Euromaidan, or the Revolution of Dignity, is the prehistory of the Great War. Civil protests under the flags of Ukraine and the EU turned into a struggle for democracy and the opportunity to vote with incendiary mixtures and cobblestones in their hands. The dead protesters of the Heavenly Hundred became the first victims of the Russian-Ukrainian war. Ten years have passed since then, and Ukraine still continues to pay a high price for European values.
At the beginning of the revolutionary events, the Kremlin was interested in intensifying the internal confrontation in order to restore its influence in Ukraine. During the Revolution of Dignity, Russian propaganda spread the narrative: in Ukraine there was a “civil war”, a coup d'état took place through the rebellion of right-wing radicals and pro-Western politicians came to power.
Photodocumentarian Roman Pylypiy, who filmed the events of Euromaidan, then fixed in hisInstagram:
“Ukrainians, holding mobile phones with their flashlights on, sing the National Anthem during the celebration of the new year 2014 in the tent camp of pro-European supporters on Maidan Nezalezhnosti in Kyiv.”
However, pro-Kremlin forces staged provocations on the Maidan in order to discredit the protesters. Propaganda media covered Euromaidan, distorting the context of events, distorting the facts, casting protesters as criminals. Russia disseminated fake materials about Euromaidan, illustrating them with photos of Ukrainian photojournalists who captured the confrontation at the very epicenter of events.
According to Russian propaganda, the primary mistake that “led to a political crisis and civil war” was “the desire of Ukrainians to join the EU”. The Ukrainian “hopelessly corrupt” authorities failed to unite society with the help of Euromaidan technologies, which were also used by “Western structures”. “That is why the country did not follow a peaceful path of development.” The biggest mistakes of the new government, according to propagandists, were to ignore the interests of nuclear Russia and repeal the law on regional languages.
“If the post-Maidan government tried to unite the country, rather than divide and rule, it is quite possible that Ukraine would not fall apart, as it does now, and would not threaten Russia.” Alexey Tokarev, leading employee of IMD MGIMV. (“Lenta.ru”)
Russian propagandists call the Revolution of Dignity a “revolution of false hopes.” Accession to the EU is presented only “as a way to raise the standard of living of Ukrainians”, but in reality, European integration was needed only by the oligarchy. Due to the rupture of economic ties with Russia, industry was destroyed, European markets did not open, - continues the insinuation of “Lenta.ru”.
The propaganda convinces that Yanukovych was not a pro-Russian politician, but was in favor of joining the EU and wanted to balance between Europe and Russia, thus obtaining benefits. According to the same “Lenta.ru”, Yanukovych was a “short-sighted politician”, because he realized too late that joining the EU threatens Ukraine with the collapse of the economy and the destruction of industry. In addition, he was unable to “suppress protest activity instigated from the outside.”
The “European Dream” has become the framework of Ukraine's socio-political consciousness, rigidly fixing for the country only one path — the break with Russia. In 10 years, he has given the country only a sea of blood and tears. (“Lenta.ru”)
Russia mirrored its own plans to launch military aggression against Ukraine, attributing to the West a desire to create tension on Russia's borders. Everyone forgives Ukraine, they say, because the main goal of the West is to prepare for a conflict with Russia. Whatever the Ukrainian authorities do, in the European Union the country has always been called “democratic and European” (“Lenta.ru”).
But here's how describes Radio journalist Nataliya Sokolenko in the article “Radio Svoboda” during Euromaidan. In the early days of the revolution, she was the voice of Euromaidan and was engaged in promoting accession to the EU:
“[...] It was very easy for me because in the “UA Center” I was involved in the promotion of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU. And I didn't just say that we need to go to Europe! No, I told and showed infographics about our prospects from the signing of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU, and about the prospects of the Customs Union. At the same time, Medvedchuk and the Communists pushed us into the Customs Union. And I compared, gave arguments, how customs policy will change, how prices for products will change, what access our entrepreneurs will get to the European market, and so on.
And then, when the Maidan grew, I came up with another function: I collected newspapers distributed by the Medvedchuk and other pro-Russian figures, read and refuted their theses, explained where they lied. That's how she worked as a voice on the Maidan.”
Euromaidan is primarily about the people — the protagonists of those historical events, and those who saw the revolution through the lens.
Because of the provocateurs who probably operated on the Maidan, the propaganda hoped to devalue the struggle of Ukrainians.
