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Lyudmyla makes Teresa look Good
Not-quite-First Lady Lyudmyla Yanukovych, recently ranted in Donetsk :
«Dear friends, I’m fresh from Kyiv, I can tell you what’s going on there. It’s simply an orange orgy there! So, there’s rows and rows of felt boots – all of it of American make! See! And mountains of orange oranges. And the background is “Orange sea, orange sky…” [a line from a popular kids song – tr.] Gosh! It’s just… It’s a nightmare! And look here guys: those oranges ain’t just any oranges – they’re loaded. People take an orange, eat it – and take another one. See! And the hand keeps reaching, keeps reaching for it. I was on my way here, there was news. They said – people in the square are getting poisoned, on a mass scale. Frequent hospitalizations. They bring people in with meningitis! What have we come to! And they keep standing, keep standing! Eyes simply glazed over! Just like that!»
Excuse me a moment.
Bwa haha haha haha!
Yeah. Riiiiiiiight.
However, please pray for the general health and continued peacefulness of the protesters. The weather is frigid, and it's been snowing a lot. Some people have been sick, but there are medical clinics set up as well as ambulances available.
November 30, 2004 | Comments (22) | TrackBack (4) | Permalink
Photos from Kyiv, Nov 28 - 29
From International Support for Ukrainian Democracy
November 29, 2004 | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0) | Permalink
Art for Democray
by Maia, at House of the Dog
November 28, 2004 | Comments (9) | TrackBack (0) | Permalink
Ukraine News Sources
It's been amazing to see the outpouring of interest in and support for Ukraine and her people. The big daddies are keeping it in front of their readers on a daily basis--especially Instapundit, but also Andrew Sullivan, NRO's The Corner, PowerLineBlog and Hugh Hewitt.
Over at LoboWalk, Daniel's Ukraininan wife Anna has started translating news stories into English. Hooray!
The following are some helpful links, but is in no way an exhaustive list.
UkrBlogs, in and out of Kyiv:
Hubby, at Le Sabot
Neeka's Backlog
Foreign Notes
obdymok
Orange Ukraine
Ukraine, Oh My!
LoboWalk
The Argus
Fistful of Euros
Daniel Drezner
The Periscope
SCSU Scholars
A Step at a Time
EuroPhobia
UkrNews in English:
Kyiv Post high integrity
PORA News
Maidan News
Ukraine Now
Ukraine Observer
ObozRevaTel
Mirror Weekly
Google News - Ukraine
EinNews - Ukraine
Hotline News
November 28, 2004 | Comments (10) | TrackBack (1) | Permalink
Please Pray Now. . .
There are several reports of Kuchma planning on declaring martial law and possible attempting to raze the tent city at 8pm local time. Please pray that peace will prevail, Kuchma will not use violence, and the protesters will remain level-headed.
And Yushchenko has issued this statement,
"Ideas of force resolutions are appearing from time to time. Mr. President, I'm appealing to you: God forbid the government should resort to force. You will confront unimaginable power, and these 500 thousands, who are standing in this square, will grow tenfold.""If any preparations for resolution by force come to light, we will break off negotiations immediately."
"I would like to appeal to people who wear the military uniform. Remember one thing - weapons always speak in unison with the truth, they never work against your own people."
Update: As of now, my Ukrainian friends who are following the news or have been in the center have not seen any actions against the demonstrators or tent city. Maidan continues to report concerning developments.
As Neeka says, "many believe that all these rumors are based on the very real threats that keep being averted through pressure and negotiations."
However Chairman Volodymyr Radchenko of the The Council on National Security and Defense of Ukraine says the use of force against the protest participants is "impossible."
November 28, 2004 | Comments (12) | TrackBack (4) | Permalink
Advent – The First Sunday
I was excited to find an evergreen wreath and taper candles in the traditional advent colors a few weeks ago. Last year, we our advent wreath was a bit ad hoc with votives on a glass tray. This is the first year we will be incorporating lighting the advent candles and reading the Advent Scripture into our Advent rhythm. For the past 5 years, we’ve been observing Advent with singing hymns, praying, and going through the Scriptures with a Jesse Tree that Auntie L gave us.
The purple candle for the first week of Advent represents prophecy. These are the Bible passages we’ll be reading this week.
