If We Burn by Vincent Bevins

Author:Vincent Bevins [Bevins, Vincent]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Published: 2023-10-03T00:00:00+00:00

THE LOSS OF CRIMEA MADE it even easier for officials in the post-Maidan government to write off the entire anti-Maidan movement as separatist, or a proxy for Russia. This was not true, but now everyone in the country experienced a sudden and unexpected loss. The new central government and its supporters felt they had been robbed of Crimea, while many blue citizens felt their pluralist vision of the country was being ripped away from them. Such universal resentment is very dangerous. Anti-Maidan protests took place in cities like Odessa and Kharkiv throughout March.

In early April, protesters seized local government buildings in three cities. With the added specter of machinations in Moscow, this was the same tactic used weeks earlier in Western Ukraine. New Minister of Internal Affairs Arsen Avakov declared on his Facebook page that the government would crack down on this kind of contention.55 In the eastern Donbas region, the anti-Maidan movement gave rise to ramshackle volunteer forces, which had a significant degree of public support. Most locals there thought a “coup” had taken place, and many said they feared violent attacks from the right-wing extremists.56 In April, many residents still hoped for a peaceful resolution within the context of Ukrainian law. Most people in this region, formerly the economic powerhouse of the country, had no separatist pretensions to speak of at the beginning of the year.57 Most people wanted to stay in Ukraine. But when Russian nationalist Igor “Shooter” Strelkov appeared in the region, leading a commando unit of foreign combat veterans, its fate appeared to be sealed.58 This was not going to be resolved among Ukrainian brothers and sisters. The government launched the anti-terrorist operation (ATO), with the support of the United States.59

We were very far from the digital world that Western leaders had envisaged just a few years prior. Bad things were happening all around, and raising awareness was very far from sufficient to stop them.

In Kharkiv, anti-Maidan protesters were quickly arrested. But in the breezy coastal city of Odessa, protests continued into the end of April. Then, on May 2, pro-Maidan football ultras descended on the city (it was match day) and clashed with anti-Maidan protesters. Led by Right Sector (Andriy Parubiy was in the city), the hooligans drove the anti-Maidan demonstrators into the Soviet-era trade union building. Molotov cocktails hurled into the building set it on fire. Some of those who tried to escape were beaten with clubs and knives. The rest burned inside. Nearly fifty people died, and Right Sector leaders declared it “another bright day in our national history.” The anti-Maidan movement in Odessa shrank into the shadows in fear as far-right squads continued to threaten those perceived to be leftist or pro-Russian.60

The post-Maidan governments conducted trials and investigations into what really happened on February 20, the day of the “sniper’s massacre.” They have not been completed.61 In 2014, a survey painted a picture of which types of Ukrainians said they participated in the Maidan uprising. Protesters were older than those in Egypt or Tunisia (most were over forty), and a majority had taken part in the Orange Revolution.

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