Titushky

The Titushky (plural; Ukrainian: тітушки; Russian: титушки; Romanian: titușki) were mercenary agents in Ukraine who supported the Ukrainian security services during the administration of Viktor Yanukovych, often posing as street hooligans in sports clothing^[1] with the purpose of serving as provocateurs at pro-European and anti-Yanukovych political rallies that would incite violence in order to get protestors arrested.^[2][3] Their role grew more prominent in the wake of Euromaidan, where they were involved in numerous clashes and acts of violence during the movement.^[4]

In the early 2010s, a “Titushky raid” (Russian: титушки рейд) was a widely-used slang term in both Ukrainian and the Russian spoken in Ukraine to describe street beatings, carjackings, and kidnappings by unidentified men in civilian clothes from behind the lines of political rallies.^[2] Titushky were employed by the Yanukovych government, reportedly receiving 200 hryvnia to $100 per day in payments.^[2][5][6] Some were also suspected of being illegal formations of combat troops carrying concealed pistols.^[2] They carried out intimidation and dispersal of anti-government demonstrations, and attacked participants and representative of the news media.

Titushky adopted the strategy of blending into a peaceful crowd or mob and then instigating a violent fight, which led to arrests of peaceful protesters on the grounds of mass disorder; the perpetrators were then used either as witnesses of the supposed crime, or as victims. During Euromaidan in 2013–2014, they became a collective term for agents provocateurs and thugs,^[7] who were hired by the Party of Regions and law enforcement agents in civilian clothing.^[8][9][10] Supporters of President Yanukovych also used the term titushky to refer to pro-opposition thugs.^[11]