Feb 11, 2014 9 min read

Notice: Undefined offset: 0 in /usr/web/cs-washington.ogdennews.com/wp-content/themes/News_Core_2023_WashCluster/includes/single/strategically_placed_photos_article.php on line 412

Notice: Trying to get property 'term_id' of non-object in /usr/web/cs-washington.ogdennews.com/wp-content/themes/News_Core_2023_WashCluster/includes/single/strategically_placed_photos_article.php on line 412

Editor’s note: Journalist Olga Shestopalova writes for TV Plus, the Observer-Reporter’s partner newspaper in Slaviansk, Ukraine. She splits her time between Slaviansk, which is in the eastern Donestsk region, and the capital. She visited the Washington area several years ago as part of our newspapers’ exchange program.

KIEV, Ukraine – I am standing in the center of Maidan Nezalezhnosty, which means “Independence Square.” This is the heart of Kiev. It has a rapid pulse now, in spite of the cold.

Maidan is divided by Khreschatyk Street, the main vein of this heart. A few months ago it was open to vehicle traffic except on weekends, when cars could not move but strollers could. The situation has changed. Khreschatyk is only for pedestrians now. And it is blocked by citizens.

In front of me there is the stage. Opposition leaders, military officers, celebrities, musicians and volunteers have appeared here, but mainly politicians. They try to fascinate people with their flaming speeches. It looks like citizens are paying attention, but now they feel free to express their feelings, mostly their objection and indignation.

Those watchwords that worked so well during the Orange Revolution of 2004 are not working after 10 years of disillusionment. What is more, people matured not during the past decade but on the night of Nov. 30. That night, “Berkut” troops conducted a massacre against peaceful protesters. The crowd was full of students and journalists. In the morning their bloody faces were on the front pages of newspapers around the world. And this showed the real face of Ukrainian authority. It awoke other people in this nation.

Several incidents followed that focus the anger of the people on a single enemy: President Viktor Yanukovich. People consider him responsible for the bloodshed. Yanukovich has at his disposal about 3,000 Berkut troops and about a 1,000 men in special military units. All of them have weapons, body armor and helmets.

Protesters have nothing, not even a leader. They used to say that the only man in this country is a woman, and she is imprisoned. They mean Yulia Timoshenko, who could be at the head of EuroMaidan. But the fact is the people have no arms. That is why they are brandishing saucepans and colanders. And there is a shortage of pitchforks.

Standing now at the center of Maidan, I see on each side of the stage there are planks, sacks, fences and barricades. Every five or seven meters you’ll notice tents and metal barrels. People are warming their hands by the firewood burning in those barrels. They are talking and discussing actions by the government and opposition. You can sense they are waiting for something. But there is no feeling that they are going to leave this square anytime soon.

Volunteers putter about. They gather snow into bags and water to strengthen the barricade. The Trade Union building is 20 steps away. The first floor of this building is being used as a kitchen by EuroMaidan. About 40 people, mostly Ukrainian speakers, work there as volunteers. They cook borscht, sandwiches, tea, coffee and a gingery drink that helps to avoid the flu. They are dressed in aprons, respirators, medical gloves and shoe covers.

The pharmacy is in the next room. Well-wishers are constantly bringing medicine and other supplies from all over the capital. Activists publish on social networks the lists of essential goods and drugs that are needed.

On the third floor of Trade Union House, there is the surgery of “People’s Hospital.” This unique formation is an example of EuroMaidan’s self-organization. Specialists from all over Ukraine came here to provide medical assistance. People’s Hospital consists of the hospital organized at Zhovtnevy Palace on Institutska Street, two medical posts on Hrushevskogo Street, field teams, a first-aid post at Ukrainian House on Europeyskaya Square and the Red Cross.

When the rumors about a possible mop-up come to Maidan, the protesters start talking about the Berkut. They talk about this unit as if it were a monster from an Old Slavonic fable. They take it as a given an attack will occur. But they are not afraid. They just move women to the upper floors of the Trade Union building.

Information from Maidan Nezalezhnosty spreads across Ukraine like ripples on the water. But its image on television screens is different. For instance, the TV channel Inter, with the largest audience share, belongs to Dmitry Firtash, a pro-government tycoon. This channel produces preconceived news and broadcasts in the Russian language. It has much credibility in Eastern Ukraine among Russian-speaking citizens. They do not see any alternative to Yanukovich and consider him as the only worthy leader.

