Editor’s note: Several opposition parties started a mass protest near the Verkhovna Rada building on Oct. 18, demanding reforms.
Hanna Solomatina
lawyer
“My colleagues and I quit our jobs at the National Agency for Prevention of Corruption because its member Oleksandr Skopych and chief Nataliia Korchak are corrupt officials who spoiled the structure. I’m not afraid to say that. That is why I’m joining the protest taking place near the Verkhovna Rada. We don’t want to work with corrupt authorities.”
Serhii Lukash
sales manager
“When I worked as a computer specialist, I organized a protest against the employer because the workers didn’t get salaries on time. As for public movements, I do not participate in them and don’t believe they can change anything.”
Nadiia Komendiak
retiree
“I believe the protests are necessary to change something. Corruption has to be eliminated. How else can people do that except for protest? Sitting at home and keeping silent is not the way out.
Valentyna Horyk
babysitter
“No protest — no changes. People have to express their opinion. The unfairness can make me join the protest.”
Maksym Krasionov
IT specialist
“Protests may change the society, but only when the generations change and the post-Soviet mentality is gone … The problem is that the effect of a protest lasts for approximately half a year. Then we forget everything and start fighting anew.”
Liliia Savenko
project coordinator
“I believe that protests can make a change. Something extremely critical like suppression of free speech can make me join a protest.”
