Titushko and fellow thugs facing off with journalists in Kiev. Photos Credit: Gordonua.
Semi-authoritarian regimes frequently find that beating protestors and members of the opposition is a task best done with hired thugs; they provide a certain amount of deniability and don’t look as bad on television as uniformed policemen. The Mubarak regime was famous for its baltagiyya.
Titushki is a new word from Ukrainians' lexicon that the whole world is now learning.