Sun. Is. 40:1-5
Mon. Is. 52:7-10
Tue. Is. 40:9-11
Wed. Gen. 3:8-15
Thu. Gen. 15:1-6
Fri. Deut. 18:15-19
Sat. Ps. 89:1-4
And the first Advent hymn the boys requested was:
Joy to the World!Joy to the world! the Lord is come:
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare him room,
And heaven and nature sing.Joy to the earth! the Saviour reigns:
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains
Repeat the sounding joy.No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make his blessings flow
Far as the curse is found.He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of his righteousness,
And wonders of his love.
November 28, 2004 | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0) | Permalink
Babushki of the Revolution
". . .We were told that she went up to the guards in front of the entrance, guards in full riot gear, masks and shield, in ranks twenty deep. She went up to one and said, “I am a babushka [translated roughly as “grandmother” but used for every older woman grandmother age] from the village. I came here to find out how you are. Are you fine? Are you hungry? Maybe your parents are somewhere worrying about you?“Babushka has come from the village with some warm socks for you. Maybe your feet are cold and you need some socks?” She talked to this fellow in this way and won him over. He lowered his shield to expose his face and he was grinning at her while she spoke to him.
Today, she was supposed to come over and see us. She likes to do this especially since she has a new grandson she dotes on. But today she can’t be bothered with that sort of thing. She is part of the revolution. Getting out of bed this morning, she went to the store, bought bread and sausage and is on her way down to make sure that the protestors are fed and taken care of.
Before she left, she called her husband in the village. She had been planning on going back home and letting him come to take part but, when she called, she told him “There is nothing for you to do here. There are enough men here already. A woman’s touch is what is needed here to help take care of the people down at the square. So I will stay here. You don’t need to come.” (This is terribly un-PC but that is the way she is and the way of life is in the village.)
I'm tired of people outside of Ukraine trying to frame what is going on here as a "US/EU vs. Russia" thing, and so condescendingly refusing to see this is all about Ukraine. It is Ukrainians who have risen up, joined together, and finally have hope that things here can change.
The above story is from ForeignNotes who lives here in Kyiv, and is about his mother-in -law. This is the real story of this rally. Each day, a million individual gestures of freedom and unity are joined together to make up the big picture on the Square.
I sure wish ForeignNotes would allow anon comments. hint, hint.
November 27, 2004 | Comments (16) | TrackBack (3) | Permalink
Rada Says Election not Valid!
Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada has declared the November 21 election to be invalid! They have also voted no-confidence in the CEC. This is reported by the ever-reliable The Kyiv Post. (No registration required right now--that should be a permanent change, imo.)
These votes are non-binding, but still, are hugely significant!
Update: Just got an e- from our friend Pasha, "Hi, here is some info. You might have heard of it! Did you watch our parliament conference live on different chanels? There're some good results but did you see corruption and desire to leave some power in the hands of Yanukovich's "region party"... As soon as I find the info in English, I'll link to it.
November 27, 2004 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (1) | Permalink
New and New-to-me Ukraine Sites
Orange Ukraine, Helping to pull 48 million chestnuts out of the fire. is a brand new blog to watch. It's authored by former Peace-Corps volunteeer and freelance journalist Dan McMinn, who lives in Kyiv with his Ukrainian-born wife. Keep checking back--Dan really understands the situation here.
Photos from Kyiv and around the world are being collected by Crocodiles Ukrainian Election 2004 site. It was especially neat to see the pics from Chicago, where my Mom lives and where I attended my first political rally (skipping school, naturally.)
AidUkraine is run by a Ukrainian in diaspora and has some good info. Note, they are asking for donations. And while it looks legit, I cannot personally vouch for this group..
November 27, 2004 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Permalink
Scholarly Resources
I just found SCSU Scholars through I-can't-remember-who. Someone deserves a link here. *blush*
I've read some so-called analysis of what's going on in Kyiv, where it is clear the reporter or whoever just doesn't get it. On the other hand, here's King--who has lived, studied and worked in Ukraine.
Check out his maps--hopefully they will help convey another point in the grand scheme of election corruption.
November 26, 2004 | Comments (10) | TrackBack (2) | Permalink
Conversation in a Taxi
On our way home from Thankgiving Dinner yesterday, our taxi took us near the center, but not close enough for the boys and I to see the heart of the demonstration. We did see many people walking to and from the rally, all wearing orange, waving flags, and sometimes chanting "Yu-shchen-ko!"
