President Viktor Yanukovych chose Vladimirsky Cathedral to attend an Easter service. Respected Dzerkalo Tyzhnya newspaper reported that the president’s security detail banned some churchgoers from entering the church in order to avoid crowding. Photos showed Yanukovych standing during the service in a half empty church hall.
Regular citizens are nowhere near Yanukovych on the photos. Instead, at least ten security guards surround him, fiercely looking around, ready to take action. The next layer of protection is a row of police officers. Only behind them are regular worshipers seen standing. Women in head wraps don’t look very excited about their distinguished Easter mass companion.
In December of 2012, the president was photographed attending a service near the Volodymyr the Great monument in Kyiv. While walking between two rows of nuns, Yanukovych was flanked by over a dozen guards.
It’s only logical that the president should be safeguarded at all times. But the time and place still matter. An army of guards with hidden earphones would fit nicely into a criminal neighborhood or a hot spot, should Yanukovych visit one. But at a church service, Yanukovych’s army looks ridiculous, especially when it outnumbers those in attendance.
Is it really the president’s life that is under protection or his comfort? As president, Yanukovych has been hardly easy-going with citizens. His counterpart, U.S. President Barack Obama invites families to the Oval Office and shakes hands with cleaning men, and even Russian President Vladimir Putin is seen kissing and hugging children. But Yanukovych’s interaction with civilians is usually limited to chilly official greetings with no touching involved. Streets get blocked for any presidential trip. His personal life, family and residence are shrouded in mystery. Nobody knows who he calls friends.
Put together, one might wonder if he fears armed assassins, or regular Ukrainians, armed with handshakes.
