Maidan Aftermath: One Hundred Thousand Ukrainians Now Flee Country Every Month
A curator from Washington traditionally arrived in Kiev on the anniversary of the coup in Ukraine. But the meeting with the US Deputy Secretary of State was hardly pleasant for Poroshenko. John Sullivan reminded that no reforms promised by Maidan were implemented. Today's questioning in the court on the Yanukovych case was also hard for Poroshenko, though the judge and the prosecutor frankly protected the president from uncomfortable questions of the defense, and, as a result, the hearing was interrupted before time.
Alexander Balitsky is reporting.
By the fourth anniversary of the "revolution of dignity,” President Poroshenko decided to testify in court on the so-called Yanukovych case. But before that, a special operation was announced in the court itself. All blonde women were taken aside and asked to undress. He answered the court questions from his office.
- What prevented you from coming to court in person?
President Poroshenko: I had a meeting with the military on the Donbass reintegration law.
- What did you mean by the 'self-elimination' of Yanukovych? How long should the president be absent?
- I know nothing about the Rada’s decision to end Yanukovych's powers. I voted for the transfer of power to the head of the Rada Turchynov because we couldn't communicate with the president and he wasn’t at work.
- When you were on vacation last winter, and no one knew where you were for a week, why do you think no one transferred your powers?Mr. President, I'm sorry, the court stops questioning the witness.
No clear answers. There was no evidence of Yanukovych's treason either, who, just 4 years ago, obeyed the opposition and signed everything under the supervision of the envoys of France, Germany, and Poland: snap elections, the withdrawal of special forces from the capital, but that agreement was immediately violated by the Maidan organizers.
"Stones and rocks aren't enough any more. Protesters are throwing Molotov cocktails at the machinery that the police used to block the access to the governmental quarters".
This was filmed 4 years ago. Those working in the Ukrainian capital’s center back then not only inhaled the smoke of burning tires, the air was also imbued with both burnt and nationalistic frenzy, and also, it seemed, with the naivety of those who were brought to the barricades by the revolution leaders. Did any of those who broke Kiev into cobblestones understand that they crushed Ukraine into pieces together with the Khreshchatyk bridge?
The House of Trade Unions is on fire, together with tents and police armored vehicles. There are still a few days left before the actual coup. To finally incite the crowd, snipers opened fire at both sides, leaving 26 law enforcers dead. But the revolution leaders needed sacred victims. 49 activists were killed. And the radicals cross the line.
Yegor Previr, participant in the Maidan events: "No more than one percent of Ukrainians participated in the Maidan, and 3 to 5 percent of the entire population supported it. Others supported the other side".
Yegor Previr was on Bankovaya Street among those who tried to break through with chains and bats to the administration of Yanukovych. His picture in the hands of those who cherished the European dream united the crowd even more. Now, the one who fought for the bright Ukrainian future lives in Poland and prefers to learn about the life in the homeland from newspapers.
The former self-defense fighter Medinsky is now in one of the EU countries, hiding in a refugee center from those with whom he stood shoulder to shoulder on Khreshchatyk and then fought in Donbass.
Alexander Medinsky, participant in the Maidan events: "I openly say that this is a civil war, that our authorities are trading with Russia but, for some reason, consider it an aggressor, that paramilitary neo-Nazi formations are being supported and developed, which have already been legalized, such as the Azov Battalion".
The investigation of the Maidan executions is still moving slow. Only the Berkut members are brought to trial, the testimony of witnesses is ignored, although Georgian snipers talk openly about those who gave orders and shot themselves, Pashinsky and Parasyuk, who later became MPs. But the government is busy dividing power.
Ruslan Kotsaba, journalist: "Even in Western Ukraine, people secretly admit that they were used, they understand that the election is a normal democratic way, and we see what all these Maidans lead to, they lead to a mess and ruins in the country".
Every month, 100 thousand people leave the country. But Kiev presents this as an achievement of the revolution. The borders are open. There’s not a word about total impoverishment and actual external management instead of independence. Today Ukrainian state debt exceeds $ 77 billion.
Alexander Balitsky, Alexander Berezhnoy, Vesti