Russia’s cops are training to put down a potential Maidan movement

Russia’s Interior Ministry troops are carrying out large training exercises designed in part to counter mass disturbances like Kiev’s EuroMaidan movement in late 2013 and early 2014.

“The next stage [of the exercises] is based on events that occurred recently in one of our neighboring countries,” explained the Interior Ministry’s spokesman, Vasily Panchenkov, who said the maneuvers incorporate the Maidan protests’ every feature, “right down to the burning tires.”

The exercises test a wide variety police weaponry. “This includes the equipment a single officer carries with him, as well as tear gas, water cannons, and various types of non-lethal military equipment,” Panchenkov explained. 

“In order to create conditions that are close to reality, we used all the features of the events [in Kiev], right down to the burning tires and the throwing of stones and bottles,” the Interior Ministry’s spokesman said.

The Interior Ministry’s large-scale exercises, called Shield 2015, are taking place from April 2 to April 10 in six different regions of Russia. Troops will train to defend the nation’s borders, maintain public order, and protect populated areas and government facilities.

Kiev’s EuroMaidan movement, which culminated in the overthrow of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych on February 22, 2014, was initially peaceful, but ended in violence that claimed the lives of roughly 100 demonstrators and about 20 police officers. Both Ukrainian authorities and international commissions are currently investigating these deaths, though they’ve yet to release their conclusions to the public.