Maidan: 12 Months that
Shook the World
Twelve months ago, the sudden, dramatic turnaround by Viktor
Yanukovych and his lackeys in government and the Verkhovna Rada about Ukraine’s
accession to the European Union Agreement, orchestrated by the Kremlin, has
gone down in history as a most fateful decision that destroyed peace, stability
and security in Europe.
On the other hand, the subsequent popular, national Maidan
revolution, blazoned with abundant flags of Ukraine, EU, NATO and OUN, opened a
new chapter for Ukrainians and genuinely liberated Ukraine from Russia’s prison
of nations.
In the course of a year, traitors were uncovered, a new
generation of heroes was anointed, the first Lenin monument in Kyiv crashed to
the ground on December 8, 2013, followed by hundreds more across Ukraine, Yanukovych
and his henchmen fled Kyiv on February 22, 2014, Putin launched the
Russo-Ukraine War of 2014 on February 28, 2014, and Russia bared its
imperialistic nature. World leaders and pundits consequently began to understand
what generations of Ukrainians and other former captive nations have been
saying about innate Russian aggression.
What began on November 21, 2013, as a massive national
demonstration on the streets of Kyiv against Yanukovych’s decision, known as
Maidan, evolved into a national revolution that despite Russian instigated
violence and killings managed to oust Russia’s governor in Ukraine and his
supporters. It also cemented the Ukrainian nation’s yearning to become a part
of Europe and break the chains that have bonded it to Russia for nearly four
centuries.
The events associated with that day will be inscribed in the
history of Ukraine along with other manifestations of national will,
self-determination, independence and sovereignty:
January 22, 1918 –
declaration of independence of Ukraine;
November 1, 1918 –
declaration of independence of Western Ukraine;
January 22, 1919 –
proclamation of unity of Ukraine;
March 15, 1939 –
declaration of independence of Carpatho-Ukraine;
June 30, 1041 –
declaration restoring independence of Ukraine;
August 24, 1991 –
the ultimate declaration of independence of Ukraine.
To commemorate this day and its heroes, President Poroshenko
is expected to sign Decrees on Annual Commemoration of the Day of Dignity and Freedom on November
21 and the Day of Unity of Ukraine on January 22.
“Ukraine is the territory of dignity and freedom originated
from two revolutions – our Maidan of 2004, which was the Holiday of Freedom,
and the Revolution of 2013, the Revolution of Dignity. It was an extremely
difficult challenge for Ukraine, when Ukrainians demonstrated their
Europeanness, dignity and desire for freedom. As President of Ukraine, I must
documentarily attest it and sign the Decree on the Day of Dignity and Freedom
that will be celebrated by Ukrainians on November 21 from here to eternity,”
Poroshenko explained why the dates would be officially recognized.
In time for the anniversary of Maidan, Civicua.org, called
Prostir, a Ukrainian NGO dedicated to fostering Ukrainian national and democratic
values, released the results of a national survey about Maidan – or Euromaidan
as it is also called to emphasize the linkage between Europe and Ukraine – that
confirmed the national scope of the revolution.
The survey found that some 20% of the population actively
participated in the revolution on the streets of Kyiv or their hometowns. With
Ukraine’s population at 45.3 million, that means there were 9.6 million
revolutionaries. They were supported with goods, services and funds by 9% of
the population.
Those figures by themselves are a testimony to the
widespread desire of Ukrainians to change their status and fulfill their
sovereign aspirations.
RFE/RL related a heartwarming story about Maryna Sochenko of
Kyiv, who told the radio’s correspondent that her sketchbook was permanently at
her side on Maidan from the first day. The radio report continued that a year
later, Sochenko flips quickly through an endless pile of canvasses and drawings
in her studio as she marks the first anniversary of the protests with an
exhibition of her portraits of the faces of Maidan.
“There were so many different types of people,” she
observed. “The most interesting thing is the geography, of course. I didn’t go
looking for people. They came to find me. This one is from Sevastopol. This one
from Kherson. Here is a journalist from Kyiv. All of Ukraine is here.”
Prostir reported that the largest group of protesters,
according to the survey Fund Democratic Initiatives of Ilko Kucheriv and the
Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, were western Ukrainians. Of them, 7%
participated in protests in Kyiv and 26% in other cities and villages. About
one-third of them helped the protesters. In the Central Kyiv region, 9.5% of
the people participated in the revolution and 2% in other urban and rural
areas, while 7.5% helped protesters.
At that time, Ukrainian community organizations, trade
unions, municipal agencies and small businesses chartered buses, trains and
other forms of transportation for their people to join the revolution.
Of the demonstrators, 25% had higher education; 15% –
special secondary schools; 14% completed secondary 14%; and 7% – middle school. All age groups were
represented in the protests from teenagers to senior citizens, the survey
showed.
In analyzing what Euromaidan meant for them, the demonstrators’
prevailing opinion (38%) was that it was a “conscious struggle of citizens
coming together to protect their rights,” another 17% believe that the protests
were spontaneous. One third of the respondents regarded Euromaidan as a coup
against the Russian-controlled Yanukovych regime, 16% thought it was prepared
by the political opposition, and 15% felt it was sponsored by the West.
Of those who took part in protests in Kyiv, 76% said they
would vote in a referendum for Ukraine’s accession to NATO, and among those who
took part in protests outside Kyiv, supporters rose to 90%.
Another revealing characteristic of the Euromaidan
revolution was that it was a rebellion against Yanukovych and his cabal and
Russia staged by all Ukrainians – Ukrainian and Russian-speaking Ukrainians, as
well as Catholics, Orthodox, Jews and others.
Regardless how you analyze the numbers, Euromaidan was a
national revolution for a better Ukraine, one that would be a member of Europe,
and one that would shed its shackles to Russia.
Srdja Popvic and Slobodan Djinovic, in their article
“Remember What They Died for on the Maidan” in the November 3 edition of
Foreign Policy, observed:
“Western governments have failed to reinforce the message
that though democracy may not be a perfect system, it is still better and
fairer than any other system civilization has ever discovered. Do not
forget that it was the Ukrainians, not Germans, French, or Brits, who put their
lives on the line and died by the hundreds this spring on the Maidan under the
banners of the European Union. They gave their lives for these values. Are we
going to let their sacrifice be in vain?”
Support for Maidan is not universal. As can be expected,
Russia detests Maidan as much as it detests the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists
(OUN) and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), democracy, free press and human
rights. Its news outlet “RT” vindictively commented that Maidan signaled the
start of Ukraine’s destruction.
Indeed, we – those who participated, survived, witnessed it
or watched the web streams – can’t let Maidan’s sacrifice be in vain no more
than we can let the sacrifices of their predecessors who fought for Ukraine’s
independence, sovereignty and indivisibility be in vain.
Proclamations, monuments, gravestones, stamps and memorials
are visible examples of eternal memorials. A greater impact will be made if the
memory of Maidan inspires and lives perpetually in the hearts and souls of
Ukrainians everywhere.
See Prostir’s website for a slideshow about Maidan: http://www.slideshare.net/ProstirUA/ss-41804556
