As the Verkhovna Rada’s last session this year is set to close on Dec. 20, the protest mood is back in Kyiv, and the political situation appears to be escalating.
Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets over various issues: the prospect of agricultural land sales, relations with Russia, the National Bank of Ukraine and other issues.
“The upsurge in political activity is linked to the fact that it is the Rada’s last session before the winter holidays,” political analyst Volodymyr Fesenko said.
The demonstrations are fueled by billionaire oligarch Igor Kolomoisky, as well as by populist and nationalist politicians.
So far, the protests do not seem to pose a serious threat to President Volodymyr Zelensky’s administration.
However, he faces serious challenges next year as he needs to tackle some of the most controversial issues in Ukraine.
Land reform protests
In November the Rada passed the first reading of a bill to cancel the ban on agricultural land sales starting from Oct. 1, 2020. Currently, the bill is being considered in the second reading.
The lifting of the ban is highly unpopular among much of Ukraine’s population, with populist politicians mobilizing their supporters to oppose the legislation.
Protests against the bill have been organized by ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and two nationalist groups – Svoboda and the National Corps, which is tied to Interior Minister Arsen Avakov.
On Dec. 17, thousands protested against the land reform in front of the Verkhovna Rada, and some of them clashed with the police. As a result, 26 protesters were arrested, and 17 police officers and at least two demonstrators were injured.
The protesters attempted to install tents and block traffic, and some of them were beaten by the police.
“The National Corps wants to show how cool they are and they target extremist methods,” Fesenko said.
Stance on Russia
Another protest group, the Movement of Resistance to Capitulation, has been run mostly by supporters of ex-President Petro Poroshenko. Thousands of demonstrators have protested since last summer against what they view as Zelensky’s soft stance on Russia.
The latest protest organized by the movement took place on Dec. 8 ahead of Zelensky’s meeting with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron on the next day. They demanded that Zelensky defend Ukraine’s interests during negotiations over Russia’s war against Ukraine.
However, no concessions to Russia were announced as a result of the summit, and this movement has subsided for the time being.
National bank protests
Hundreds of protesters have also gathered in recent weeks in front of the National Bank of Ukraine to protest against the alleged corruption of the bank’s leadership and demand its resignation. On Nov. 25, protesters tried to storm the bank’s building.
Yakiy Smoliy, head of the National Bank of Ukraine, has accused Kolomoisky of organizing the protests.
The NBU said the oligarch paid the protesters to “create informational chaos” and to pressure the central bank to derail Ukraine’s negotiations with the International Monetary Fund and to avoid responsibility for leading the country’s largest bank PrivatBank to bankruptcy.
The Ukrainian government nationalized Kolomoisky’s PrivatBank after it was found to have an over $5.5 billion hole in its ledger. That money was allegedly extracted by Kolomoisky and his business partner Gennadiy Bogolyubov using fraudulent schemes. Kolomoisky denies the accusations of wrongdoing, and several parallel legal cases over the bank are currently ongoing in Ukrainian and London courts.
Despite many of the protesters in front of the National Bank of Ukraine being workers of the Nikopol Ferroalloy Plant owned by Kolomoisky, the oligarch himself denies any involvement in organizing the rallies.
Sheremet case
Another issue that has triggered a backlash is the Dec. 13 arrest by the police of several suspects in the murder of Belarusian journalist Pavel Sheremet in Kyiv on July 20, 2016. Surgeon Yulia Kuzmenko, musician Andriy Antonenko and medic Yana Dugar were charged with the murder.
The evidence in the case was dismissed as extremely weak by Avakov’s critics, and some veterans of the war with Russia and volunteers helping the army supported the army. Some of the suspects’ supporters protested during court hearings on their arrest and threatened journalists and prosecutors.
Despite the diverse reasons for protests, Zelensky’s position appears to be stable so far.
“The opposition is divided,” Fesenko said. “The situation will change only if (those protesting against a soft stance on Russia) and opponents of land reform unite. But this is not happening yet.”
