The Ministry of Agriculture is the first central government building that was taken over by the protesters on the night of Jan. 23. Spilna Sprava, a civic organization, was the one that seized the property.
One of its members, a smiley Odessan, describes it this way: “We came and knocked on the door. Accidentally, the glass (in the door) fell out. We walked in and politely talked to the guard, and our power of persuasion was such that the guards allowed us into the building.”
The protester is not covering his face, but does not want to give his name to expose himself. He says he knows that under the new anti-protest law approved by the pro-presidential majority in parliament on Jan. 16, he will get a 15-year jail term. But he says that he is “more likely to die” before that.
Leader of Spilna Sprava, Oleksandr Danylyuk, says that despite danger of death and jail, his organization plans to keep taking the government buildings, because they say that the government is no longer legitimate.
But Prime Minister Mykola Azarov disagrees. He has repeatedly called protesters “extremists” and demanded that government buildings be freed.
In Kyiv, protesters took over the city hall on Dec. 1. They also control the Trade Unions House on Maidan Nezalezhnosti, which has served as the revolution headquarters.
But Danylyuk insists protesters are not extremists.
“We’re not terrorists. We are peaceful people probably the most peaceful in the world. For two months we stayed on Independence Square and during these two months the regime of (President Viktor) Yanukovych killed us, beaten us, fired down our cars and our property,” he says.
“And now we have struggle against a terrorist state. Our guys on Hrushevskoho Street are not extremists, it’s self-defense.”
Danylyuk is really unhappy with the opposition leaders, who has been unable to negotiate either any concessions with the government, nor seize the power by force. On Jan. 22, they gave Yanukovych 24 hours to act, but when the deadline came the ultimatum was just forgotten.
He blames the opposition for the death of five activists in the clashes with the police that started on Jan. 19 and lasted for three days.
“I think that after yesterday, (Arseniy) Yatseniuk has to shoot himself,” says Danylyuk. “He is a moral freak.”
Danylyuk and his team are deciding what to do with the building. They say it can house up to 2,000 protesters if required, and his Spilna Sprava, a non-government organization, is organizing it.
In the meantime, workers of the ministry are coming in to get their belongings. Some of them move to a different building on Hrinchenko Street, some 300 meters away. They are asked to stand in line and wait for a protester to take them up to their offices once the earlier group of clerks comes out.
“This is crazy stuff, what’s happening here,” one angry woman says. She does not want to give her name because she does not trust either the protesters or the journalist. “We’re taking care of food security here, what are these guys doing? At least they didn’t think of taking over the energy ministry!”
Danyliyk says the clerks anger is natural because they work in a ministry whose chief, Mykola Prysiazhniuk, has been accused of being party in corruption in grain trade, through Khlib Investbud, a state company. He has denied wrongdoing.
On his Facebook page, Danylyuk has announced a competition for the vacant seat of Agriculture Mykola Minister Prysiazhniuk. “Preference will be given to farmers who on Saturday will come to Kyiv with their agricultural machines,” he wrote.
