Unrest overseas causes local grief
Ukrainian people urgently want change in their troubled country, says a Saskatoon woman who now lives in Kiev.
Lana Nicole Kubin, who moved to Ukraine a decade ago and is now the editorin-chief of an English-language lifestyle magazine there, spends every free evening gathering with protesters camped in a public square in Kiev.
What started as a political protest became personal in November when Ukrainian special forces beat peaceful protesters to send an intimidating message, Kubin said.
“It was a call to action, really.”
Thousands of protesters multiplied into hundreds of thousands, she said.
“It was no longer about a move toward Europe or Russia anymore.
“It was a protest now against a government that is totally and completely corrupt in every way, shape and form.”
Two months later, a permanent encampment of several thousand people cook borscht and buckwheat meal in makeshift kitchens, watching bands and speakers take to a stage around the clock.
They want President Viktor Yanukovych to resign, Kubin said.
Many Ukrainians were already disenchanted with the government when Yanukovych backed out of a trade deal with the European Union and struck a deal with Russia instead.
Danylo Puderak, executive director for the Ukrainian Canadian Congress’s Saskatchewan provincial council said that move was the straw that broke the camel’s back, prompting the protests.
The tactics the government used to retaliate against those protests are troubling, Puderak said. He objects to the use of secret service and interior ministry troops to counter the protesters, and “hoodlums” the government has sent to clash with protesters to disrupt the peaceful movement.
When news broke on Tuesday that Ukraine’s Prime Minister had stepped down and the government had rescinded some anti-protest laws it was too little, too late, Puderak said.
“These guys don’t seem to get it.”
Since the Soviet Union dissolved in 1990, Ukrainians have tried to establish a democratic state, he said. The protesters also want constitutional reforms that may reduce the president’s power, or possibly introduce a parliamentary government structure more in line with other European countries, he said.
The congress has called on the Canadian government to show its disapproval by sanctioning Ukraine.
Immigration Minister Chris Alexander said senior Ukrainian officials will be barred from Canada as a response to the continuing crackdown on protests.
Two weeks ago, the government put 11 new rules in place for protesters that Kubin calls “ridiculous,” including disallowing helmets or face covers, a law against collecting any information on police or judges, and a rule prohibiting convoys of more than five cars to drive together.
On Tuesday, the government repealed nine of those 11 laws, which is a good first step, Kubin said.
Although the next general election in Ukraine should be in 2015, the opposition is pushing for an earlier date.
Saskatoon people with connections to Ukraine yearn for a peaceful resolution.
Sister Theodosia of the Ukrainian Sisters of St. Joseph and another sister have just returned from a two-week trip to Ukraine to support the protesters.
They visited the so-called maidan encampment in Kiev, and more modest maidan protest camps in some of the country’s smaller cities.
“It’s quite a sight to see,” she said, adding supporters are bringing food and supplies to the protesters so they do not have to cede their ground. Some protesters have also taken over government buildings.
Now that they’re back in Saskatoon, the sisters have pledged to hold a nightly prayer service at their monastery until the unrest comes to a peaceful conclusion. After the service, they have a fellowship meeting where they share the day’s news from Ukraine, the sister said.
Many of the people who come are recent immigrants from Ukraine who are worried about friends and family there.
“They find it comforting to be watching (the news) with somebody else,” she said.