J8, budding politico that he is, was sure to ask our taxi driver, "Are you for Yushchenko?" Of course he was, and that opened a whole conversation.
"It'll be much better for our country when there isn't corruption," Oleg said. "We need to be more like Europe." Oleg has a friend in Canada and has thought of moving there with his daughter, but he needs money, a job there--and he just can't leave his mother here in Ukraine. Sadly, we know a lot of Ukrainians who have wanted to leave--the corruption here has been too oppressive and until now, escape seemed the only solution. Now there is hope that things really can change.
The boys kept injecting their own comments and cheers for Yushchenko, as Oleg and I talked. We drove past the Central Elections Committee building, and Oleg pointed it out and told me what it was like the other day when there were so many protesters. We saw a group of 30 or so people waving flags and cheering in front of a government building that is quite a ways from the center. While Maidan and Khreshatyk are still the center of activity, it seems obvious that the demonstration is growing and spreading.
Oleg asked me why I supported Yushchenko. "Look at the economic plans he had in the past--the dollar/grivnia exchange rate has been constant since we moved here. His past plans were responsible for that, so I think his plans for the future will be sound, too. I really believe he is a true reformer."
At one point Oleg asked if anyone in the US knew what was going on here. "The world is watching," I went on to tell him about all the people I've heard from (online especially) who care about what is going on here. He was visibly moved knowing that people around the world are watching--and care.
November 26, 2004 | Comments (9) | TrackBack (0) | Permalink
And Now For Something Completely Different. . .
In the midst of the current Ukrainian excitement, we've had some "normal" family times as well. Yesterday we celebrated Thanksgiving with some other families from the US. We all had some special things that we had sent from the States--a videotaped football game, pecans for pie, cranberry relish, French's onion topping for green bean casserole. . . We had a time of worship and thanksgiving, and enjoyed the traditional meal with all the trimmings. The kids got to play outside in the snow, there was a bonfire for roasting apples, and it a wonderful evening.
We also had birthday cake with our friends--C turned 4 yesterday and T is 7 today. I'll have to adjust my acronyms. *grin* I can't believe that my baby is now four, especially when I think back to how T7 was only four when we first arrived here. They've both grown so much and totally delight my heart.
November 26, 2004 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Permalink
Parallel Gov't Issues Decrees
Yesterday, November 25th, Victor Yushchenko's parallel government issued its first decrees, focusing renewal of democracy in Ukraine and on safety issues for the Ukrainians who are protesting corruption in government.
November 26, 2004 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Permalink
Emergency Parliament Solution?
"Parliament Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn. . . gathered with parliament faction leaders to discuss the possibility of convening an extraordinary parliament session to unblock the current political crisis. . . . (Lytvyn) believes the current predicament can be resolved "independently" and is seeking to determine the role of parliament during the emergency."
(Via the ever-reliable Kyiv Post)
November 26, 2004 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Permalink
Negotiations?
From Victor Katolyk, translated from the very reliable korrespondent.net.
"korrespondent.net The negotiations between Kuchma, Yanukovych, and Yushchenko will be held at 18:00 in the presence of international mediators. Yushchenko refused to hold eye-to-eye meetings with Kuchma or Yanukovych.The negotiations will be mediated by Xavier Solana, Jan Kubish, Alexander Kwasniewski (President of Poland), Valdas Adamkus (President of Lithuania) and, possibly, other European and Russian diplomats."
Please pray that these will be fruitful, and that in negotiating an outcome, the people of Ukraine will not be subject to compromises that dash their hopes of freedom.
(Via Fistful of Euros)
November 26, 2004 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Permalink
Support Ukraine Buttons
Amy has designed a series of buttons to show your support for democray in Ukraine on your website. Thanks, Amy!
Also, Nathan at Registan have also designed several buttons to show support for Ukraine.
November 26, 2004 | Comments (5) | TrackBack (4) | Permalink
A Thousand Words
This PORA associated blog is worth checking out for the great photos, even if you don't speak Ukrainian.
November 25, 2004 | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0) | Permalink
Sign and Pass Along
From PORA, A Letter of Freedom and Solidarity:
"To all CITIZENS of the FREE WORLD,Now, while you are reading this letter, 48 million people in one of the largest countries in Europe have a unique chance to make their choice and change a corrupt ruling regime.
