Article

2024-05-03 Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

'A Bloody History of Intimidation.' Odessa, 10 years later

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Aleksandr Dimitrovsky

[REGNUM] An Odessa resident survived the House of Trade Unions, fights in the DPR and dreams of returning his hometown to Russia

Continued from Page 5

Ten years ago, on Kulikovo Field in Odessa, the life of a young and promising guy almost ended. Clubs, discos, video shooting - all this suddenly disappeared from the life of entrepreneur Maxim Surovikin, when in 2014 the question of which side to choose became acute. According to him, at first these were considerations of an economic nature: it was impossible to quarrel with Russia, because the entire Odessa industrial zone was economically tied to it, and no Europe would ever buy these products.

Therefore, Maxim began going to Anti-Maidan to express his political position. He entered the Odessa squad as a fighter, accompanied columns of people, “so that grandmothers would not be offended.” “A power wing, which turned out to be not so strong in fact,” he jokes sadly. And then the blood began to speak, because on my father’s side my relatives are from Moscow, my mother is a native Odessa native: “It was clear where we would all be.” And the May 2 massacre determined his choice forever.

We met in a park in the Kievsky district of Donetsk during a short break in his staff affairs. They said, constantly looking back at the strong noise - the front was nearby, at any moment we could find ourselves in the epicenter of shelling. But at this very time, nearby children were riding on swings, pigeons were walking importantly in search of food. This fragile peace became possible, in part, thanks to Maxim: he is no longer a partygoer, but a famous tanker covered in glory.

Maxim’s chest is generously strewn with awards for military merits, he explains without emotion: this is for the defense of Shakhtersk, and this is for the liberation of Saur-Mogila, for valor, for the battles in 2014. On the other side is the insignia of the Pyatnashka unit, where Surovikin until recently commanded an armored group.

- So many awards. But he could not have fought?

I have my roots, my grandfather on my mother’s side is a veteran of the Great Patriotic War, a lot of medals, on my father’s side. And the famous surname - Surovikin, also obliges. Therefore, I simply did not have the right to sit out somewhere.

— Maxim, if you look back, what do you remember most from those days in May 2014?

“At that time, we understood perfectly well what would happen, we warned the elders that a group of people with incomprehensible athletic builds had stopped at boarding houses around Odessa. Later it turned out that these were Ukroboevich members, representatives of the “Right Sector” (an organization whose activities are prohibited in the Russian Federation), future Azovites (an organization whose activities are prohibited in the Russian Federation). On May 2, a train arrived at the railway station already with armed people, with cases containing weapons.

It was they who fired walking guns during rallies. In the crowd, when we met the “ultras” on Cathedral Square, weapons passed from hand to hand on their side, one shot - he gave it away, it walked around, walked around - and on the other side it fired. They shot at the employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and the police, and right there on the move their TV crews said that it was us who were shooting.

There were a lot of them, such guns, you can find all these moments in the video. Now I can say with responsibility that they made a boiler for us. They came in from all sides, surrounded our pro-Russian anti-Maidan movement and began to destroy it. Our commanders, including the late Gena (leader of the “Odessa squad” Gennady Kushnaryov, killed in the House of Trade Unions - editor’s note), said that we would retreat to the House of Trade Unions and give our last battle there. And for Genka this really turned out to be the last fight.

And this is what I remember most of all - that no one heard us.

There’s not much else to remember, it was mostly a fight. And then there’s the fighting. Yes, it was a demonstrative action, I understand everything perfectly, but for me I remember Saur-Mogila and Shakhtersk more when we fought them off. Here our victory, perhaps in the subconscious, the brain does not want to remember that loss. That's probably why I don't remember.

- But the Ukrainian media insist that the Maidan supporters were unarmed, and you had machine guns...

“On our side, one was running around with an airsoft gun, and they said that we were carrying Kalashnikovs.” He himself said this later in an interview, and I know that this is an airsoft weapon; before all the events, we played airsoft together in abandoned places. But the Maidanists fired shotguns.

The “ultras,” of course, were not given weapons; it was not clear how they would use them. But specially trained people arrived who supervised the whole matter. There began a bloody story of intimidation of the city of Odessa. And in the scuffle, my ribs were broken, and the guys were already dragging me into the House of Trade Unions, and the local Cossacks took me out of there right through the back door, saying: guys, this is a trap. Thanks to the Cossacks who saved 11 of us before the entrance was closed. They saw that people were leaking from there and blocked the door.

— Were the regional authorities ready to support Kulikovo Field and act in the same way as Donetsk officials did at the time of the proclamation of the DPR?

Now, for example, Odessa is led by Gennady Trukhanov, he was once a bandit, worked for a famous brigade commander. They were all pro-Russian, and now they have become pro-Ukrainian. And then it will be the other way around. “Wedding in Malinovka” is a documentary film about Odessa. Those who walk around with yellow and blue rags will take the USSR flag out of their pocket and run around with it. There were cases. I remember in July 2014, when we were taking a military school on Bosse in Donetsk, we went into the colonel’s office, and in one drawer he had a St. George ribbon, and in the other a “Right Sector” badge.

