The sudden turn towards violence that claimed at least two lives in Kyiv on Wednesday and recast a simmering two-month stand-off between the Ukrainian government and opposition protesters was evident this week in a 24-year-old electrician.
In December, Vitaly left his home in the Sumy region in northeast Ukraine to join thousands in Kyiv protesting at the government’s abrupt departure from a long-planned political agreement with the EU to forge closer ties with Russia instead. Once there, he camped on Independence Square and supported an impromptu catering crew.
This week, Vitaly had the look of a warrior. He was clad in a helmet and camouflage gear and wielding a club as he took a pause from pitched battles with security forces on Hrushevskoho Street near Ukraine’s parliament.
The trigger, he said, were Russian-inspired laws pushed through late last week by President Viktor Yanukovych that place tough restrictions on all manner of anti-government protests.
“According to their oppressive laws, I now face 15 years in prison and so I have no way back,” Vitaly said. “People have risen up because we’ve had enough after standing here peacefully for two months with Yanukovych totally ignoring us. We will take him down, or die in the process.”
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