The restaurant of the Konstantinovskiy brothers, two multimillionaires, has been closed for a while. But in the parking lot, there are plenty of cars; armed guards are standing at the gates, as well as armored jeeps and guards in the courtyard. And in the restaurant itself, a few dozens of strong sporty guys are eating buckwheat porridge with meat. They're all dressed in civilian clothes. The brothers themselves are twins of medium height with shaved heads, wiry athlets who look much younger in their 54 years. Occasionally, respectable people, businessmen and friends come up to them. All of them are impressed by the small “army” and worried about their business, but eager to receive protection – “just in case”. At some point, I get scared: it looks too much like the 90s, when strong guys like them went on criminal meetings. The brothers themselves claim to have created their unit with the purpose to fight the crime.
“We spent lots of time on the Maidan,” says Vyacheslav Constantinoskiy with enthusiasm. “When we started to receive plenty of news of looting and robbery, the first thought was to protect our business. But then we sat down and thought that we were not foreigners in the city and if you have the resources, why not help protect Kiev. Many people who know us ask for help.”
“What are your resources?”
“We have an isolated base in the form of the restaurant, a car park and registered weapons. Besides, we have our own extensive security service. All of them are reliable people, with whom we have been working for years. The only problem is the information. I would like to cooperate with the police because if some granny sees how they are trying to break into someone’s house, she won’t call us, she won’t have out contacts, she will dial 102. And if they don’t come – a common problem these days – people will suffer. However, the police don’t want to work with us. We’re also worried for the guys who join groups without weapons to protect their homes, but they don’t have any experience. Yesterday, for example, members of Automaidan asked us to come to a private sector, where there were about 15 strangers in cars, and I don’t know if they were armed: we didn’t catch them by the hand. When we arrived, they just sat in their cars, probably watching how things went. We went up and talked with them. They left the place.”
The brothers also tell me how they came to the scene when there was a call reporting an attempt to take over a tax inspection building that works with big taxpayers.
“The same. There were some people with assault rifles,” says Alexander. “Who they work for, I don’t know. It’s clear someone either is interested in destabilizing the situation or may want to take over the place of the manager – it happens rather often these days. But seeing armed guys, I mean us, they retreated and left.”
The brothers believe that in Kiev, there are several major armed groups of 20-30 people who cause serious damage.
“And if we catch them,” says Vyacheslav, “and at least once give them a hard time, then many of them will no longer have desire to do it. Because, looking at them, others form units and, seeing the unstable situation in the country, try to attack peaceful business and citizens, here come petty crimes, then bigger ones, then those guys become a gang. I would like to stop at least one major group, so that others won’t be like them.”
“What measures are you ready to take?”
“If, like yesterday, we catch a group that easily leaves, we won’t stir up conflicts. It we catch small hooligans, we’ll cuff them and let go. But with armed people, we’ll speak their language.
The businessmen say that those whom they had to face also introduce themselves as Right Sector of Self-Defense. The brothers dismiss the idea that those people can be disguising as aggressors, but admit that they may be connected to the Maidan.
“The Maidan is not perfect, and many of those who were actually there, can become criminals today. They can refer to some person, as yesterday they could meet them indeed,” says Vyacheslav. “I've heard that lots of organizations are now recruiting marauders, but they shouldn’t forget that marauders are shot during the war.”
“Can your occupation develop into a business?” I ask.
Alexander nods:
“We use only our own resources now, but, sure, it cannot continue like this for a long time. That’s why we cannot rule out that our unit can become a security business.”
