Ukraine’s mobilized civil society

Friday April 24, I am excited and curious to set foot in the Maidan, the Independence square, that has played such a big role in the February 2014 revolution that ousted corrupt Ukrainian president Yanukovych. The first thing I see when entering the square is a small crowd in front of the independence monument in the middle of the Maidan, bearing mostly Ukrainian blue and yellow flags, but also Georgian flags. It turns out this is a funeral ceremony for Georgian soldier Georgy Djanelidze, 41, who was killed in Eastern Ukraine. Soldiers carry solemnly the open casket. A large scar can be seen on the face of the dead soldier, likely the result of the deadly wound that ended his life. To the left of the independence monument, Institutskaya street is bordered by a low wall that has become a shrine to the “Nebesna sotnya” or heavenly hundred who were killed by snipers in the last days of the Euromaidan. Pictures of the victims, mostly young men and women, border the wall illuminated by red candles.