“When people went to Maidan with peaceful protest against suspending of EU integration, I didn’t mind,” said Natalia Panasyuk, 38, business analyst. “But when they started calling to overthrow the president, I understood this is against the law. I voted for Yanukovich in the last elections. And I am pretty sure people have to respect the choice of the majority.” Natalia graduated from Kiev Polytechnic Institute and has two children with the husband she met here. Two years ago, she was in Germany on a business trip for two weeks and liked it very much. “I think Ukraine should not be with any alliance, neither Russian nor European. It is the way to bondage,” Natalia said.

A huge number of people have the same views. Moreover, they blame protesting people for the inconvenience made in the center of Kiev. They think protesters are just loafers and identify them by the smell of smoking wood and rubber. Recently, in the subway, a woman screamed at young activists: “We are exhausted by your rallies, by your smell! We have no opportunity to breathe!” One of the guys replied: “This is the smell of liberty, but I suppose you have no idea what that means.” Other passengers applauded.

Oleg Ganchenko, 44, is such an activist. He graduated from Leningrad Military Space Academy in Russia. Soon after his family moved to Ukraine. Since that time, he has been living in Kiev. After the first massacre in the Ukrainian capital, Oleg became the member of a group called Maidan Self-Defense. Their goal is not to attack but to prevent the provocations and catch “titushkas.” This word means hooligans who are suspected of being sponsored by the government. The authorities in power organized mass delivery of these hooligans to Kiev to intimidate the protesters. This only increased instances of cars being smashed and burned, robberies, kidnapping and other harm to people.

As an experiment, I placed an advertisement on the Internet promising about $25 a night for work as a bodyguard. After receiving 40 replies, I explained to them the job involved beating people. They agreed, no matter whom they beat. Mostly they were former militia and Berkut. Privately, they explained they were being paid between $50 and $100 to harass protesters or to attend pro-Yanukovich rallies. They live in poverty, and during the current situation in Ukraine they try to earn as much money as they can.

I told Ganchenko about my experiment and asked if he sees a solution. “Maidan will disperse only if Yanukovich retires. But he will not.” All the rotations such as Prime Minister Mykola Azarov’s resignation are just cosmetic changes, he says. And suppose the next prime minister is a change from bad to worse?

Protesters have no exit plan. They just try to fortify and continue purchasing hockey and American football equipment for protection. About 2,000 men of Maidan Self-Defense are on duty at all times. And also about 200 young warriors of the radical “Right sector” are on the front line at Hrushevskogo Street in the governmental quarter. “The only thing we are afraid of is a Georgian scenario,” said Ganchenko. “If Russia will commit its troops to Ukraine, only U.S. military intervention could help,” he believes. “Putin waits till the end of his Olympic Games. Afterward, he will start acting in Ukraine.”

Meanwhile, Arina Litvinova, 48, chief accountant at a publishing house in the Donetsk region in the East, consider protesters as the extremists. She does not even try to be restrained. “It serves them right when those radicals were killed on Maidan,” she said. “It would be better if Berkut used the bomb against those protesters. Yanukovich is too kind to them.” At the same time, her colleague Svetlana Larina, 38, is close to scolding Irina for her statements. Co-workers try to avoid any discussion on this topic. The situation is heated to a white heat; people are nervous and explosive.

Children play “EuroMaidan” at school. Their parents build the barricade from pillows in the bed. Longtime friends quarrel and become enemies. Some families are close to collapse.

My father, 62, supports Yanukovich and believes the president can keep our country stable. He sincerely hates Timoshenko and trusts the commentators calling EuroMaidan activists the invaders. His grandfather on the mother’s side was repressed and died after five years in one of Stalin’s camps. I don’t know, but maybe in this way my dear father received the genes with the vaccination of terror. And for that reason he does not feel he lives in a dictatorship.

My mother, 52, however, wants to live in a free European country with democratic values. She have visited the United States and Europe many times, and she doesn’t want to be afraid of the future of her daughter. She would like to have freedom of speech and be sure the courts are unprejudiced. But who can guarantee this future to her?

I try not to be silent. I try to do my best for my parents and for my future. I am sure that every citizen does. But the killings and arrests go on. What for?