Sputnik News, April 1, 2015

Dmytro Yarosh, leader of the Ukrainian nationalist movement ‘Right Sector’, which is blacklisted by Russian authorities as extremist, said the organization is ready to be transformed into an assault brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. “It’s just a discussion so far, but we have an idea of forming a professional assault brigade which will complete various specific tasks,” Yarosh said.

The Right Sector contains enough volunteers to establish a unit which would comprise four assault battalions and one reconnaissance and sabotage battalion, he added.

Yarosh underscored that command of the Ukrainian volunteer corps, together with the General Staff, have decided to retain Right Sector forces in Donbass. The movement will hold positions near the Donetsk airport, the Artyomovsk direction, and positions near Volnovakha and Shirokino, according to him.

On March 31, Yarosh announced that the Right Sector and the Ukrainian Defense Ministry had agreed on the terms of cooperation. According to him, the movement will be part of the armed forces in a similar way to the Estonian Defense League and will comprise combat as well as reserve units.

On March 26, Anton Geraschenko, advisor to Ukraine’s Minister of Internal Affairs, said President Petro Poroshenko offered Yarosh an office in the Defense Ministry. “I would be pleased to establish together with Dmytro Yarosh the Ukrainian Defense League, following the example of Estonian, Finnish and Swiss systems,” Geraschenko said.

Earlier that day, Right Sector press secretary Artyom Skoropadsky clarified the terms on which Right Sector’s combat division – the Ukrainian volunteer corps – could join the armed forces. According to him, the Right Sector would become part of the Ukrainian army only as an autonomous unit, coming under command of Yarosh and corps commander Andrei Stempitsky, refusing to join the National Guard of the Ukrainian Interior Ministry.