This autumn 2004 is the moment of truth for the Ukrainian nation
We know that the choice of the Ukrainian people is clear.
They are tired of years of corrupt and untrustworthy government. They are exhausted by permanent lies and lawlessness. They want prosperity and stability for their children. They want to live in a democratic country. They value freedom of expression and freedom of the press They want to join the European community. They want their choice to be heard and respected.But we also know that they can be robbed of this choice, as happened during parliamentary elections in 2002, during the elections in Mukachevo and in multitudes of small towns all over Ukraine. We recognize that the People’s choice could be disgraced and replaced by the will of a small oligarchic group. And once again millions of Ukrainians will be deceived
We started this letter of freedom and solidarity to defend free and fair election results.
If you believe in freedom, if you care about the future of Ukraine, sign this letter to prevent falsifications and to protect the thousands of young Ukrainians who have created a national network of volunteers and started PORA ("It's Time!"), a civic movement aimed at ensuring and protecting fair and democratic election of the President of Ukraine.
We need your help because the regime will be afraid to break the rules in front
of because only UNITED we can win.There is no alternative to public action:
1. Check our website www.pora.org.ua/en
2. Sign our letter of freedom and solidarity
3. Make a difference: join PORA Campaign and contribute to campaign
4. Forward this letter to your friendsThere might not be other chance.
It is TIME to act, TIME to struggle, TIME to win
The letter was signed by: Show All
If you want to sign this letter please send your name, organization you represent and your email to info@pora.org.ua"
(Via Le Sabot Post-Moderne)
November 25, 2004 | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0) | Permalink
$21 Million Dollar Bribe?
Serhiy Kivalov, head of the Central Elections Committee, reportedly received a bribe of $21,600,000 to proclaim Yanukovych as President of Ukraine.
November 24, 2004 | Comments (3) | TrackBack (1) | Permalink
"The struggle is just starting!"
These are the things that have been announced in Kyiv in the last hour:
1. "The struggle is just starting!" declared Yushchenko.
2. In response to the announcement made today by the Central Election Commission of Ukraine that Yanukovych won the election Yushchenko calls for nation wide strike.
3. The Committee Of National Salvation, responsible for the rescue of democracy in Ukraine, has been formed.
4. Ukrainian military officers and ensigns support Yushchenko.
Frequently Updated News Sites / Blogs
Le Sabot Post-Moderne
Kyiv Post high integrity news source
Neeka's Backlog
The Periscope
EuroPhobia
Maidan News English
Pora News
Fistfull of Euros
November 24, 2004 | Comments (9) | TrackBack (1) | Permalink
Prayer for Ukraine
Before this evening's Yushchenko speech, preachers came to the camp and prayed for the activists.
This is a song we regularly sing in church, "A Prayer for Ukraine". Please continue in your prayers for Ukraine and her people, and a peaceful and just resolution.
Молитва за Україну
Моя молитва нехай лине
До Тебе, наче фіміам.
І серце лине без зупину
В чудовий Твій небесний храм.Боже, я молю за Україну,
Боже, молю тебе за людей,
Ти їх прости,
Ти їх спаси,
І милість Твою нам яви.
Боже, я знаю,
Що Ти будеш з нами
В храмі Твоєму під небесами
Радість і мир Ти дарував,
Життя для людей віддав,
В Книгу Життя нас записав!В Своєму Слові Живому,
Ти для людей ведіння дав,
Щоб люди всі молились Богу,
Що на Хресті за нас вмирав.
And thanks to Maureen, here it is in English.
A Prayer for Ukraine
My prayer does not go unheard,
To you, our incense rises.
And my heart is heard without difficulty
In strange lands, in Your heavenly temple.God, I pray for Ukraine,
God, I pray to you for its people.
May You forgive them,
May You save them,
And may Your favor on us rest.
God, I know
That You will be with us.
In Your temples under heaven
Joy and peace You're giving,
Life to the people You're showing,
Us in the Book of Life You've written!In Your Living Glory,
You to the people have given power,
So that the people all pray to God
Who in Christ was reconciled to us.
November 24, 2004 | Comments (6) | TrackBack (0) | Permalink
What's Going on in Ukraine?
"I am just a little Ukrainian. But the whole pyramid of Ukraine is built on top of little people like me. I should be home working in the soil, but instead I'm here in the (Independence) Square. And I'm not leaving until we have real democracy." --Nikolai
If you are just starting to follow the news of what is going on in Ukraine, check out this Q&A from the BBC.