About one of the episodes with the participation of provocateurs of the publication “LB.ua” military photographer Anatoly Stepanov told. On February 18, 2014, he filmed the revolutionary events on the roof of a house at the intersection of Institutskaya and Sadova streets in Kiev:
“I took a little picture, but then the boys ripped me out of there. Someone on the back is a “clap”, I turn around - guys in black overalls without signs. I already thought that I would be thrown from above, but I got around it — we looked at my ID and we went down together. By that moment, he managed to record how a man, allegedly a protester, threw bottles of the mixture at the BB guns. One of those bottles crashed on the shields of the BB guns. A massacre began, after a while I saw how the militiamen took the same protester to themselves and let him wash. When this man saw that he was being filmed, he shouted: “Camera! Camera!” and put on a mask. Then the same militiamen took the man aside while Berkut beat the other protesters to blood and put them in a locked bus [...]”
Student beatings, attempts to suppress protests, dictatorial laws, abductions of activists, repression and mass executions of people on Institutskaya Street intensified the protesters' protest anger.
Russian propagandists portrayed the shootings of peaceful protesters on Euromaidan as clashes between armed bandits-radicals and law enforcement agencies. “Lenta.ru” assures that “columns of protesters unexpectedly went to seize government buildings, from where, according to the agreements, security forces were withdrawn.” Lenti.ru experts, Russian and Ukrainian political scientists and propagandists, point to the payment of Maidan, for participation in which Yanukovych should be punished.
“No one will be able to drive this genie back. We brought this whole gang to power ourselves and destroyed the country with our own hands.” (“Lenta.ru”)
The facts not established by the investigation, the theft of evidence, the absence of perpetrators of crimes contributed to the emergence of conspiracy theories, which only reinforced pro-Russian narratives. At the same time, hostile propaganda tried to create “the right picture about the terrible Banderas” to intimidate Ukrainians in the south and east.
How tells Social News, Professor Yevhen Bystrytskyi noted on Ukrainian Radio that Maidan from the beginning was declared as a non-political public action of pro-European and pro-Ukrainian direction.
At the same time, Bystrytsky noted, that there was no radical nationalism on the Maidan. Referring to a poll conducted by the Democratic Initiatives Foundation, he said that the Maidan was mostly spoken in Ukrainian, “although obviously Russian was also heard there, and no one paid attention to it at the time, because everyone was fighting for freedom.” “This freedom was aimed not only at modern democratic values and the formation of such institutions in Ukraine, it was aimed at the fact that we should defend ourselves as Ukraine,” he writes Social News.
Ukrainian photojournalist, author of the project Aftermath VR: Euromaidan Alexei Furman yes signed Your Instagram photo:
“On February 18, special forces confronted protesters from Institutskaya and ran after them down the street, setting fire to the Trade Union House, which was the protesters' headquarters, and several of their tents. This photo is from 11:30 a.m. on February 19, the day of the most intense confrontation in the three-month revolution, since Berkut was so close that many believed it was the end.”
Representatives of the security agencies assure that their task was to destroy the snipers who allegedly shot at the protesters and the police. I must say that the heads of the law enforcement agencies under Yanukovych were appointed citizens of the Russian Federation.
“American specialists from the studio SITU Research and Carnegie Mellon University's Human Rights Research Center created a virtual reconstruction of the Maidan shootings on February 20, 2014, using three-dimensional visual effects technology. The study made it possible to establish the sector from which the shelling was carried out towards the protesters — the killers from “Berkut” were sitting behind a barricade on Instytutska Street, as the official investigation established”, tellsZbruch edition.
For the freedom of Ukraine during the Revolution of Dignity, 107 of its participants died, among them three women, and the youngest participant was 17 years old. Most died from gunshot wounds to the head, neck, chest, and from intentional bodily injuries incompatible with life.
Alexey Furman specifically for “Up.Life” spoke about his February 20, 2014:
“[...] We run out of “Ukraine”. We begin to shoot from the observation deck above the “Globe” just when the “Black Rota” leaves from under Oktobernovoy.
If something was clear, it was that the security forces began to use battle cartridges — there was a completely different sound of shots.
Remove near the glass cone.
Someone is being carried down Institutskaya — now I know that it was the mortally wounded Andriy Dygdalovych.
Under the balls we run over a pedestrian bridge. Trails and stairs carry the wounded down to the Maidan.
We go to Zhovtnevy together with the first Maydanovites. For some time we shoot near Zhovtneve, and then we return to the hotel.
