When hundreds of people spontaneously gathered at Kyiv’s Independence Square late on Nov. 21 to protest the government’s decision to suspend preparations for a deal that would have deepened its ties with Europe, nobody expected that hundreds of thousands would soon regularly rally there, or that a camp there would remain through New Year’s.
Two months later, the pro-European rally known as EuroMaidan, has survived one forceful break-up by riot police, several attempts to clear the square again after protesters took it back and many more tense nights in which rumors of possible police raids swirled.
Despite failing to achieve most of its goals, EuroMaidan has captured the attention of the world and returned a feeling of pride to many Ukrainians. But since the winter holidays, the rallies have become smaller, sparking doubts as to how long public support will remain on the central square and how the anti-government movement may transform.
Many rally participants have expressed dissatisfaction with its current form and demand some changes in strategy.
“While in the beginning it was a revolution, now many people are coming just to eat and sleep here,” said Inga Golos, a 16-year-old student from Khotyn, a city in Chernivtsi Oblast. “This is very sad.”
The rally, now in its sixth week, has become a challenge even for its own leaders, none of whom would dare to dissolve it out of fear of being accused of betrayal or cowardice, political analyst Volodymyr Fesenko said. So to survive fatigue, people are taking shifts to keep the street protests alive, albeit in smaller numbers, until the next presidential elections in early 2015. Then the opposition hopes to defeat current President Viktor Yanukovych.
Whatever happens, EuroMaidan will keep with its longstanding demands, which include the resignation of President Viktor Yanukovych and his government, the dismissal of Interior Minister Vitaliy Zakharchenko and punishment for all persons responsible for beating activists in the past two months.
These are the minimum requirements from the opposition, said Arsen Avakov, an opposition lawmaker from the Batkivshchyna Party and one of the rally’s commanders.
Activists, however, say it is essential to come up with new and more efficient forms of protest.
“Now everybody understands that just standing at Maidan brings nothing, except for excitement by how strong and principled we are,” said Yegor Sobolev, a longstanding activist of the rally and leader of Volia public initiative, whose participants have been working to expose judges who have sentenced activists of EuroMaidan to jail.
Sobolev believes that EuroMaidan should become a training center for public activity, where people may come and learn about their rights and ways to counteract violations of government officials. “Many people would agree to come here at their own expenses from all over Ukraine to learn this,” Sobolev said.
One more efficient form of protest is AutoMaidan, the self-organized group that assembles car caravans to the houses and offices of state officials to pressure them into heeding the demands of protesters, he said.
Viktor Kylymar, one of the student strike leaders of the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, said that new forms of protest have spontaneously developed amid EuroMaidan and is confident that many more will appear. “We started marches to Mezhyhirya (Yanukovych’s house), we are going to organize the stopping of Yanukovych’s motorcade and we have been picketing government offices and businesses of representatives of Party of Regions,” Kylymar said.
Vasyl Gatsko, leader of the Democratic Alliance party, says that if EuroMaidan dissolves, the government will start large-scale political repression. At the same time, his political party is now developing a new campaign to be launched in February. Gatsko said it will move protests beyond Independence Square.
This campaign will include educating the public about hidden assets of Yanukovych and his cronies, exposing police officers involved in the beating of protesters and lobbying pro-government supporters in eastern and southern Ukraine about the real situation in the country.
“We are making the protest accessible for every citizen, regardless of his location on the street, in the office or at home,” Gatsko said.
Kyiv Post staff writer Oksana Grytsenko can be reached at [email protected].
