titushky

English

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titushky

Wikipedia

Alternative forms

• titushki

Etymology

2014, Ukrainian тіту́шки pl (titúšky), тіту́шка sg (titúška) and Russian титу́шки pl (titúški), титу́шка sg (titúška), from the surname of mixed martial artist Vadym Titushko, Russian Вади́м Титу́шко (Vadím Titúško), Ukrainian Вади́м Тіту́шко (Vadým Titúško)

Noun

titushky pl (plural only)

1. (neologism) Hired thugs used for violence and intimidation against protestors by the Ukrainian government during the Euromaidan revolution; (by extension) pro-government vigilantes attacking picketers, protesters in the ex-USSR
   • 2017, Rick Campbell, Blackmail, New York: St. Martin’s Press, →ISBN, pages 102–3:

     They were titushky, mercenary agents who supported the Ukrainian police during President Yanukovych’s administration, who were now in desperate need of a paycheck, one Guimond had arranged.

   • 2016: Olesya Khremeychuk, “Sexuality and Revolution in Post-Soviet Ukraine: Human Rights for the LGBT Community in the Euromaidan Protests of 2013–2014,” in Journal of Soviet and Post-Soviet Politics and Society, v 2, n 1, p 26:

     We see typically dressed titushky. One of them had a head injury and was bleeding a lot. Titushka or not, he’s a human being.

   • 2015, Serhy Yekelchyk, The Conflict in Ukraine: What Everyone Needs to Know, New York: Oxford University Press, page 109:

     The so-called titushky contributed greatly to the escalation of violence. They were young men from the provinces, often members of local athletic clubs, hired by the Party of Regions to pose as anti-Maidan protesters. The name refers to one Vadym Titushko, a paid thug from the city of Bila Tserkva, who had been convicted of physically assaulting journalists in 2013, before the EuroMaidan. Although they did not carry firearms, titushky freely employed violence and coordinated their actions with the police.

   • 2015, David R. Marples, Frederick V. Mills, editors, Ukraine’s Euromaidan: Analyses of a Civil Revolution, Stuttgart: Ibidem Press:

     [Taras Kuzio, “Vigilantes, Organized Crime, and Russian and Eurasian Nationalisms: The Case of Ukraine,” p 59] During the Euromaidan, over 100 unarmed protesters were murdered by vigilante skinheads (the so-called titushky named after Vadym Titushko who attacked journalists in Kyiv in May 2013) and the security forces.
     [William Risch, “EuroRevolution: A Historian’s Street-Side Observations,” p 111] Then we started talking with so-called “titushky” who were camped out at the anti-Maidan. [note] Titushky is a term for mercenaries, mostly hooligans, who supported the Ukrainian police during Yanukovych’s presidency.
     [p 118] While warming up with some coffee, Yevhen and I saw on Facebook that one of the sections had met in a church, and that titushky had broken in and thrown a tear gas canister at the attendees.

   • 2014, Andrew Wilson, Ukraine Crisis: What It Means for the West, New Haven: Yale University Press, →ISBN, page vi:

     I was actually more worried about the gangs of government thugs – the so-called titushki – who were randomly roaming the streets and who, by that point, were out of control and prone to simple theft and violence.

   • 2014, Natalia Usenko, “Political Issues in Contemporary Art of Ukraine”, in Journal of Education Culture and Society, number 2, Wrocław, page 185:

     The main characters of stickers are peaceful and romantic Ukrainian boy and girl who want peace most of all, even with “titushkos”.

Synonyms

• agents provocateurs

Translations