hromadske International refers to as the “paid thugs” who worked to support Kyiv police during the Euromaidan protests.[16] During the protests, C14 members played a significant role in occupying the building housing the Kyiv City Administration. During the final days of Euromaidan, C14 activists allegedly attempted to take shelter in the Dutch and Canadian embassies to avoid backlash from authorities.[17]
In 2014, two unknown men brutally beat Vasyl Cherepanyn in Kyiv. Cherepanyn is a university art theory lecturer and head of the Visual Culture Research Center. Cherepanyn was allegedly attacked on unfounded claims of communist and pro-Russian seperatist ideology.[18] Members of C14 and the Svoboda party allegedly took responsibility for this attack.[19]
In 2015, two C14 members allegedly murdered Ukranian journalist Oles Buzyna.[20] Buzyna was described following his fatal April 2015 shooting as an “ally” of the Ukrainian “pro-Russian former president Victor Yanukovych”.[21] In 2017, leftist-activist Stas Serhiyenko was the victim of a non-fatal stabbing. Both Serhiyenko and other left-wing activists alleged that the perpetrator of the attack was a member of C14.[22] Leader Yehven Karas allegedly claimed responsibility for the attack online.[23] Later in June 2017, C14 members beat politician Denis Zharkikh. Zharkikh, a member of Ukraine’s Socialist party who had organized a rally for an imprisoned journalist. The group of C14 members who attacked Zharkikh allegedly accused him of supporting Russia’s annexation of the Crimean peninsula.[24]
In January 2018, C14 organized a blockade of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra monastery. The blockade was intended to protest the Russian Orthodox’s refusal to bury Ukrainian soldiers that died in the separatist region of the Donbas. In January 2018, C14 also disrupted a rememberance for individuals murdered by Russian nationalists. Instead of punishing C14 members who disrupted the remembrance, Kyiv police detained leftists activists who had participated in the original memorial gathering. When the detained activists left police stations, members of C14 allegedly followed them.[25] In February 2018, C14 members staged protests outside a Kyiv courthouse where two individuals were being tried for the murder of Oles Buzyna.[26]
Vigilante Violence and State Support
In April 2018, C14 carried out a pogrom against ethnic Romani families in Lysa Hora, a natural area outside of Kyiv. A video was later posted online by C14 members. The attack involved armed and masked men using stones and gas canisters to drive families (many of which included young children) out of their campsite. C14 members then set their tents on fire. Despite a social media confession from C14 member Serhiy Mazur, Kyiv police initially declined to investigate the attack. Kyiv police initially denied that the Romani camp had been attacked and attributed evidence of arson to the burning of leftover trash from Romani families. Kyiv police launched an investigation into the incident following increased scrutiny from media as well as witness testimony.[27]
In 2018, C14 again carried out a vigilante abduction under the pretense of anti-separatism. The group forcefully kidnapped Brazilian national Rafael Lusvarghi in Kyiv. Lusvarghi had previously faced charges in Ukraine for fighting on the side of pro-Russian separatists in Eastern Ukraine. Following the abduction, C14 released Lusvarghi to SBU, Ukraine’s secret service.[28]
In June 2018, the Svoboda political party and their affiliate C14 received grants from the Youth and Sports Ministry. C14 received almost 17,000 US dollars to fund, amongst other supposed educational ventures, a children’s summer camp. The Youth and Sports Ministry voted unanimously to fund the effort.[29] As of 2019, the group was legally registered with the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine as a civil society organization.[30] Two years prior, C14 reached an agreement with the city of Kyiv granting the group permission to act as an independent patrol militia. C14 is one of multiple groups whom Kyiv has allowed to act as civilian guard units.[31]
Political Involvement and Role in Russian Invasion
In March 2021 multiple right-wing groups in Ukraine joined together in an attempt to secure seats on the Ministry of Veterans Affairs Public Council. The groups submitted eleven names on a delegate list. All individuals on the list were elected to the council. C14 leader Yevhen Karas, as well as members Oleksandr Voytko and Andrei Medvedko (suspected murderer of Oles Buzyna) recieved seats on the council.[32]
The exact role of C14 as a paramilitary unit in defending Ukraine from Russian invaders remains unclear. In February 2022, Yevhen Karas delivered an address stating that the West had armed far-right fighters because such fighters found killing to be “fun”.[33]
