Who are titushki? History of modern neologism

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:55

Who are titushki? An interesting, colorful term was a companion word for Euromaidan. Not a single mention of revolutionary protest was complete without titushki. Untranslatable into other languages of the world, the word suddenly became known and widely used far beyond the borders of Ukraine, while it appeared a few months before the Maidan.

Titushki: the meaning of neologism

This term was among the most popular neologisms in 2013, as well as its ideological antonym "Euromaidan". So who are the titties? This is a collective image that arose and was needed to refer to young people (men) from a certain social stratum of society.

These are people of athletic appearance, actively engaged in boxing or martial arts, members of sports clubs or groups. It was established and proved by civil activists and journalists that they were used by the authorities (as well as the authorities themselves) to intimidate, disperse and create provocative actions in placesgathering of people expressing disagreement with the policy of the official authorities.

Vadim Titushko went down in history

To understand who is called titushkas, you need to know who they came from. In May 2013, in the center of Kyiv, 2 actions opposite in ideological content were held: one was from the opposition, the other (as a contraction) - from the ruling party (Party of Regions). Both rallies were quite numerous, well-known journalists were present.

At some point, a fight broke out between the participants, as a result of which a girl (media representative) and another journalist were injured. During the investigation, it was established that Vadim Titushko was the instigator and provocateur.

This young man was caught on camera at the time of the attack, and only because of this he was brought to justice. In September of the same year, this 20-year-old guy was awarded 3 years, which were replaced by 2 suspended ones. As for his personality, Vadim was in the sports club of the city of Belaya Tserkov (near Kyiv), was engaged in martial arts, and had distinctions. In his circle he was known as Vadim the Romanian.

His surname Titushko has a singular form, but, having become a collective image, it has been transformed into a plural form. So they began to designate aggressively minded young people whom the current government informally used to carry out "black" and criminal work, namely: beating, intimidation, blackmail, kidnapping, robbery.

After the May events and the condemnation of Vadim, perhaps titushki as a term would have gone into oblivion. However, they were to play their even more significant role in the historical events of the state of Ukraine.

Who are the titushki on Euromaidan? Street fighters for 200 UAH per day

They appeared immediately after the formation of the Euromaidan and became an unofficial, alternative organization to the police and other law enforcement agencies. Throughout the entire period of confrontation (from November 2013 to February 2014), titushki were involved in the most criminal and criminal events. They abducted Maidan activists, burned their cars, beat, tortured, robbed, mocked. In addition, some of them took part in the killings, which is already a proven fact today.

Titushki were delivered from the south-east of the country, where the top of power came from and where there was great loy alty to its representatives. The so-called titushki acted together with the police, taking part in the dispersal of the Maidan and in the detention of its participants. Already at the end of the events, when the preponderance was clearly on the side of the protesters, members of the Party of Regions formed and sent entire trains and bus columns full of titushki from these regions to Kyiv.

However, thanks to increased support from the public, these "tours" were blocked even at the entrances to Kyiv.

After those events in Ukraine, there was not a single person left who did not know who the titushki were.

Vadim Titushko against titushki

Yes, yes, that's what history is capable of. After the escape from the country of President Yanukovych, Vadim Titushko appeared in the information space and protested against his "namesake". At the same time, he said that he had made a mistake at the time, but now he supports Euromaidan.

He, according to him, would gladly join him, if not for a two-year ban on taking part in various political and public actions. The only thing he could do was to chop wood for the Maidan activists and protect the entrances to the city from the influx of guys with athletic appearance. That's how Titushko did not let the titushki into Kyiv.

After Maidan

The role of titushki has yet to be assessed, because the investigation into massacres, torture, kidnappings and bullying of peacefully protesting people is still ongoing. Interestingly, in the rhetoric of activists, one can often hear about titushki when it comes to the most terrible, bloody events on the Maidan. That is, not even about the police or special forces, but about titushki. This means that they took an active part in the winter confrontations, and they were feared no less than people in uniform.

That's all about who the titushki are. In the process of analyzing the events, it was found that they mainly belong to people from the eastern and southern regions of Ukraine, who have a criminal record, problems with the law, are unemployed and are engaged in bandit attacks. Interestingly, the participants of the Maidan easily distinguished them from other civilians by their characteristic manner of dressing (sportswear) and a special facial expression, completely devoid of signs of intelligence. like someonesaid they were ordinary gopniks, or gopota, as they are commonly called in certain circles.