generalspeaking

Ukraine

"Today was tragic and I cried. But we will win. This is not something I am hoping for. It is something that I know. We were under Russia for so long. We must never be under Russia again."
Katerina Indutna, Independence Square, Kyiv

"What we have today is a dangerous, escalating situation because for the first time most of those we are treating have gunshot wounds caused by snipers. A lot of the dead were shot in the head or the heart. Those who survived had been hit in other places. I operated on three men with grave wounds to their abdomens and legs."
Vasil Poslovsky, surgeon from Khmelnytskyi, in Kyiv

"God gave me life and he may take my life away now but I am not ashamed to die for our country. Those people who sit at home and watch this on television at a time like this are not Ukrainians."
Anna Stepenko, Independence Square

"I had to be here to show solidarity as a Ukrainian because I feel so bad for our country. The government is calling us bandits and terrorists but this isn't true. This is a country of educated people such as teachers and musicians. Yet look what they have to do now."
Natasha Karynenko, Kyiv librarian

AFP

The parliament of Ukraine declared that the police "anti-terrorist operation" ordered by President Yanukovych was illegal. Those involved in the terrorist crackdown were ordered to return to their barracks. Whether they will or whether they will not will be told in due time. The government had given police authority to use live ammunition in the "anti-terrorist" operation. Not only live ammunition, but to post themselves at strategic heights overlooking Independence Square.

From those strategic heights snipers have shot numerous protesters, mostly young men dressed in black, the vanguard of the youth protest against the Russian loyalist Ukrainian leadership. Protesters have seized government buildings in most western regions of the country where there is no support for President Viktor Yanukovych. Having seized the advantage, they declare themselves independent from the central government.

Hundreds of firearms have been pillaged from police and security agency headquarters. Volunteers armed with those weapons are dispatched to join the battles in Kyiv, claims the authorities, and they're right. In the east and south of the country where the majority of the population has always been dependent on trade with Russia, support for close ties with Moscow defies the mood of the rest of the country. Officials and lawmakers there, as well as the general population urge the president to squash protests whatever the cost.

With such a sharp divide in loyalties, priorities and values, perhaps it will be inevitable that the country will face a split.  Large numbers of Ukrainians from cities and towns in the west have been arriving in Kyiv to join the battle, just as the authorities claim. Not coincidentally many Russian speakers from the east and south have also been arriving in Kyiv. It remains to be seen now whether things will calm down given the fresh assurances for change by the president.

AFP

At the barricades people stream about, dressed in protective clothing inclusive of construction and motorcycle helmets, home made body armour shields, hockey shinguards and goalie masks. They would ordinarily, no doubt, be viewing the Sochi Winter Games on television, but far more vital matters claim their attention. The fact that their nemesis, President Putin has positioned himself glowing with pleasure in Sochi, a day's drive from Kyiv, no doubt rankles.

Activists carry or roll tires used to stoke the barricade fires that have been burning for days circling the square. Vast quantities of bricks are being hauled to caches there, for handy clutching, and lobbing at security forces. Around campfires young men produce Molotov cocktails using empty bottles filled with gas. The protesters reclaimed all of Independence Square on Thursday, pushing the security forces back a humiliating hundreds of metres at the cusp of Parliament.

And while Russia openly accuses the European Union and the United States of meddling in the affairs of Eastern Europe, causing Ukraine to explode, elements of the Russian press blame a Jewish conspiracy for the events taking place in Ukraine. Which has resulted in the State of Israel warning Ukrainian Jews to be wary and not venture to places where they are conspicuous and invite violence upon themselves; Jews have been moved from the centre of Kyiv to temporary shelter elsewhere in the city.

"I watched Russian TV yesterday and I said to myself 'What?' It is such a completely different story that it is no wonder that they think Ukrainians are crazy", said Anna Stepenko, expressing outrage at Russian interference in their affairs in their belief that Putin has manoeuvred behind the scenes for Yanukovych to crack down on opponents to his regime.

Labels: Conflict, Russia, Ukraine, Violence

posted by Pieface @ Saturday, February 22, 2014