Below is a detailed historical analysis of the unit's formation, activities, crimes on the Maidan, and subsequent fate.
1. Formation and Evolution (1992–2013)Creation (1992)The unit was established by the decree of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine onDecember 5, 1992, on the foundations of the Soviet OMON (Special Purpose Militia Detachments) units that had existed in the Ukrainian SSR since 1988.
Initial Purpose:Combating organized crime, which reached alarming proportions in the early 1990s following the collapse of the USSR (racketeering, gang warfare, banditry), apprehending armed and dangerous criminals, and hostage rescue.
Structure:A regiment or battalion of "Berkut" existed in every region (oblast) of Ukraine, as well as separate units in Kyiv and the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.
Over time, as the wave of 1990s gangsterism subsided, the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs increasingly deployed "Berkut" not to fight crime, but tosuppress mass protests, disperse rallies, and control football hooligans.
The unit began to develop a culture of violence and impunity:
1995 ("Black Tuesday"):The first mass use of brutal force against civilians during the funeral of Patriarch Volodymyr of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Kyiv Patriarchate) on Sophia Square in Kyiv. "Berkut" officers brutally beat mourners and clergy.
2001:Violent suppression of the "Ukraine without Kuchma" protests.
2007:Mass beating of football fans (including teenagers and women) during the Ukrainian Cup final at the Olimpiyskiy National Sports Complex.
Gradually, "Berkut" transformed into a closed caste within the police force, where aggression toward the "internal enemy" (often defined as civil society) was cultivated alongside loyalty to top political leadership rather than the law.
2. Why Did Such a Negative History Form Around "Berkut" in Ukraine?Public animosity built up over decades and reached its absolute peak during the winter of 2013–2014. The main reasons included:
Operating Outside the Law:"Berkut" officers routinely violated the Law "On the Militia." They frequently removed their badge numbers and ID tags from their uniforms, making it impossible to identify individual perpetrators of abuse.
Protection by the Authorities:Not a single major instance of unjustified violence by "Berkut" prior to 2014 resulted in a real prison sentence for officers or commanders. The Yanukovych regime deliberately nurtured them as its "personal Praetorian Guard."
Pro-Russian Indoctrination:In many regional units (especially in Crimea and Eastern Ukraine), pro-Russian and Soviet sentiments prevailed. They viewed Ukrainian patriots, Western values, and national symbols with open hostility.
Savage Cruelty:During the Revolution of Dignity, "Berkut" demonstrated not just the execution of orders, but sadism—torturing detainees in freezing temperatures (the case of Mykhailo Havryliuk), and beating wounded individuals, medics, and journalists.
The role of "Berkut" in the events of the Revolution of Dignity remains a central component of the criminal indictments in the "Maidan Cases."
The Beginning: November 30, 2013The spark that ignited the revolution was the brutal dispersal by "Berkut" of a peaceful student camp on Independence Square (Maidan Nezalezhnosti) in the early hours of November 30. Officers chased, kicked, and bludgeoned young people with batons, even those who were lying defenseless on the ground or attempting to flee.
The Shootings on Instytutska Street: February 20, 2014This stands as the bloodiest page in the unit's history. Live ammunition was deployed against protesters who were unarmed or protected only by improvised wooden and metal shields.
The "Black Company" of Berkut:A distinct, sinister role was played by the so-called "special company" of the Kyiv "Berkut" under the command of MajorDmytro Sadovnyk. The operatives of this company wore black uniforms (sometimes with yellow armbands for friendly-force identification).
Weapons and Tactics:They opened targeted fire using Kalashnikov assault rifles (modernized 7.62 mm caliber), sniper rifles, and Fort-500 shotguns loaded with lead buckshot and slugs. The operatives took up positions behind a barricade of concrete blocks near the Zhovtnevyi Palace and further up Instytutska Street.
Subsequent judicial proceedings proved that after the fall of the Yanukovych regime, the service weapons of the "Black Company" (rifles and assault rifles) were cut into pieces, dumped in the Vita River, or buried to conceal ballistic evidence.
4. Disbandment (February 2014)Immediately following the victory of the Revolution of Dignity and the flight of Viktor Yanukovych, the continued existence of a unit with such a reputation became untenable.
OnFebruary 25, 2014, the newly appointed Acting Minister of Internal Affairs, Arsen Avakov, signed Decree No. 144"On the Liquidation of the Special Purpose Militia Units 'Berkut'". Personnel who were not implicated in blood crimes later underwent vetting and joined other special forces units (such as "KORD" or special purpose police battalions). With the outbreak of war in Donbas in 2014, many went to the front lines to defend Ukraine, proving their allegiance to their oath.
5. The Crimean "Berkut": A Path of TreasonThe Crimean branch of "Berkut" (based in Simferopol and Sevastopol) proved to be the most ideologically compromised and integrated into the operational plans of the Russian intelligence services.
Return from the Maidan:Following Yanukovych’s flight, the Crimean "Berkut" returned to the peninsula in an organized fashion. Russian propaganda and local collaborators (such as Sergei Aksyonov) staged a welcome rally, treating them as "heroes who held back the fascists."
Blocking the Isthmuses:In late February 2014, well before the sham "referendum," armed Crimean "Berkut" operatives dug in at Chonhar and Perekop (the narrow strips of land connecting Crimea to mainland Ukraine), blocking transit and assisting Russian "little green men" in occupying the peninsula.
Defection to Russian Service:Russia capitalized on this immediately. In March 2014, Russian Internal Affairs Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev announced that the Crimean "Berkut" would retain its name and be integrated into the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation (they were later transferred to Rosgvardia). The defectors received Russian passports and elevated salaries. Subsequently, these same ex-Berkut officers brutally suppressed pro-Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar rallies in occupied Crimea.
Pinpointing an exact number is difficult, as many fled covertly through Crimea and the occupied Donbas. However, estimates from the State Bureau of Investigation (DBR) and the Office of the Prosecutor General indicate:
From the Kyiv unit (specifically the "Black Company"),about 20–25 key figuresfled to Russia or occupied territories. This included company commander Dmytro Sadovnyk, who absconded immediately after an Ukrainian court released him to house arrest in the autumn of 2014.
Overall, across various regional units (excluding Crimea, where the unit defected in its entirety—over 800 personnel),between 200 and 300 officers and operativesfled to Russia, Belarus, or the occupied Donbas to evade justice.
The defectors were welcomed warmly. They were granted Russian citizenship through an expedited process and incorporated into the RussianOMON(riot police).
The former commander of the Kyiv "Berkut,"Serhiy Kusiuk(who personally directed the crackdown on students on November 30), fled to Moscow. He has since been identified multiple times in photographs and video footage wearing a Russian OMON uniform, commanding the brutal dispersal of anti-Putin opposition rallies in Moscow.
A portion of the ex-Berkut defectors formed the backbone of terrorist detachments in the proxy "L/DPR" forces in 2014, and actively fought against Ukraine during the full-scale invasion.
The history of "Berkut" in Ukraine serves as a stark historical lesson on the consequences of allowing a law enforcement body to devolve into a punitive structure, insulated from civil society and subservient to the dictatorial ambitions of a ruling regime.
