Crowds of them dressed in black walked the streets of Kyiv holding a long banner that read: “Death.” They shot firecrackers and chanted, “Death to the rich!” and put a sign in front of the Closer nightclub that read “Nayem Shop,” a racist reference to Mustafa Nayem, a corruption-fighter, journalist, and politician of Afghan origin who serves as Ukraine’s deputy minister of infrastructure. The Telegram post brought dozens of far-right radicals together. His plans came to a halt after the Catharsis Telegram channel made a call to its members, asking them to engage in a “crusade” against “drug users” that targeted nightclubs, including Closer. On Saturday, a friend of mine from Chicago was planning to celebrate his 60th birthday in his home city of Kyiv at a hip nightclub called Closer. Terrifyingly, Catharsis’ raging sprees sometimes transcend the realms of the internet-and into the real world. “I am a former boxer, I could really punch these thugs for such dirty comments.”
