In 1648 Ukraine rebelled against Polish
oppression seeking to gain independence and to restore the position of the
Orthodox Church on its lands. However, newfound autonomy was squeezed between
three countries: Poland, the Ottoman Empire (modern Turkey) and Moscow Kingdom.
For Ukraine it was extremely hard to continue the struggle for independence in
such hard political and economic conditions. So, the leaders of that time
decided to ask for help to the Moscow Kingdom. This way it’s turned out that Ukraine
was put under the protectorate of the Moscow. To discuss the reasons for such
decision it’s not the goal of this article, but we will talk on what came out of
it.
During that time the country had to go through many difficulties in order to keep its language, culture, faith and statehood. Many times Russian Empire issued Decrees banning Ukrainian language, literature and newspapers in the Ukrainian language. After the Bolshevik Revolution (October 1917), from 1917 to 1920 a hope that Ukraine will become an independent country was revived again. Unfortunately, Bolshevik’s Russia drown this desire in the blood, and made Ukraine a part of the USSR. During the years of communism Ukraine suffered from strong national oppression, experienced a famine that claimed 10 million lives; many Ukrainians were exiled to the GULAGs (Soviet concentration camps). The USSR actively industrialized the East part of Ukraine. A lot of immigrants from Russia and other Soviet republics came there. In the postwar years all the education in eastern Ukraine was simultaneously turn into Russian language. That was the basis of the artificially fomented conflict between East and West of Ukraine.
In 1991 after the collapse of the Soviet Union,
Ukraine gained its long-awaited independence. Unfortunately, after 23 years of
independence Ukraine still remains a post-communist country where all the power
essentially concentrates in the hands of the same communists, who just changed
the name of their parties on democratic words and slogans. So, Ukraine still did
not solve many of the key problems. One of the main problems the country faces
up until now is a corruption. The Orange Revolution (2004) gave to the
Ukrainian citizens the hope for positive changes. Visas for citizens of many
developed countries were canceled, the country became more open. But the next 4
years of the reign of the President Yushchenko completely ruined that hope.
Corruption continued to develop, and with coming to power of Viktor Yanukovych rose
to an unprecedented level. Viktor Yanukovych brought the people to the extreme
point.
In the late November the Ukrainian Government
refused to sign the Association with the EU. On the night of November 30, 2013 the
students’ demonstration against such step of Government was strictly dispersed
with bloodshed. These actions caused a storm of people’s protests, and the next
day in the Kiev downtown on the protest rally gathered by various estimates from
300,000 to half of a million people.
People from all over Ukraine gathered on the
Maidan (the central square of Kyiv), during the next week after suppression of peaceful
students’ demonstration. The people demanded the resignation of the Government
and Prime Minister, and early President elections.
On the night of December 11, 2013 the
government headed by Yanukovych attempted again to suppress the protesters. Militia
special forces troops stubbornly moved forward, pushing the protesters back.
But that night the protesters withstood the onslaught. Churches located nearby started
to ring the bells. Under the
ringing of the churches’ bells, despite the lateness and the fact that public
transport was not working, many people gathered on the Maidan. All together
they were able to hold back the onslaught of security forces.
Since then there are have been many meetings
between the opposition and the Government. Three previous presidents of Ukraine
appealed to both sides, trying to find a way to resolve the conflict
peacefully. But in fact there was that Government doesn’t make any concessions.
People didn’t change their demands, continuing
to request the resignation of a corrupted Government and President Yanukovych.
The main duty of the President - to be the guarantor of the Constitution,
unfortunately Yanukovych has initiated a usurpation of state power. The people
demanded a return to the 2004 Constitution, which illegitimately changed by Yanukovych
in 2010, demanded the dissolution of the Parliament in which the pro-presidential
majority was formed in a violation way.
Trying to stifle protest on the Maidan, state
authority, on January 16, 2014, adopted the repressive laws against the civil
rights. The laws were passed the Parliament, with the maximal violation of the
voting procedure. Those laws restrict freedom of speech, freedom of peaceful gathering,
freedom of access to information and allows of the closing of opposing Internet
resources and mass media.
Adoption of dictatorial laws led to a
tightening of the protest, which on January 19, 2014 moved closer to the
government quarter of Kyiv. Special forces began to use against protesters
traumatic guns, stun grenades and water cannons (even though according to
Ukrainian law water canon can’t be used when outside temperatures is below 0 °
C, during the protests were the days when the temperature dropped to – 29C
degrees below zero). In response protesters used the to the pavement stones and
Molotov cocktails (incendiary bottle, usually filled with gasoline).
