KRYVYI RIH, Ukraine -- Up to 2,000 people gathered near the Kryvyi Rih City Council building on April 19 to support Ukrainian unity. The city is located some 400 kilometers from the capital Kyiv in southeastern Ukraine. People carrying Ukrainian flags and banners reading “Kryvyi Rih is my city” shouted “Putin, get out!”
For the last two
weeks, many towns in eastern Ukraine have been shaken with
pro-Russian strikes and takeovers of government buildings, organized
by operatives of the Russian special services who had been stealthily
sent to Ukraine. They are supported by local pro-Russian radicals and
parts of the population that feel the current government does not
represent their interests.
Their demands range from federalization of Ukraine, to joining the Russian Federation. Citizens of Krivyi Rih, an industrial town of more than 600,000 people in Dnepropetrovsk region, organized protests
to demonstrate their pro-Ukrainian position.
“I am here to
protect the State Administration and city council from separatists,
who recently seized all of Ukraine’s east,” Yuriy Kuzmenko, a
47-year-old protester said. Kuzmenko also added that he found out
about plans for pro-Russian rallies, scheduled this weekend, from the
separatists’ pages in social network.
Ex-Deputy
Prime Minister Alexander Vilkul told Pershiy Kryvorizkiy news portal on April
19 that pro-Russian provocateurs
planned to organize seizures of administrative buildings in Kriviy
Rih this weekend. Vilkul also said that separatists promised monthly
payment for participation in rallies.
Kryvyi Rih police
lined up next to the protesters, standing along the perimeter by the
city council to prevent unsanctioned entry.
Activists organized
two AutoMaidan rallies in support of a unified Ukraine on April 19.
About 50 cars and motorcycles traveled around the city in a
motorcade.
One of the
protesters, 28-year-old Ilona Petrova, brought Easter cakes to the
rally by the city council. “I’m proud of living in Ukraine and
especially want to show it on the Easter holidays,” she said.