But to get to the heart of the matter, Oksana Zabuzhko's essay is a must-read.
November 24, 2004 | Comments (1) | TrackBack (1) | Permalink
Conflict Avoidable?
Europhobia has compiled and excellent by-the-hour summary of what's been going on today. Honestly, I'm surprised in many ways at the direction things are going. I really thought that the overwhelming demonstration from the citizens of Ukraine would keep the current authorities from declaring Yanukovich the 'winner."
Opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko
Photo via KyivPost.ComNovember 24, 2004 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Permalink
Evening Roundup. . .
Our phone has been on the fritz again today. I'm not sure whether it's just our line being tempermental, it's the weather, or it's the Kyiv circuits. The mobile phone circuits have been overloaded from time to time, too. and though the webcam doesn't show it, we've had snow flurries off and on all day. It makes me all the more thankful for those at the rally who place freedom and democracy over comfort.
So, I've finally been able to call Hubby and skim around online to see what's going on in the center.
Lots of reports of unstability, in spite of the peaceful energy the protests have had so far. To this point, the Ukrainian police and military have been very "friendly" towards the people at the rally, as Neeka puts it, and the Ukrainian Marines have declared for Yushchenko. However, are many reports of Russian troops, some in Ukrainian uniforms. Ukraine, Oh my! has further details about this.
Hubby, who is currently helping at one of the media centers to get news into English, including the latest reports, "Authorities have begun violent action against peaceful protesters near the Presidential Admin building. 2 buses of special ops police units drove up and have moved on the demonstrators. . . Provocateurs planted an "explosive" device in our tent city. Snipers were called in."
Victor continues to get news into English as well, translating from radio and tv reports.
PORA It's Time, is updating its English news site frequently. Included are reports of troops being flown in and plans for Yanukovich being sworn in today. I haven't verified whether this has happened or was just planned. More on that here, too.
Oh, and I just read that some internet services have been terminated in Kyiv. If you don't hear from us, that may be why. . .
November 24, 2004 | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0) | Permalink
Not Just Kyiv
Vinnytsia -- 5 thousand participants
Dnipropetrovsk -- 10 thousand
Zhytomyr -- over 40 thousand
Zaporizhzhia -- nearly 10 thousand
Ivano-Frankivsk -- 60 thousand
Kamyanets-Podilsky -- 15 thousand
Kyiv -- 500 thousand – 1 million
Kirovohrad -- over 10 thousand
Kremenchuk -- 2 thousand
Lebedyn -- 6 thousand
Lutsk -- 15 thousand
Lviv -- 120-150 thousand
Mykolayiv -- 3 thousand
Okhtyrka -- 15 thousand
Poltava -- 15 thousand
Rivne -- 6-7 thousand
Simferopol -- 1 thousand
Sumy -- 30 thousand
Ternopil -- 30 thousand
Uzhhorod -- 12 thousand
Kharkiv -- 80-100 thousand
Kherson -- 1 thousand
Cherkasy -- 10 thousand
Chernivtsi -- 30 thousand
Chernihiv -- 2 thousand
Shostka -- 15 thousand
The Ukrainians who are not travelling to Kyiv to rally, are making their voices heard in their home towns.
And around the world, Ukrainians and world citizens are joining together to show their support for true democracy in Ukraine: Warsaw; The Hague; Buffalo, NY; New York, Washington, and across the US; Toronto and throughtout Canada; Rome; London; and Paris.
November 24, 2004 | Comments (3) | TrackBack (1) | Permalink
To Do Justice
He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good;
and what doth the LORD require of thee,
but to do justice, and to love mercy,
and to walk humbly with thy God?Micah 6:8
November 24, 2004 | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0) | Permalink
Slideshow: Kyiv Rally
Yahoo News has great photos and descriptions from the rally in Kyiv. Scroll down past the first few paragraphs, and there is a link for "Slideshow: Ukraine Elections" on the left. No direct link.
November 24, 2004 | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0) | Permalink
Friendly Riot Police?
Neeka was walking around in the center in the wee sma's of the morning, and this is what she saw:
"At 3 am, the city's so loud you'd think it's daytime. . . .Every once in while a journalist barged in and announced that, according to some very well-informed sources, the riot police were beating everyone up over there, or that the armored personnel vehicles (is that what they're called?) are approaching the city center. . .
