UKR-TAZ

From Daniel Bilak’s “On the Maidan: The Birth of a Real Ukrainian Civil Society.” Bilak is a Canadian international lawyer based in Kiev and a former UNDP senior governance advisor to the Government of Ukraine.

“Unlike those on the Maidan, no one is prepared to die for the regime of Viktor Yanukovych regime. There will not be a civil war; claims to the contrary are attempts by eastern and Crimean political and economic elites to manipulate the situation to preserve their wealth and local feudal power. Most Ukrainians see this as a war between a dictatorial president and his people. [. . .]

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From Imagine Yourself Ukrainian (Imaginez-vous Ukrainien), by author and sociologist Anna Colin Lebedev, an article that conveys a good feel for the everyday life of an average Ukrainian citizen:

“Imagine an absolutely ordinary life in a country whose people have endured deep crises for many generations. These crises happen so often that the people have somehow learned to live with them. Crisis or not, life is for living. [. . .]

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These radiant scenes of nonviolent revolution took place just four days ago, on February 16. Now there are riot police gunning people down, dead bodies and blood, a downtown that looks like a war zone. Watching videos from Kyiv today can be a horrifying experience.

The article by Volodymyr Viatrovych, referred to in the previous post, can be read in English here.

Historian Timothy Snyder, author of Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin and The Reconstruction of Nations: Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus, 1569-1999:

“Since late November, millions of Ukrainians have campaigned for a pro-European course, only to find themselves branded extremists, foreign agents and criminals. With the Russian money came the Russian model of rule. Yanukovych had the Parliament illegally “pass” legislation that made Ukraine a dictatorship on Jan. 16.

“The new laws were imitations of Russian ones. But Ukraine is not Russia. [. . .]

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