The men will just sit there, smoking and drinking. The women in the restaurant will attempt to get out of the way and a couple will even try to help.
But most will otherwise just sit there, smoking and drinking.
The 14 minutes of video that came out last week revealed much about Ukraine, sadly for the nation that I love like no other except my own – America.
As a Westerner in Ukraine, I am reluctant to write about the incident in which Roman Landik, a 37-year-old married son of a pro-presidential Party of Regions parliamentarian, is seen pummeling a 20-year-old photo editor and beauty queen.
The victim, Maria Korshunova, remains hospitalized with serious injuries.
In America, this particular incident would be hard to imagine. In America, it is true, much worse could happen.
In America, the attacker may have opened fire with a gun and shot the young woman dead as well as everyone else in the restaurant. You can criticize America’s violent gun culture all that you want, and you will only find agreement from me.
But in this case, here are some of the important differences I see in the two societies:
Missed chances to prevent escalation of violence:
An alert restaurant manager, security guard or waitress could have stopped everything before the first blow. Why didn’t they? Because they knew Landik was the son of a parliamentarian and untouchable? In the U.S., someone from the restaurant would have called police immediately and also escorted Landik outside.
Then the restaurant manager would have come over to the table where the victim and her friends were sitting, announced that the tab is on the house and then instructed them to leave immediately for their own safety and for the safety of all other patrons.
Why should they leave, if they are victims? The reason, as I learned from many years on the police beat, is the nature of violence.
If Landyk had been kicked out of the restaurant and she stayed, he may return to settle his score with her.
No intervention happened in the Lugansk restaurant. The waitress even dropped off the check at the victim’s table. Unbelievable!
Where are the police?
Almost everyone has a cell phone. Did anyone call police? If they did, why didn’t officers show up? In America, people are upset if it takes police more than 10 minutes to arrive after being called to respond to an emergency.
Are Americans spoiled? Probably, but they are also safer as a result.
No real men present:
Apologies to the millions of great Ukrainian men who are loving husbands and fathers, who are incensed by this incident and who are pillars of respectability. But when a woman can be beaten with impunity in a roomful of men, this is evidence of a deep sickness in society.
Sexism reigns:
There is no excuse for a man hitting a woman. Ever. This is ingrained in the consciousness of most American men. Victims should also not be blamed. But if women are ever going to be safe in Ukraine, more of them must assert their rights.
The Kuchma generation: You reap what you sow. I don’t know the victim. But she was born the same year that Ukraine declared its independence. She grew up in a nation filled with upheaval and poverty. Many didn’t have enough to eat or decent clothes to wear. Many had jobless, absent or alcoholic fathers. Many had families held together by an overworked and underpaid mother. Many girls were raised to think that their beauty and sexuality are their main assets. None of this may apply to the victim.
I first came to Ukraine in 1996, so I don’t know what happened before. But in the decade-long era of ex-President Leonid Kuchma, many Ukrainians got mired in poverty and ignorance during those tumultuous times, drifting hopelessly in a cloud of cheap alcohol, cheap cigarettes and menial jobs. Others became overachievers. Millions just fled abroad.
This is the result of “Kuchma-ism,” a system in which Soviet riches were doled out to favored insiders while everyone else toiled for their daily bread. President Viktor Yanukovych is accentuating this patronage system.
I don’t know the Landiks. But most of the post-Soviet wealth in Ukraine was gained through sweetheart, insider deals or by monopolizing a sector of the economy. People who get rich this way tend to exhibit bad character because their wealth was not earned.
The crime is against everybody, not just her:
I have read with astonishment the idea that Landik’s family will just pay the victim to drop the charges. The state is the institution that brings criminal charges against someone who breaks the law, sometimes even against a victim’s wishes. The crime committed is against the state – against all Ukrainians, not just this woman – a principle that is not respected here.
It is felony assault, not hooliganism:
Some think the videotape means that the authorities have no choice except to prosecute Landik. I have my doubts.
The authorities in this nation have never been much interested in justice. In America, Landik would be charged with felony assault – doing great bodily harm to another human being – rather than the amorphous Soviet-era charge of hooliganism.
Conclusion: This is a suffering nation. Many people are stuck with mentalities from czarist-era serfdom: Either master or slave. I hope this tragedy becomes a catalyst for Ukraine to cure the sicknesses within and become an even greater nation.
Kyiv Post senior editor Brian Bonner can be reached at [email protected]
