Governor of Luhansk region accuses Aidar of terrorizing the region
▻http://www.kyivpost.com/content/kyiv-post-plus/governor-of-luhansk-region-accuses-aidar-of-terrorizing-the-region-385054.
He said members of the group stole two ambulances from a local hospital for their “own personal rides” this week, Moskal said in an online statement on April 1. The offense adds to a long list of misdeeds that Moskal said have begun to alienate the local population and undermine the public’s trust in local authorities.
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“Aidar fighters conduct themselves not like representatives of the armed forces who are subordinate to the Defense Ministry, but like hell-raisers, outlaws and robbers armed with automatic weapons. They have essentially opened a second front in peaceful territory, where a war is under way,” Moskal wrote.
Human rights activists and local officials have repeatedly warned that the lawlessness of the battalion threatens to destabilize the region, and Moskal said that is precisely what is happening after the group seized control of the region’s main bread factory, UkrVeresk.
The factory was seized last fall and the Defense Ministry was made aware of it at the time, he said, “but no measures were taken.”
“This enterprise, which is the main bread factory in the region, was seized by armed militants of the Aidar Battalion, who have installed their own rules and begun arbitrarily increasing the prices on bread, which has caused social tension and sadness at the actions of authorities among the local population,” he wrote.
Aidar fighters have also pocketed Hr 280,000 in cash from the factory and begun tearing up equipment to sell as scrap metal, he said.
In addition, he said, “they are not paying for gas,” racking up an overdue debt of Hr 700,000.
Since the factory’s takeover, bread production has fallen by 50 percent, the governor said.
