Article in Finnish: http://www.iltalehti.fi/ulkomaat/201802222200764611_ul.shtml

The Ukrainian officer, who has risen up against Russia during the Crimea occupation: «I knew who were so-called «green men». You just have to go and ask them»

When Russia occupied the Crimean peninsula, the Ukrainian armed forces units were almost completely obscured on what is going on. «Iltalehti» met with Colonel Julii Mamchur, who defended his base till the end.

• Russia occupied the Crimean peninsula in March 2014.
• Sanctions imposed by the Western Countries against Russia have been in effect since then.
• Julii Mamchur, who defended the Ukrainian base in Crimea, visited Finland in late February.

On the video, the courageous act of Julii Mamchuri and his unit when confronting the Russian soldiers face to face.

Colonel of the Ukrainian Air Force Julii Mamchur, 46, is the person who met the so-called «green men» face to face in Crimea in March 2014. He headed his soldiers on their way out of the Belbek air base to check what was really going on.

- It was clear to me that the soldiers on the roadside were Russians, Mamchur tells «Iltalehti» four years after he and his soldiers went outside the Belbek base in the Crimea to find out what's going on around him.

The situation was confusing. The Russian troops took Crimea, the Ukrainian troops left the area.

- There was a clear danger, and my duty was to find out what it was all about, Mamchur tells.

- I knew that there were so-called «green men». You just have to go and ask, he continues.

Mamchur says that he was responsible for the Belbek base and his unit, and for surviving of his soldiers. There was no alternative but to negotiate and avoid armed confrontation.

Iconic pictures

The news image outside the Belbek base was iconic. The Ukrainian officer and his unit marched towards unidentified soldiers, carrying their flags and singing the national Anthem of Ukraine. Unidentified soldiers shoot warning shots. Ukrainians were unarmed.

Mamchur has watched the video over the last four years only four times, last week in Finland. - It was really touching, Mamchur says.

March 23, 2014, Russian troops took over the Belbek base.

Mamchur urged the Ukrainian soldiers not to ignore the provocations and to sing the Ukrainian national Anthem. Mamchur himself was arrested immediately. He was captured by the Russians for a few days. He was tried to persuade to go on the Russian side, but he refused.

On March 29, the unit of Mamchur was transferred to Mykolaiv, South Ukraine.

Julii Mamchur is currently a Member of Parliament. He joined the Ukrainian Parliament in October 2014 as a representative of the block of Petro Poroshenko. Mamchur is therefore in a place of worship for the country's events. The situation in East Ukraine is worrisome.

Mamchur admits that the Minsk peace agreements are not working. However, they helped when the situation was the hottest in Eastern Ukraine.

- You have to remember when the agreements have been concluded. All were preceded by dramatic events, Mamchur recalls.

The first Minsk agreement was signed in September 2014. Prior to that, the military operations accelerated dramatically, leading to the Ilovaisk massacre, in which Russian-backed troops shot Ukrainian soldiers.

The Minsk II agreement was signed in February 2015 immediately after the Debaltseve massacre.

Both agreements restricted the struggles for a while, but the situation has been returned to the same.

According to Mamchur, both Minsk agreements ended the worst military action for limited time. According to him, the agreements also gave the Western countries time to prepare anti-Russian sanctions.

Mamchur welcomes the proposal made by President Petro Poroshenko of the UN peacekeepers in Eastern Ukraine. However, he is afraid that it will be manipulated by Russia.

«The peacekeeping operation is good if it covers the whole area, not just the contact line», Mamchur says. It has been suggested from the Russian side that the UN peacekeepers would not be in the entire Donbas and Luhansk regions but would be in the middle between the existing separatist regions and the territory under the Ukrainian administration.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has recently presented, at the Munich Security Conference, a plan which provides that non-allied countries like Finland, Sweden and Austria would form the peacekeeping mission in Eastern Ukraine. On many occasions, the idea has been considered good, but is probably too much to be put on the shoulders of only three countries.

 

«Iltalehti», Nina Järvenkylä