Protests in Ukraine escalate

[Natalka]

What began in November, 2013 as peaceful gatherings in Ukraine have now erupted into clashes with police the past several days.

Gatherings previously were drawing tens of thousands who would listen to speakers, music, etc.

This was on Jan. 5 in Kyiv.





Now, it's smaller gatherings, lots of violence

Jan. 19






Jan. 21

[Natalka]

What happened....

Since late November huge crowds have been camped out in central Kiev, opposing the government's partnership with Russia and its rejection of a far-reaching pact with the EU.

President Viktor Yanukovych abruptly pulled out of a deal with the EU in November under heavy pressure from Russia. Unable to regain control of the capital and, according to every poll, doomed to lose the presidential election scheduled for a year from now, Yanukovych’s position looks all but untenable. But an ineffective opposition and a last-minute $15 billion cash injection from Vladimir Putin have made him feel all but unassailable.

To many observers, the deal struck between Russia and Ukraine on 17 December points to a carrot-and-stick approach by the Kremlin.
Mr Yanukovych's abrupt snub to the EU came after Russia exerted strong economic pressure on Ukraine.
The 2004 Orange Revolution led to Mr Yanukovych's removal from power after his election was judged to have been fraudulent. Russia backed him then - and backs him now.

For centuries Ukraine was controlled by Moscow and many Russians see Ukraine as vital to Russian interests.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-25182823

Things grew to a head following last Thursday - when the government basically outlawed protests of any kind (peaceful or not), including laws on internet restriction, etc.

Since Sunday, things have gotten violent.
Large gangs of titushki, tracksuit-clad pro-government skinhead thugs who attacked passersby with bats and metal chains, fled when activists chased after them. Twelve of them were captured and brought before a people’s court. Police have arrested and beaten several dozen activists and two Radio Free Europe journalists. Over 100 on each party to the violence have been hospitalized.

These titushki - named after a previous protestor - are hired by the government to perpetrate violence.

[Patty Smyth]

For some reason I cannot see all your pictures in the first post but the ones I see certainly don't look good

[Natalka]

January 21, 2014


The United Nations high commissioner for human rights, Navi Pillay, has called on Ukrainian authorities to suspend implementation of new laws imposing strict conditions on the ability of antigovernment demonstrators to hold protests.

In a written statement, Pillay described the package of measures as falling short of international human rights standards.

Pillay said she is “particularly concerned by the potential that these laws have to curtail the right to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly, the right to information, [and] the right of civil society to work freely.”

The new measures, approved last week, significantly increase fines and impose jail terms for Ukrainians found guilty of unauthorized street protests.

http://www.rferl.org/content/ukraine.../25237205.html

[Natalka]

Priests between protesters and police

[Natalka]

KIEV, Ukraine — At least two people died on streets in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, early Wednesday morning, the first fatalities in a two-month long protest that had been mostly peaceful until this week. One 20-year-old was confirmed to have been shot to death.


The 20-year-old man died from a gunshot wound on a street near the Parliament of Ukraine, known as the Verkhovna Rada, according to medics who treated him near the site, news agencies reported.


It was initially unclear whether he was struck by a rubber or a metal bullet. Police confirmed the death, but did not elaborate. The Interfax news agency cited a medic at the scene saying it appeared the man had been shot by a sniper.
Another protester died nearby after falling from a colonnaded entrance to a soccer stadium; protesters had been climbing this roughly 36-foot tall structure, its flat top slick with snow, to drop petroleum bombs on riot police below. Protest leaders confirmed this death.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/23/wo...ef=europe&_r=0

[Natalka]

6 a.m. my time - armoured vehicles starting to roll in. Not going to be a good day....

[Anna Michele]

This is so sad. I imagine many more lives lost before this is ended.

Sent from my GT-S7560M using Tapatalk

[Natalka]

They are eight hours ahead of us in time.

Their TV stations have just all gone out, they are concerned government will cut internet as well.

I've been watching streaming video from there, and following twitter -

Terrible irony is that today is the Day of Unity of Ukraine, marking the signing of a treaty in 1919 to join west and east Ukraine.

[Natalka]

Just heard some of the protesters sing Ukraine's national anthem - and it felt sad.

A far cry from the gathering of those same, and more, protesters on New Year's Eve - where it was joyous singing



The words of the anthem in English -

Ukraine is Not Yet Dead

Ukraine is not yet dead, nor it's glory and freedom,
Luck will still smile on us brother-Ukrainians.
Our enemies will die, as the dew does in the sunshine,
And we, too, brothers, we'll live happily in our land.
We'll not spare either our souls or bodies to get freedom
And we'll prove that we brothers are of Kozak kin.
We'll rise up, brothers, all of us, from the Sain to the Don,
We won't let anyone govern in our motherland.
The Black Sea will smile yet, grandfather Dnipro will rejoice,
Yet in our Ukraine luck will be high.
Our persistence, our sincere toil will prove it's rightness,
Still our freedom's loud song will spread throughout Ukraine.
It'll reflect upon the Carpathians, will sound through the steppes,
And Ukraine's glory will arise among the people.

Slava Ukraini! Glory to Ukraine!

[Darth Penguin]

Two killed in Ukraine protests

Two people have been killed in clashes between police and protesters in the Ukrainian capital Kiev.
Prosecutors confirmed the two had died from bullet wounds. They are the first fatalities since protests began in November at the government's rejection of a planned treaty with the EU.
Wednesday's clashes began after police moved in to dismantle a protest camp.
President Viktor Yanukovych met three opposition leaders to discuss the crisis on Wednesday.
Correspondents say Mr Yanukovych is unlikely to give in to the opposition's call for snap elections.
The clashes take place on the day that new anti-protest laws come into force. Parliament approved the laws last week, triggering renewed protests which spilled into violence on Sunday night.
Hundreds of people have been injured, though some of the violence has been blamed on a little-known far-right group, Right Sector

eta..just noticed earlier post.

[Natalka]

Three protesters died in clashes with police in the Ukrainian capital Wednesday, according to medics on the site, a grim escalation of the country's two-month-long political crisis.


One man died in the hospital after falling from a high place, and two others were killed by gunshot wounds, said Oleh Musiy, co-ordinator of the protesters' medical corps.

Tanks on their way into Kyiv

[Anna Michele]

Crazy

Sent from my GT-S7560M using Tapatalk

[Natalka]

Explanation of terms used in news coverage

http://www.rferl.org/content/ukraine.../25190085.html

Euromaidan

MAIDAN
In this usage, it refers to Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square), the central plaza of Kiev. Reconstructed after the devastation of World War II, the approximately 8-acre square is a rare Stalin-era public space — neither bleak nor bullying, ringed by buildings tall enough to be impressive but not intimidating. The square's agreeable nature echoes in how Kievans talk of it on a sort of first-name basis: "Let's meet at Maidan."


But as with Europe, Maidan is as much an idea as a place. The square was the focal point of the Orange Revolution, the 2004 mass daily protests that forced the annulment of a fraudulent presidential election. In that role, Maidan became a two-syllable encapsulation of peaceful resistance and determined action.

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/ukrai...dan-whats-name

[Natalka]

Thousands singing anthem again



estimates are 60,000 people in Maidan Square