Another year has flown by and the seventh anniversary of the epoch-making Euromaidan that evolved into the Revolution of Dignityand ended Viktor Yanukovych’s presidency are upon us.
Once again, we commemorate the martyrs and heroes of that popular democratic uprising against a corrupt kleptocracy seeking to keep Ukraine a hostage of Vladimir Putin’s oriental despotism euphemistically titled Eurasia. And to prevent the country’s long-delayed return to the family of European nations.
Sadly, however, this is once again an occasion not only to remember all that was worthy, promising and so inspiring in that battle for the assertion of basic European civilizational values, but also to reflect on, and acknowledge, that that mighty struggle for freedom has not produced the thorough-going transformation and political maturation that it stood for.
I do not want to cast doubt on what the Revolution of Dignity represented and, in any way, belittle the sacrifices that were made in its name. But looking back over the last seven years a real sense of disappointment, frustration and, and yes, anger creeps in considering how far short of the those proclaimed ideals we have fallen.
And how half-hearted and inconsistent have been the response of those at who came to power pledging to honor and deliver. Opportunities have been squandered, in some cases avoided, and the nation, and I would venture to say Ukraine’s partners also, let down.
In this very real sense, notwithstanding Ukraine’s having drawn closer to Europe and its assertion of its self-identification with EuroAtlantic structures, the Revolution has nevertheless been betrayed.
And this not the first time this has happened in modern Ukrainian history. The brave and far-sighted young students who organized the first “Maidan” – the so-called Revolution on Granite, way back in October 1990 – certainly felt they had reason to feel they had been let down by their “elders” from both communist and democratic camps by not following through with a more decisive break from Soviet practices when independence was eventually achieved in 1991.
And the fate of the Orange Revolution from late November 2004 to January 2005? It captured the world’s attention and elevated Ukraine to the top ranks of countries committed to ensuring a transition to genuine democracy and sovereignty.
Yet, the disappointment that followed when the embodiment of that democratic hope, president Viktor Yushchenko, failed to consolidate the gains made has most recently been replicated by a successor – Petro Poroshenko.
What is it about Ukrainians that they can rise to such heights of heroism and sacrifice in the name of the highest ideals, and then tolerate that all the energy, belief and heroism be misused, or rather hijacked and betrayed?
We would possibly have had some answers if we knew the truth about what actually occurred in and around the Maidan on those terrible, bloody, days, seven years ago. Those who gave their lives for a democratic Ukraine did so in good, perhaps naïve, faith, believing that they were supported by all freedom-loving Ukrainians.
Yet, ominously, Poroshenko and his associates clearly had no interest in the facts being unveiled and understandably, their role becomes murkier as the years flash by. What is there to conceal?
A year ago, I expressed the hope that the new administration of President Volodymyr Zelensky, and his new prosecutor general, would give new impetus to the investigations. A year later – nothing! Only promises that by the end of this year perhaps some additional information might emerge! Why?
What is going on? Who is covering up for whom? And how much longer can all this be tolerated? Letting us know the truth about why we have a “Heavenly Hundred” of martyrs killed or beaten to death in Kyiv from seven years ago, is not only a duty and responsibility of the Ukrainian authorities, past and present, but also a litmus test of openness and sense of responsibility before those who voted officials into power.
It was good to see that finally seven years later, on 17 February, the Ukrainian parliament adopted by an overwhelming majority – 295 votes of the 361 who could have voted that day, a decree highlighting the significance of the Revolution of Dignity.
It also demonstrated who is who. The entire “Opposition Bloc – For Life” voted against or abstained, including those notorious political “fifth columnists,” Messrs. Viktor Medvechuk, Yuriy Boyko, Vadim Rabinovych, and Nestor Shufrich, while Maksym Buzhansky, embarrassed Zelenskyy’s Servant of the People party by being the only one from within it to also vote against.
One of the representatives of Moscow’s “fifth column” in Ukraine, the notorious Shufrich (he’s de facto their main spokesman on TV) voted in the Ukrainian parliament along with his partners Medvechuk, Rabinovych, Boyko, Buzhansky and others on Feb. 17against honoring the EuroMaidan as an important historic political-nation- building event in Ukraine’s history.
That very same evening he was a guest on the self-styled “super-patriotic.” Pryamiy channel belonging to the equally self-proclaimed “super-patriotic” oligarch Poroshenko. Political cynicism cuts both ways and apparently has no limits.
So yes, this a time to be proud of what the Maidan and Revolution of Dignity, and for that matter the Orange Revolution, have come to mean in modern Ukrainian history. And not only for Ukraine. They have served as symbols, as beacons of hope and inspiration, for others seeking to throw of tyranny and to move in an enlightened and liberating direction.
Today, it is neighboring Belarus that the battle for democracy and freedom is raging. This is their protracted “Maidan,” albeit having assumed different forms. Where is that strong support from Maidan-hardened and to some extent re-formed Ukraine? What lessons learned should we be sharing with our comrades, in their case, without arms of any sort?
Unfortunately, given enduring the oligarchic set-up, corruption, lack of an independent and trusted judiciary, absence of real political parties representing ideologies and programs and not merely hidden paymasters, megalomanic populists, and fifth columnists, the Ukrainian experience serves also as a warning and lesson to be heeded.
A revolution is not a revolution if only the banners and some of the leaders are changed, but the system, closed mindsets, and cynical practices masquerading as democratic, remain. The cleansing and renewal need to be far-reaching and not merely superficial serving the interests of political victors and beneficiaries.
So, in these days, when we remember the fallen heroes of Ukraine’s various recent – let’s call them blue and yellow revolutions –and how many times at those stages the words ”Never again” were uttered and real change seemed attainable.
The revolution may have been betrayed, but the battle for real change continues. We cannot, and should not, accept defeat. We owe it not only to the martyrs, but ourselves, and those we have sought to inspire and embolden.