Those were all rumors, thank God. Later this evening, reports came in that the riot police are acting friendly and tolerant, and that they've declared their support for Yushchenko, and that they aren't embarrassed to put on some orange stuff on themselves. I assume it happened thanks to Yulia Tymoshenko - thanks to her charisma."
November 24, 2004 | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0) | Permalink
Ukraine Election Observers
If you're interested in primary source documention, here's a PDF file of the International Election Observation Commission Statement of Preliminary Findings and Conclusions.
November 24, 2004 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Permalink
CSS Changes Ahead
No, you are not seeing things. Yes, this blog is orange.
And I keep misreading the CSS, so no telling what you'll see here before I finally figure it out. Thankfully, MovableStyle has helped keep me out of too much trouble.
November 24, 2004 | Comments (11) | TrackBack (0) | Permalink
From the White House
"The United States is deeply disturbed by extensive and credible indications of fraud committed in the Ukrainian presidential election. We strongly support efforts to review the conduct of the election and urge Ukrainian authorities not to certify results until investigations of organized fraud are resolved. We call on the Government of Ukraine to respect the will of the Ukrainian people, and we urge all Ukrainians to resolve the situation through peaceful means. The Government bears a special responsibility not to use or incite violence, and to allow free media to report accurately on the situation without intimidation or coercion. The United States stands with the Ukrainian people in this difficult time."
(Via Instapundit. Hooray for Glenn!)
November 24, 2004 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Permalink
From the Velvet to the Orange
"Dear Citizens,Allow me to greet you in these dramatic days when the destiny of your country is being decided for decades ahead. You have its future in your hands. All trustworthy organizations, both local and international, agree that your demands are just. That is why I wish you strength, perseverance, courage and good fortune with your decisions.
Yours truly,
(via EuroPhobia)
November 23, 2004 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Permalink
UkrNews in English
Victor Katolyk at The Periscope is summarizing Ukrainian news reports in English, updating constantly.
I'm not surprised that most of the up-to-the-minute news about the Ukrainian elections is coming from the blogosphere. Kudos to Neeka, A Fist Full of Euros, Europhobia, A Step at A Time, Ukraine, Oh My!, Le Sabot and many others who are helping to bring the world's attention to Ukraine.
I heard there is a football game tonight. That worries me a bit. After all, past attacks on unpopular journalists have been blamed on "soccer hooligans." I'm concerned that the oligarchs could use the pretext of inebriated football fans to start trouble among those who have peacefully rallied in the center.
I don't expect to hear from Hubby until morning. Off to scrub his bright-orange winter coat. It has PBA glue on it from hanging up flyers.
November 23, 2004 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Permalink
Kyiv Rally Photos
I just posted photos from Independence Square on Hubby's blog.
November 23, 2004 | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0) | Permalink
Update from Hubby
Hubby describes what is going on in Kyiv here:
A Dispatch from the Barricades in Kiev!
Update from Kyiv
November 23, 2004 | Comments (3) | TrackBack (1) | Permalink
More Ukraine Election News
NRO has some essays on the Ukrainian election:
"People Power" 2004? By Nikolas K. Gvosdev
Waiting for the Inevitable
The Kyiv Post has waived their registration / subscription requirements to read the current articles on the election. I wish they'd go back to that permanently. . .
Europhobia is constantly updating the Ukrainian news links he finds. (And even links mnye!)
And this just in from the boys who are looking out the window. . . Look! It's snowing hard! Poor Dad, and all those people out there on Khreshatyk. . .
November 23, 2004 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Permalink
Yushchenko Sworn In!
"Victor Yushchenko has taken an oath of the President of Ukraine at the Verkhovna Rada; he did it laying his hand on the 300-year-old Bible.That happened after Volodymyr Lytvyn closed the parliamentary session on hearing that Yuriy Yukhnovskiy had suggested that Yushchenko take such an oath.
The assembled deputies greeted the new president. They sang Ukrainian National Anthem." -- Yushchenko's Web Site
We'll see where this leads. . .
