Dmytro Korchynsky
Дмитро Олександрович Корчинський
Leader of the Bratstvo party
Personal details
Born	I Dmytro Oleksandrovych Korchynsky (1964-01-22) 22 January 1964 (age 60) Ukrainian SSR (now  Ukraine)
Political party	Bratstvo
Occupation	Writer
Website	http://www.bratstvo.info

Dmytro Oleksandrovych Korchynsky (Ukrainian: Дмитро Олександрович Корчинський; born 22 January 1964, Kiev) is a Ukrainian writer, poet, public figure and leader of Bratstvo ("Brotherhood"),^[1][2] a Ukrainian Orthodox^{[citation needed]} rooted religious and political organization in Ukraine. Korchynsky is the former leader of the ultra-nationalist UNA-UNSO party.^[3]

Politics

In 1987–1988 Korchynsky was a member of the Ukrainian Helsinki Group. In the fall of 1992 he ran for a seat in the Ukrainian parliament, but lost it placing fourth out of six in the 13th electoral district. Korchynsky ran again in 1994 and again lost it placing third out of 24 in the 2nd electoral district in city of Kiev (none were elected at all).

After being excluded^[4] from UNA-UNSO in 1997, Korchynsky became a media pundit and political analyst. He founded the Bratstvo Organization in 2002, which he claims has several hundred members in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odessa and Chernihiv.^[3] Bratstvo was not officially registered until March 2004. Though the group describes itself as an Orthodox Christian organization, it is not affiliated with any of the three Orthodox churches operating in Ukraine. He has described his group in his self-published newsletter as the Orthodox Taliban,^[3] and on his website as a Christian Hezbollah^[5] Anton Shekhovtsov, a well-known specialist on far-right organizations spoke of Korchynsky as being “widely considered an agent provocateur, and his "Bratstvo" already took part in several actions that were meant to provoke police suppression of peaceful protests”.^[6]

During the 2002 Ukrainian parliamentary election Korchynsky ran again for parliament as a member of the All-Ukrainian Party of Workers. He placed eight out of 23 in the 220th electoral district.

On December 29, 2003 Bratstvo organized a street fight with Berkut near the Canadian Embassy in Kiev.^[7] Few days earlier on December 25, 2003, Ukrayinska Pravda received some correspondence (temnyk) from other journalists about intentions of the government to discredit opposition by connecting it to the problem with the arrested Ukrainian plane (Antonov An-124 Ruslan) in Canada.^[8][9] On March 31, 2004 members of Bratstvo poured glue and then water onto George Soros during the forum among human rights organizations in Kiev "Human rights at elections".^[10] In summer of 2004 in Kerch Bratstvo organized a strike at the Zaliv Shipbuilding yard, co-owner of which was David Zhvania, a member of Our Ukraine.^[11][12]

In the fall of 2004 Korchynsky participated in the presidential elections. After losing in the first round, Korchynsky supported another candidate Viktor Yanukovych.^[4] After Viktor Yushchenko was announced a winner, Korchynsky officially went in opposition.^[4][13]

In 2005 the Russian pro-Vladimir Putin youth organisation Nashi invited Korchynsky to a youth summer camp to teach "how to prevent public disturbances" and how to confront the threat of an Orange Revolution reprisal in Russia.^[14][15]

In 2013 during the Euromaidan protests, 300 members of the Bratstvo organization led by Korchynsky attacked the presidential administration building (of then president Viktor Yanukovych).^[16] He then became a fugitive on the international wanted list of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for his role in inciting riots during the Euromaidan-related 1 December 2013 Euromaidan riots.^[17] On January 2, 2013 during the program "Freedom of Speech" on ICTV, Serhiy Sobolev claimed that Korchynsky cooperates with Viktor Medvedchuk.^[18]

After the 2014 Ukrainian revolution Korchynsky returned to Ukraine and founded the St. Mary battalion to fight the East Ukraine separatists in the War in Donbass.^[19][20] These separatists have, according to independent experts, been armed and helped by regular soldiers from Russia.^[21] Russia has opened several criminal cases against Korchynsky on "terrorist" charges.^[15]

Personal

Korchynsky was born on January 22, 1964 in Kiev. In 1982 he finished a high school and enrolled in the Kiev Institute of Food Industry at the Department of Industrial Power Generation. After two years of study, he left the institute without finishing. Later Korchynsky participated in number of archaeological expeditions in the Southern Ukraine. In 1985-87 he served in the Soviet army. Korchynsky was in the 24th Iron Division of the Carpathian Military District as a commander of BMP-2. After demobilization he was dismissed in reserves as an assistant to a platoon leader.

In 1987, Korchynsky enrolled in the Kiev University, but left later that year.

Under his leadership, UNSO took part in several armed conflicts on the territory of the former Soviet Union, including Transdniester, Abkhazia and Chechnya.^[3] In 1992 as a volunteer he left for Transnistria. In 1996 Korchynsky participated in the Chechen war. Next year he was completely ousted from the nationalist movement in Ukraine.

He is the President of the Institute of Regional Politics and Modern Political Science.^{[citation needed]}

He is an author of a poem collection "Philosophy of distemper" (2002), an author of the following books: "War in the crowd" (1998), "This and It" (2002) and "Revolution haute couture" (2004).^{[citation needed]} His books are banned in Russia based on its law on extremism.^[14]

In the 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election Korchynsky's wife Oksana placed 24th on the (nationwide) party list of Radical Party and she was elected into the Ukrainian parliament.^[22][23]