Kiev: Government Buildings Under Siege

Arutz Sheva ^ | 3/12/13 | Gil Ronen

[Eleutheria5]

Thousands of demonstrators besieged government buildings in Kiev Tuesday, rallying against President Viktor Yanukovich's decision to abandon a long-awaited deal for closer ties with the EU.

A group of protesters tried to storm Yanukovich's office and police chased protesters away with tear-gas and truncheons, injuring dozens. “The blockade is severely disrupting the process of government here," said a reporter for Al Jazeera in Kiev. "Essentially, President Yanukovich has lost control of the center of Kiev." The Guardian reported that police had “deserted the center of the city, while thousands of people blocked entrances to government buildings and gathered again on Independence Square.”

At least three politicians from the governing Party of Regions have quit in protest and one of them, Inna Bohoslovska, previously a vocal government supporter, called on other legislators to leave the party. A top Agriculture Ministry official also resigned on Monday.

The opposition hopes to topple the cabinet of Prime Minister Mykola Azarov during a confidence vote in parliament on Tuesday. It would need 226 votes in the 450-seat Rada, but presently controls about 170 seats.

Yanukovych reached out to the European Union on Monday requesting new talks, but the EU told him that the sweeping trade deal he refused to sign last week after six years of talks wasn't open for renegotiation—and warned him against using force to disperse the crowds in Kiev's main square.

Video of police brutality http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEC4ccWXuBE#t=50

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[annalex]

Well, I chose the three photos with violent scenes, perhaps foolishly. The correspondent writes:

In Kiev it is indeed a revolution now. The city is taken by the opposition. There are no indifferent, and there are no representatives of the opposition. I am trying to explain. This looks more like a big national holiday. Imagine as if Russia won a world soccer championship. everyone comes out to celebrate! Even those who never viewed soccer before is happy with the rest. The cars toot their horns, people run around tiown with flags, greet one another and hug. So this is the atmosphere today in Kiev. There is euphoria, joy and anticipation of victory. It is very cool. One feels that the walls are coming down, that for sure tomorrow will be better than today, even everyone knows it is but the beginning.

If a week ago people were divided into those who wanted Europe and to those who is closer to Russia, then today no one is thinking about that at all. If before the main slogan was "Ukraine, that's Europe", then now: "Criminal out! Criminal out! Re-vo-lution!" The "criminal" is Yanukovitch. He had several convictions so they tease him "criminal". People are really united against the acting power. The reason was the dispersal of peaceful protesters.

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My Link 1 at the top

This has been a test of Ukrainian nationhood and I think they are passing the test.

[Bigg Red]

What do you see as the ultimate outcome? So, is it that they just want to get rid of the corrupt guy and joining the EU is just a peripheral issue? Do you see Putin getting aggressive?

[cornelis]

Thanks for the ping!

[annalex]

The ultimate outcome that I am sure about is that Ukraine has developed as a sovereign nation, that will in the foreseeable future trend Westerly. Russian Federation can now write off any idea of a voluntary re-union with Ukraine and is more firmly trending toward Asia where it sees itself as an important player. Further, Putin’s USSR 2.0 will be more clearly seen as an anti-Russian political fiction, that can only survive till the Russian nation regains its nationhood. Unfortunately, the mood in RF is ugly as even the opposition continues to see Ukraine as some kind of possession. That bodes ill to the revival of nationalist Russia, which can only survive if it overcomes its Soviet impulses.

The EU does not want Ukraine as a full member; they are too big and too socially conservative. Nor is that of paramount importance for the Ukrainian people; they would much rather get European trade without European bureaucracy.

It is possible that Eastern Ukraine — the Donetsk Basin and Crimea, — will separate and maybe join the RF. A war in unlikely; a little show of force in the style of South Ossetia exercise of 2008 is possible. The outcome for these regions is unclear.

[cornelis]

Very interesting. They say Yanukovich is in China, confident in a secure Kiev!

[annalex]

That could be; clearly the demonstrators do not have an option of force. But the deed has been done: the government is dead.

[Bigg Red]

Okay. Thanks for your analysis.

May God protect the Ukrainian people. They surely have suffered in the past.

[annalex]

Amen.