WASHINGTON, D.C. — Ukrainian activists in America’s capital organized a candlelit vigil on Feb. 17 to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the deaths of the “Heavenly Hundred,” the more than 100 demonstrators shot dead by Viktor Yanukovych’s security forces during the EuroMaidan Revolution that drove the Kremlin-backed president from power on Feb. 22, 2014.
The gathering at the Holodomor Monument was organized by United Help for Ukraine, a group formed to support the popular uprising which began in Kyiv on Nov. 21, 2013, after Yanukovych abruptly reneged on a trade and political association agreement to bring Ukraine into closer relations with the European Union.
Angry Ukrainians took to the streets for nearly 100 days of mass demonstrations in Kyiv’s central Maidan Nezalezhnosti, or Independence Square. The security forces tried to crush the demonstrations with violence at various intervals, culminating in the bloody three days of Feb. 18-20, when more than 100 people were killed. Yanukovych lost his nerve and fled to Moscow.
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, furious that his plans to draw Ukraine into a Moscow-led economic union had been undermined, invaded and occupied Crimea and parts of eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region, a war that continues today.
United Help Ukraine activists gathered funds to help Ukraine’s under-supplied military forces during the war’s most intense fighting in 2014 and 2015.
It has continued helping by collecting funds for humanitarian needs, helping to bring seriously-wounded Ukrainian servicemen for medical procedures and prosthetics-fitting in the United States. The group has organized demonstrations in D.C. such as after the November aggression by the Russian Navy in the Kerch Strait when three Ukrainian vessels were attacked and captured with their crews of 24 sailors – three of whom were wounded. They remain in Russian jails.
Prayers for Heavenly Hundred
Some 100 people attended the event. Ukrainian Catholic and Orthodox priests held a joint service which was addressed by United Help Ukraine members, Ukrainian Ambassador in Washington Valeriy Chaly, and Ukrainian-American Yuriy Sajewych, who was present at the mass protests and witnessed the violence.
Sajewych, who used to work at Voice of America’s Ukrainian Service, came to the rally wearing the camouflage jacket he wore during the 2014 protests. A badge with the number “27” referred to the self-defense unit, one of many organized by the EuroMaidan demonstrators, that he joined then.
He said he was afraid that many in the West had started to forget about the protests, which also became known as the Revolution of Dignity, and were not aware of Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine.
He described the EuroMaidan as “the greatest time of my life.” Sajewych said: “Never before had I witnessed such idealism, such courage, such love and real patriotism. This was the most magnificent manifestation of people power that I have ever seen.”
He said that many of the friends he made during the EuroMaidan went to to fight against the Russian invasion and some had died. Sajewych said the memory of the EuroMiadan and the sacrifices of his “comrades” were ever present in his mind.
He said because he was considered too old to serve as a soldier, he had trained as an ancillary medical worker and had recently returned from working at a front-line military hospital in the Donbas conflict zone. he was preparing to return there soon.
Two flags – one nation
Student Ali Mastafayev, born in Yevpatoria in Crimea, attended the rally holding high a Crimean Tatar flag. He came to the U.S. as an exchange student studying accounting and has remained on a two-year work visa.
He said: “I came here with the flag of my nation to show my respect for the Heavenly Hundred and I bring this flag to show that there are two flags but one state and one country – we are all Ukrainians.”
Sofiya Avramova emigrated to the U.S. from Poltava in 2002 and lives in D.C. She said she wanted to commemorate the events that had changed Ukraine in 2014 but hoped that the coming presidential elections would give a boost to reforms.
“We have only just began though to make important changes and much work remains,” she said. “I hope that people remember there’s a war going on in Donbas and don’t forget about the people fighting and suffering there.”
Alan Aldave, is an economist from Peru, who came to the event with his Ukrainian wife, Tanya, who he met ten years ago in America. He said: “We came to show our respect for those who died in the demonstrations and support for the people who are fighting for Ukraine’s freedom today. They must never be forgotten.”