More on the Verkhovna Rada special session:
Turmoil Deepens, Rada Meets
Parliament to Consider Election Results
Yushchenko Takes Oath, Protests Widen
Ukraine's Parliament Fails to Secure Quorum
November 23, 2004 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Permalink
A Picture of Ukraine
Ukranian novelist Oksana Zabushko had an excellent essay in yesterday's Wall Street Journal. I can't find the article online, so I'll copy the text here.
For those who are hearing about the Ukrainian run-off elections and post-election excitement, this provides a quick overview of what is going on. Ms. Zabushko's essay very much mirrors what we have observed here, too.
November 22, 2004COMMENTARY
Ukraine's Solidarity
By OKSANA ZABUZHKO
KIEV -- On Saturday afternoon, I was going by taxi past the Central Election Committee headquarters. The grand edifice was surrounded by two rows of steel fences, the construction, ironically, copying "maximum security" prisons. Inside, in the courtyard, there are camouflaged armored vehicles, waiting. For what?
"Here they are," said the driver with a wry smile. "Barricaded against us. They must be scared like sh-t now, what'ya think?" He turned his head and gave me a companion's wink. "Their last days are coming!"
There's no need now in Kiev to explain who "they" are, and who "we" are. "They" sit in "their" fortresses, in the government and presidential administration buildings on the downtown core's high hills. "They" stop traffic to let "their" motorcades of black BMWs and model Mercedes 600s rush across the city, and treat "us" as dirt -- or, more precisely, as a cheap labor force enabling "them" to sell "their" steel abroad at the most favorable price for "their" benefit. "They" own the police that beats protesters, the national TV channels that pour tons of lies on "us," and the tax service that pumps money out of "us" for "their" needs, until "we" are left naked as a worm. (Last week, for example, my publisher received an urgent demand from the local tax service to pay, out of the blue, 44,000 extra hryvnas, or about $7,000, and was happy to conclude from this that "they" must have exhausted "their" financial resources for the electoral campaign, and were now panicking.) To put it simply, "they" are the power -- the most widely hated power in Ukraine since Soviet times. And "we" -- we are the people.
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And that's what we are. Never before -- even 13 years ago, on the eve of the collapse of the Soviet Union -- has Ukraine witnessed such a massive upsurge of national solidarity. People who've always remained politically indifferent and had missed voting in all previous elections, were disseminating self-printed leaflets from the Internet (samizdat is back -- any piece of information was voraciously devoured on the spot!) in public places, and volunteering to monitor the elections on behalf of opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko. At a peasant food market a merchant first asked who you're voting for -- the right answer (with which you could count on a generous discount) was "Yushchenko," while incumbent Prime Minister's Viktor Yanukovych's supporters were more than likely simply refused service. In the playgrounds children were playing a game called "Yushchenko beats Yanukovych." To quote my seven-year-old neighbor, "in our class Irka alone stands for Yanukovych, and no one wants to play with her." The slogan chanted by protesting students at demonstrations reads in English as "We're together! We're many! We won't fall!" And just how may of "us" there are, one can easily see in the streets. These days Kiev, as well as other major Ukrainian cities, is defiantly demonstrating its political sympathies by wearing orange, the campaign color of opposition candidate Yushchenko.
A special term has come into use -- "The Orange Revolution." It looks like people have dragged all shades of orange, from yellow to vermilion, out of their wardrobes and adorned themselves with them simultaneously -- vests and sweaters, scarves and purses, coats and umbrellas. Orange ribbons flutter everywhere -- on trees, fences, lanterns, and cabs. Drivers joyfully beep to each other, and pedestrians (traffic police included!) salute them with smiles and raised fists. It feels like the capital of three million has been transformed into a sea of brotherly love! The windows of shops are lavishly decorated with things orange. Among my favorites is the stunt of my neighborhood coffee shop -- its windows glow with pyramids of oranges!
Much of this may sound childish. But some call it the awakening of the nation. And the authorities didn't find it childish, either. Every night criminals brought to Kiev by special trains to provoke disturbances slash tires of orange-ribboned cars. On Saturday night, a day before yesterday's runoff, people adorned in orange were attacked. A friend of mine, wearing a ribbon on his coat, was knocked down in a dark alley with two blows -- to his head and kidneys. His even bigger shock, though, was to hear the bandits calling him, in Russian, "a dirty Jew" (my friend is Jewish, and looks unmistakably so) -- the words which seemed to have been long forgotten during 13 years of Ukrainian independence. "Rats," he commented afterwards. "They ran away before I was able to fight back -- just disappeared into the darkness."
