Euromaidan is all about fighting for justice, for safety, for dignity. One will not see violence here, or get the smell of alcohol. The people of Ukraine have been aroused. They won’t accept suppression any more
Over a million people came out into the streets of Kiev last week. It is the fourth week of the ‘Euromaidan’ protests in Ukraine, and more people are still joining in. I heard that teachers from Odessa were trying to come, but the buses ferrying them were blocked by the police — a lot of vehicles are being blocked on their way to the capital city. Ukrainians are coming from all over the country to join a peaceful protest against the current Government, violence, injustice and cynical disregard of people’s will. This manifestation of people’s power is inspiring and dreadful at the same time.
Within a week of the ongoing protests which started on November 21, it transformed from a music fest with 2,000 people into an organised and mobilised movement of a million Ukrainians. How could this possibly happen in a weekIJ Thanks to a blunder by the Ukrainian Government and President Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovytch.
Euromaidan started as a peaceful protest against the collapsed negotiations for the European Association Agreement, a first step to European integration for Ukraine. Some say that the European Union is a dream for Ukrainians. I personally don’t think so. But suspending the European Association talks makes the Ukrainian Government obviously closer to signing a trade agreement with Russia. The Russian Government has little respect for human rights and the Ukrainian people are out on the streets to avoid the return of the Soviet Union.
On the third day of protests, 200 people (mostly students), who were sleeping at Maidan Nezalezhnosty (Independence Square) in Kiev were suddenly attacked by armed police in the wee hours of the morning. I had left along with my friends just a few hours before the bloody mess. We could not believe our eyes, when we saw the video footage of police smashing sleepy people at the square. The official reason cited by the police behind ‘securing’ the Maidan from protesters was to construct a Christmas tree.
Ukrainians were never fond of President Yanukovytch (mostly because he was convicted before his political career began and he then imprisoned his biggest opponent Yuliya Tymoshenko). Now, his Government had attacked its own people under the pretext of decorating a Christmas tree! Angry people wearing ‘police-proof’ outfits began flooding the downtown area of Kiev the following night. They did not want the EU, or Russia, or any other union. People wanted justice and protection for the innocent, who were brutalised by the riot police.
The first area that the protesters occupied was the Christmas tree at the Maidan. The structure of the tree was dismantled and transformed into barricades around the Maidan. Then the people occupied the City Hall, and the national flag of Ukraine was proudly hoisted out of the window of the Kiev administration. The Euromaidan began to take the shape of an organised movement.
A group of people wearing masks and riding a bulldozer attacked the police ranks around the President’s administration building. No one from the opposition or protests organisers knew the provocateurs, and nobody claimed responsibility for the attack. One of them threw a brick at the police…then another brick, and then the rainfall of bricks began. Imagine the sound of hundreds of bricks, falling on the helmets of police squads.
It is being said that the police unit in the first line of defence was not the riot police that attacked the peaceful protesters before. They were freshly recruited cadets, teenagers who did not even have shields and were covering the police. The cadets could not step back, because the riot police blocked them from behind, while scared teenagers were attacked by the angry crowd. Then the riot police hit back. Protesters were caught and beaten up — mostly journalists who stood close to the police row and had heavy equipment and hence could not run. The violent provocation worked ‘perfect’ — crying cadets went home while journalists became imprisoned.
YouTube blocked the video of Berkut’s (Ukraine’s military police) attack on peaceful students that night. The Russian Government’s news channels kept misleading the viewers that there were only a few hundred protesters in the streets and that the protests were coming to an end. Now the Government news agencies have come up with a ‘report’ that the deceased during the police (in)action at Maidan Nezalezhnosty died due to tuberculosis and not police brutality. lies couldn’t be any harsher. While all these were happening Mr Yanukovytch flew to China.
What is happening at Maidan right nowIJ The people have organised themselves into a structure, which allows a peaceful coexistence of hundreds of thousands Ukrainians. There is protection, food, medical service, fuel, warm clothes, shelter. Hundreds of volunteers are working day and night. The role of Ministry of Foreign Affairs is taken by journalists and people, who are sharing the news in different languages across social media. The civil society is demanding the resignation of the current Government and release of political prisoners, and of course, renewing the negotiations on European Association for Ukraine. Now Euromaidan is all about fighting for justice, for safety, for dignity. One will not see violence here, or get the smell of alcohol.
I personally don’t worry much about joining the EU. What has happened here, at Euromaidan in three weeks is a miracle of grassroots organisation, a demonstration of people's dignity and unity. Hundreds of thousands are still on their way to Kyiv to join the peaceful protest, holding their heads up high. President Yanukovytch had a meeting with Mr Putin last week, and I am not sure that he advised the Ukrainian President to be peaceful and reasonable. I don’t know, how this will end, but I feel this is only the beginning. ‘Glory to Ukraine; glory to the heroes’, as they say at Euromaidan.
(The writer is based at Kiev and is the head of the Ukrainian Youth Climate Association)