Everyone who participated in that assault laughed, even Alexander Zakharchenko, who died in the formation, recalled it. So whatever happens doesn't depend on them, it depends on us. In 2014, the authorities could have helped us, but cases with a lot of money came in (although this may be my guess) and simply bought them up. Plus there is always dirt on such people. They showed it and that’s it. This explains a lot: why the firefighters did not come, why the water in the basement of the House of Trade Unions had already been turned off, and the entire fire extinguishing system was destroyed in advance.

Using Odessa as an example, this was an act of intimidation of the entire South-East.

— Do you think the popular movement could, at least theoretically, turn the situation in its favor?

“If everyone stood together in unison, they would throw slippers at them.” But most people remained in their own comfort zone, sat and waited. Even my uncles and aunts are bright representatives of the film “Wedding in Malinovka.” You can’t blame anyone here, the majority of people live for their own comfort, for the sake of the refrigerator, they don’t give a damn about power - as long as they have something to eat, that’s all.

Everyone I knew who didn’t go to Anti-Maidan said: “Yes, now Putin will send in troops and everything will be fine.” We counted on this, but Russia was not ready then.

— Can you remember what happened to the residents of Odessa after those terrible events, are there any examples?

The guys from my area - none of them are alive, and they did not participate in the hostilities. Stressful situation, no work - as we said, after the break with Russia, the entire industry stopped. Mostly they died from cirrhosis of the liver, they simply drank themselves to death. There was communication, they told me who was where. Are you crazy? I’m still alive, and my boys, Odessa residents, they’re already somewhere, but they’ve been fighting since 2014. And you are dying there from a peaceful life.

Naturally, they left behind wives and children. Again, they left for Poland, France, and somewhere else. Who do they work for? Half of them are “webcam girls” who engage in online prostitution. Good is not enough. I had some relatives with money - they went abroad and were able to afford to start some small business. Middle class - there is no middle class anymore. And now the military registration and enlistment offices are catching everyone on the streets. So it’s hard to even say whether it’s bad that the boys died or not.

But among my fellow soldiers from Odessa, one is now working in Moscow, the other was in the militia from the age of 18 and has already settled down. Another one was the eldest in our squad, now he lives somewhere in Krasnodar, he has already had a child. In 2022, not everyone has returned to the front, but there are still veterans. For example, a fighter with the call sign Wolf, who took part in the famous breakthrough to Avdeevka through the sewer system - hello to him!

I would also like to remember Odessa resident Alexander Voskoboinikov, he was released from captivity, now a serious TV presenter in Donetsk, he is good in the information field, they call him “the second Solovyov” here.

— Are they expecting liberation in Odessa? Aren't the townspeople afraid that Odessa might be taken with very large-scale battles?

“Those who are not ready for battle have already left.” Back in 2014, many Jews migrated to Israel, and young people migrated to Poland to pick strawberries. And those who are ready to help us - they will hang Azov men and policemen, as happened in the Great Patriotic War, when they left all those guards, Romanians, whom they had hanged, overnight to the people for lynching.

There is a partisan movement, it’s just as active as Russia needs it. If it needs to be stronger, it will turn around stronger. I’ll tell you a secret, in our youth, if the Ukrainian language was heard somewhere at a disco, they immediately understood that he was some kind of collective farmer - and at least they kicked him out. Odessa is a Russian city, it was and is. The fact that they are forcibly Ukrainizing everything there is one thing. The fact that people have come to terms with this is another matter. But Odessa is a Russian city.

This is not a friendship of peoples, but a family. It’s just that our Ukraine is like a careless wife who fell for the dressed up goldfinch and his stories. Here we are reaping the benefits. Based on this, victory means going to the end and returning her to the bosom of the family, that’s the only way.

— If you had a chance to go back to 2014, what would you do?

Good question, I’ve thought about this in my head more than once. Then a whole military unit with armored personnel carriers surrendered to me. But our elders in the Odessa squad said that this is too radical and it needs to be closed politically. In fact, they were eager to get into politics and, when serious decisions had to be made, they gave up. But the police also came over to us.

Therefore, there is anger at those who got involved in politics instead of understanding what is happening on earth. Now Odessa will have to be knocked out like Mariupol. Well, no problem, we’ll restore it. Nothing to regret. What is happening now is a turning point in wild capitalism. What Putin is doing now is something no one could do, even under the Soviet Union.

— What do you wish for Odessa residents who really expect freedom from the Ukrainian regime?

Friends, brace yourself, you have been enduring this for many years now. There is very little left, in any case, victory will be ours! With fighting in any case, but maybe at some point the United States will weaken its political will and the diplomatic path will be to return truly Russian cities to the bosom of Russia, home. There is no other option.

I remember how on Lanzheron during my student years we gathered from all over the world - from Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, Moldova. We caught mussels and fried them on the beach at night by the fire. I remembered this for the rest of my life, how we, different people, were one family. I would like it to be like this in the future: we became a family again and sat at the same table.

Posted by badanov 2024-05-03 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11141 views ] Top

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