That's the way it goes: Days are "ours," nights are "theirs." In the daylight of Oct. 31, we went to the polling stations and voted for the first time in this presidential race -- that is, those of us who managed to wade through all the mysterious "irregularities" in the voters-lists, because of which around three million Ukrainians were denied their right to cast a ballot. This appeared to be good training for a nation striving for democracy. Yesterday, the second time, we arrived at the polling stations far better prepared to protect our rights while in the daylight. By the time I voted, hundreds of multifarious "irregularities" (like, say, busloads of people with absentee coupons running from polling station to polling station to cast multiple votes, people with files of ballots pre-marked for Yanukovych caught red-handed, cases of gunfire and arson at polling stations, etc.) had already been reported by voters calling hotlines from all over the country. I had to wait in line for my ballot for a while: The place was overcrowded, yet somehow strangely silent, and the tension in the air was more than palpable. Everybody knows that the ballots will be counted at night, and that thus "our" part in the elections doesn't exhaust itself with putting a ballot in the box.
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Here I have to clarify one important point. A widespread cliche used by many Western journalists to describe the major collision of our dramatic elections is that the establishment candidate, Viktor Yanukovych, is "pro-Russian," and that opposition candidate, Viktor Yushchenko, is "pro-Western." This version has as little to do with the feelings of an average Ukrainian voter as with those of the belligerents of the Trojan war. Mr. Yanukovych is perceived not so much as being "pro-Russian," but as, first and foremost, being "pro-criminal" -- a Ukrainian Al Capone, who has under his belt two prison sentences for robbery and assault, and publicly uses criminal argot compared to which even the boorish tongue of retiring President Leonid Kuchma sounds as innocuous as a school textbook. A former governor of Donetsk, Mr. Yanukovych in power represents the so-called "Donetsk fellas" -- a business clan with a notorious criminal background. That the latter have close ties with similar mafia clans in Russia seems to be the most immediate explanation for the pre-election outburst of a passionate love between Russian and Ukrainian leaders, an affair of which Yanukovych-as-president had been designed as a mutually satisfying offspring.
I doubt whether we'll ever know exactly how many million Russian petro-dollars were spent on this project, yet it's been afflicted by one crucial fault from the very beginning. It failed to take into account the possibility of a free will being manifested by the people of Ukraine. This is the problem of all authoritarian rulers. After a while, they lose touch with their people, and never really know who they rule.
Leonid Kuchma's presidency has been extremely unpopular. During his last year he has never enjoyed more than 10% of the people's support. His choice as his "successor" of a prime minister with prison terms and 15 spelling mistakes on his CV, with an accompanying uncurbed propaganda campaign by the national media, was taken by only too many as a brazen act of national humiliation not to be borne -- as a sign that the "shamelessness" of the corrupted establishment had reached rock-bottom. It was from my hairdresser -- a Russian-born and Russian-speaking girl -- that I first heard, about a month ago, this vox populi, boiling with genuine wrath. "Who do THEY think WE are?" she kept lamenting while doing my hair. "What do THEY think THEY can do to US? What am I going to tell my son if this gangster makes it to the presidency -- go ahead, sweetie, rob, steal, and rape, and one day you'll become the president of your country?"
One shouldn't play jokes with millions of indignant mothers. A nation with its dignity so deeply wounded constitutes a force not to be ignored. The first round has already proved this. The fraud committed was probably one of the biggest, and the most elaborate in modern history. None of the applied falsification techniques, however, could provide outright victory for Mr. Yanukovych. What the real figures in the first round were, we'll never know. The official result, meant to show the country as "split" between the two men, has only annoyed people more. If you think that of the nearly 12 million of the officially recognized Yushchenko supporters in the first round at least 10 million have never had a chance to see him on TV other than in an outrageous defamation campaign, clearly modeled after old Stalinist (or Goebbelsian?) techniques, you can easily imagine to what extent Ukrainian authorities have lost their credibility with the nation. It was primarily the "if-THEY-hate-this-man-so-much-then-he-must-be-right" logic that has given the Ukrainian revolution its orange color.
The "harsh scenario" implemented by the authorities for the second round leaves little room for hope that the elections will be everything but fair. A week ago, in the long-awaited live TV debate between the "two Viktors," Yanukovych addressed Yushchenko with a statement sounding