Members of the Ukrainian ultra-nationalist group Pravy Sektor took part in a commando-style raid against the Donbass referendum last Sunday, killing two unarmed civilians in the town of Krasnoarmeysk, an investigation by Paris Match has found.

Rumours had spread among separatists for several weeks about radical Pravy Sektor (or « Right Sector ») militants hiding amid government forces loyal to Kiev to perpetrate actions targeting pro-Russian groups in eastern Ukraine. Though a small political force, Pravy Sektor played a significant part in the street fights the lead to the downfall of former president Viktor Yanukovitch during the Maidan Revolution in Kiev last February. Formed as an alliance of tiny far-right groups, the movement is described as « fascist » by the pro-Russian populations of eastern Ukraine, which regularly accuse its militants of stirring trouble by any means. These accusations have been constantly repeated by numerous Russian media close to the Kremlin, and have become an important part of the ferocious disinformation war currently playing out in Ukraine. But they had, till now, essentially not been substantiated, to the point of being poked at as a farce on twitter and the Internet.

Andrey Denisenko, one of the leaders of the nationalist group Pravy Sektor, seen hear entrenched in the town hall at Krasnoarmeysk on Sunday, may 11, talking to the crowd who wants to get in to take part in the referendum. To the side, the same, photographed on March 22, 2014 in kiev, during a press conference given by Pravy Sektor. The group’s banner can be seen in the background : red and black with a trident. © DR/PARIS MATCH

The rumour, however, has been in part verified by a series of pictures taken by Paris Match photographers. These images show Andrey Denisenko, one of the Pravy Sektor chiefs, among a group of mysterious gunmen that attacked a voting station Sunday in the small town of Krasnoarmeysk, some 60 kilometres from the separatist « capital », Donetsk. After occupying the local town hall for several hours, the militiamen shot down point blank one local civilian, and killed two other unarmed protesters.

Sequence of events:

The group of over a dozen gunmen arrived in Krasnoarmeysk at about 14h30 on Sunday, chasing local referendum activists from the voting centre, where the ballot was being held.

To the right of the picture, Andrey Denisenko, one of the leaders of the nationalist group Pravy Sektor, shoots into the air to disperse the crowd trying to take part in the Donbass separatist referendum. The bearded man to his left was identified by many witnesses as a leader of the « Dniepr Battalion », a newly formed pro-Kiev militia. © DR/PARIS MATCH

The militia then locked themselves up in the town hall of this modest industrial city, lost in the vast flatlands of the Donbass plain, near the boundary between the Donetsk region and the region Dnepropetrovsk, which has mostly remained loyal to Kiev. « They arrived telling us they belonged to the National Guard, but we knew it was a lie » said Vitalik Naydiomov, a witness. « We all recognized the minivans they were driving, from PrivatBank ». This bank has seen several of its branches burnt to the ground in eastern Ukraine. It belongs to local oligarch Igor Kolomoisky, one of the main backers of the current interim government in Kiev. Kolomoisky happens to also be the governor of the Dnepropetrovsk region. Several sources allege he has created a new, pro-Kiev militia, the « Dnieper Battalion ». And many witnesses of Sunday’s killing insist they recognized his men among the gunmen, though no one could immediately back the accusation with evidence. Kolomoisky has not made any comment on the incident. The government, on the other hand, has categorically denied that the National Guard or any other unit of its regular forces had taken part in the raid. The transitional government added in a statement that it was opening a criminal investigation into the murders.

A Shadowy militia:

Though there is no evidence of whom the shadowy militia answers to, Paris Match was able to establish that one of Pravy Sektor’s leaders was indeed among the gunmen on Sunday. Andrey Denisenko, deputy chief of nationalist group and its acting head in the Dnepropetrovsk region, appears on stage in pictures taken by a Paris Match photographer during a party gathering in Kiev last March, as the movement announced it would take part in upcoming presidential elections. He also appeared on several Internet websites during a press conference announcing his group’s creation.

Civilans argue with Andrey Denisenko, one of the leaders of the nationalist group Pravy Sektor, outside the town hall. © DR/PARIS MATCH

Finally, he is visible on Sunday, May 11, at the entrance of the town hall in Krasnoarmeysk. Paris Match photos show him brandishing his Kalashnikov automatic rifle, then shooting rounds just above the crowd’s heads. Several witnesses have also indicated that the bearded man seen next to Denisenko on several of the pictures is a leader of the « Dnieper Battalion », but this could not be independently verified.

Several witness also said they heard some of the gunmen speaking with strong western Ukraine accents. They also noticed that some of the gunmen appeared to come from the Caucasus area, possibly mercenaries from Chechnya. Other gunmen never spoke a word and seemed foreign to the region. French war photographer Jerome Sessini spent about an hour face to face with the gunmen before they opened fire. « I found that their general attitude and their very precise techniques gave off the impression that they were American mercenaries, or people trained by American mercenaries » said Sessini.

« I can’t guarantee this for sure, but I’d give it a 95 per cent, » added the photographer, who frequently interacted with various U.S. security contractors during his years covering the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. In Krasnoarmeysk, several of the gunmen were masked or wearing keffieh-style cloaks, which made it difficult to pinpoint whom among them had fired the lethal shots.

Civilians under shock:

It was already 5 pm by the time a small crowd of unarmed civilians tried to reclaim the town hall from the militia. An amateur video, handed to Paris Match by a neighbour, shows tension rising as the militiamen gradually loose ground.

One of the crowd leaders is Ruslan Sergeyvitcch Pilipenko. The sturdy 32 year-old works as a minor in the area. He can be seen on the images, angrily pushing toward the militiamen. One gunman pushes him back with his riffle butt, but Ruslan keeps pressing forward, despite the barrel pointed at his stomach. The gunman then opens fire point blank, shattering his left ankle.

Ruslan, the ankle shattered by a Kalashnikov round. © DR/PARIS MATCH

The crowd rushes in to help, without measuring the full scale of the incident. For, a few metres behind, Vadim Khoudich has just collapsed. « He wasn’t armed, he wasn’t aggressive in any way, he wasn’t even doing anything, » says his friend and neighbour Vitalik Naydiomov. On the video he shows us, one of the masked gunmen is clearly visible at a first-floor window.

Vadim, a 38-year-old plumber, died on the spot. © DR/PARIS MATCH

« It’s no stray bullet : the doctor told us he’d shot to kill, directly. » In front of the town hall, a hole in the tarred ground shows where the incoming round hit. Vadim died on the spot. A single bullet struck him in the chin, and ripped through his spine on the way out. Fellow protestors dragged him onto a lawn, powerless, just as the gunmen were jumping into their minivan to leave. As they departed, Youri Nikolenko angrily tossed a stone at the them.

Youri Nikolenko throws a stone at the gunmen. © DR/PARIS MATCH

The 48-year-old was struck back by a lethal bullet to the right shoulder. He is pictured collapsing, just in front of Vadim’s corps.

Youri was struck back by a lethal bullet to the right shoulder. © DR/PARIS MATCH

The 38-year-old plumber leaves two daughters: Valeria, 14, and Vlada, two and a half. « He called me on the phone to warn that there was trouble at the town hall and that I shouldn’t come to vote, » says his widow, Natasha, as neighbours file past the casket in the Soviet-era building in the rather dishevelled housing project where he lived. «Minutes later, he was dead,” adds Natasha, a frail brunette with a shaky voice, hiding her tears behind large smoked glasses. « Some people are trying to understand what happened. But I’m only left with the suffering, » she goes on. « Can you even understand that? » she asks, removing her sunglasses to stare directly in our eyes. « No you can’t, of course not. Nobody can… »

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