The first victims appeared on January 22, 2014.
On that day, 2 people were killed by police, and during few more days three
more persons was killed as well. From this day protest swept the country.
Rallies which support Maidan were held in all regions except the Donetsk,
Luhansk and Crimea. Demonstrators seized more than 10 regional administrations.
The authorities tried to stifle activists of Maidan.
Their where kidnapped, threatened, beaten, tortured, some even was found dead,
their cars was burned, but people did not give up. Police put pressure on
doctors who treated the wounded protestants in the clinics of Kyiv. And when
the police began to take postoperative wounded people from hospitals in the
bullpen, the Maidan started sending people for treatment in other cities,
especially to Western Ukraine.
February 18 a peaceful march toward the
Parliament of Ukraine began, with demand of a number of democratic laws to
limit the powers of the President. People did not expect forced development of scenario.
Peaceful march was turned to events that shocked the country and the world.
Over three days of clashes in the Maidan and the surrounding streets, more than
100 people were killed; more than 1 500 people injured and more than 150 are
still missing until now. And the majority of unarmed people were killed either
snipers or police.
February 21 between the opposition and
President Yanukovych the peace treaty was signed. But on February 22, 2014
Yanukovoich left Kyiv, Parliament suspended the President of Ukraine from
exercising his authority. Later it turned out that a few days before the
signing of the agreement (21 February), Yanukovich was preparing his escape
from the country. On February 28 he held an official press conference in
Rostov-on-Don, Russia.
Authority in Parliament were passed to the
opposition, by constitutional majority of votes key legislation to remedy
abuses of the previous government, the transition to the Constitution in 2004,
new elections of the President of Ukraine were adopted. New Speaker of the
Parliament was elected, and the interim Government headed by one of the
opposition leaders Maidan – Yatsenyuk was assigned.
It seemed that the country began to emerge from
the protracted crisis, but we face a new problem, which was predicted by many
analysts. Almost immediately after all events in Kyiv, on February 18-21, in
the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Ukraine, pro-Russian rallies started,
demanding to separate from Ukraine and join the Russia.
Almost immediately unmarked Russian troops appeared,
who called themselves, self-defense units, it occupied the Parliament of Crimea,
office buildings, blocked military units of Ukraine in Crimea, blocked the
airports, naval base in Sevastopol. Self-proclaimed government announced the
holding of a referendum in Crimea to join Russia, which took place on March 16,
2014. It's no secret that the results of the referendum were falsified. Nevertheless,
on March 21, President of Russia Putin signed an agreement on the incorporation
of the Republic of Crimea to Russia Federation. The UN General Assembly at its
meeting on March 27, 2014 by a majority votes did not recognize the legitimacy
of the Crimean referendum. 100 countries expressed it’s support for Ukraine and
only 11 voted against Ukraine rights on Crimea.
People thought that after annexing the Crimea,
Russia would stop, but we can see that similar to Crimea’s scenario happening
in Donetsk, Kharkiv and Luhansk. Young athletic people with criminal background
blocking works of state institutions. As locals says those people who
organizing all this events are not local. Security Service of Ukraine has
repeatedly captured employees of Russian Security Service on the territory of
Ukraine, who were engaged in organization of separatist meetings. So, the
question is arise, does Russia wants to occupy the whole country without
military action, ignoring all international norms and treaties and starts
repartition of worlds borders? The West just observing what will happened next
without taking drastic sanctions against Russia, just limiting it’s to
restriction on US and EU visa issuing, and blocking personal bank accounts of
those who having something to do with invasion to Ukraine. But Russia seems to
have decided to go back to the Soviet Union’s days and the Cold War times.
What does Ukrainians feels now? Pain, when your
homeland torn to pieces and you can’t do anything. Impotency, when in fact it
turns out that the army was practically destroyed, during last 23 years.
Betrayal, when so called “fraternal” Russians stabbed in the back, and as it
turned out never was a brother. Anger, when it is not clear whose sides are
taking the government, law enforcement agencies, big business and politics.
Nevertheless, even in such difficult situation,
we are feeling big hope, because we as the people of Ukraine are more curious
about our identity and began to unite around the national idea. Men started
actively to enter as volunteers in the National Guard and Military Forces, the
people of Ukraine donating money to support the army. People tend to feel
themselves as the one nation, with one vision and one culture, as one family
and believing that they can get victory for Ukraine’s right place in the global
community.
Mykhailo Ilin
Note: Mykhailo Ilin did the Program in 2010 as a senior missionary.
The articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily
represent this Program’s official position.
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