In the hour or so that we were gone, the lobby of the hotel turned into a field hospital - here they provided assistance to the wounded. What happened at Institutskaya that morning was an unprecedented tragedy for independent Ukraine. At people in whose hands were wooden sticks and thin metal shields, Kalashnikov's machine guns were shot. It happened in the center of Kiev. There are tens of thousands of photos and thousands of gigabytes of video [...]”
Photographer Vyacheslav Ratinsky has been shooting the Revolution of Dignity every day since November 21, 2013 for three months. He saw many examples of human resilience and courage in extreme circumstances:
“I didn't sleep for two or three days.. But still he quickly got up and went back to the Maidan. I saw the bodies of the dead being lowered. In addition to the tragedy itself, he was shocked by the actions of the protesters. They did not disperse — on the contrary: they built new barricades, rallied even more. Everyone had a job. For example, I have a shot with a man who simply takes ash from the asphalt — sweeps the Maidan, because he cannot stand idly by,” Ratinsky told about the first day of the execution of the Heavenly Hundred for UAPP.
The security forces also committed violence against media workers who were not direct participants in the protests. “Berkut” harshly prevented coverage of the events of the revolution, despite the distinctive signs of the media workers.
“[...] We have never actually seen the Maidan For the “Golden Eagle” to beat the press, we had no fear. The photojournalist should always shoot. He has no right to stand aside when this happens in his country. I did not believe at first that this “Riga” system could be broken, but that unification of people inspired. It's like burning all the bridges behind you and starting to build anew,” Anatoly Stepanov shared from “LB.ua”.
In clashes with law enforcement officers, Vyacheslav Ratinsky was wounded twice. He told UAPP about this experience:
“Somehow a light-noise grenade exploded in my legs, and a little later cut his nose with a piece of rubber ball. Then there were clashes at the corner of Shovkovichna and Institutskaya, and I climbed onto the balcony of an apartment building to see the full picture and shoot from above. When there was dandruff in my nose, I remember that normally I was so scared. Still, it was very close to the eyes. Although, of course, compared to the injuries suffered by the activists on the same day, my scratches are nothing.”
Institute of Mass Information published then list media workers injured in Euromaidan, according to which 206 media workers were injured and two died.
Among the photojournalists mentioned in this list: Roman Pylypiy — injured during clashes from bricks thrown by protesters; Oleksandr Ratushnyak — bullet pierced his leg; Anatoly Stepanov — bullfighters smashed their heads with batons and broke their heads hand. Maxim Dondyuk and Mstislav Chernov were wounded by the explosion of a light noise grenade. Chernov was attacked several times by security forces, causing bodily harm.
“Georgian snipers” on the Maidan
February 14, propaganda agency “RIA Novosti” published interviews with Georgian citizens who allegedly confessed that it was they who shot protesters on the Maidan in February 2014. They say that the “Georgian snipers” were brought in by the efforts of former Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili's adviser Mamuka Mamoulashvili, who now heads the Georgian National Legion fighting in the Donetsk direction.
Arriving in Kyiv even before the new year 2014, Georgians say they first performed the functions of police officers: they monitored order, identified provocateurs.
According to the propaganda publication “Lenta.ru”, the “special task” of the “Georgian snipers” was “to create chaos on the Maidan, using weapons on all targets, protesters and policemen — without distinction.” In Ukraine, they allegedly collaborated with opposition forces, who “together with mercenaries fired” on protesters. At the same time, the briefing was conducted by a former American military man. They shot from the Tchaikovsky Music Academy and the hotel “Ukraine”. (“Lenta.ru”)
“That day Revazishvili went to the Maidan and saw that people were very angry. Some thought he was shooting the Golden Eagle. Others, on the other hand, thought that the protesters had opened fire,” he says. (“Lenta.ru”)
“Lenta.ru” claims that this is not the only version about the “Georgian footprint” on the Maidan.
In 2017, a fake Italian film “Ukraine was released. Hidden truths” about the events on the Maidan and “Georgian snipers”. For many years, lawyers of Yanukovych and the Berkutivs held this version.
In turn, the edition “Babel” notifies that there are many discrepancies in the stories of the “Georgian snipers” to the Italian director. The border service of Ukraine reported that in January 2014 the mentioned Georgians did not cross the border. Mamuka Mamulashvili denied being acquainted with the “Georgian snipers” who called him a curator. The results of the investigation did not confirm the existence of these “snipers”. Not a single protester was killed or injured from the Ukraina Hotel and the conservatory building.
The protest spirit of the revolution of that historic winter pervaded the whole country. Despite existing stereotypes, residents of Donetsk and Luhansk massively participated in the protests, advocating European integration. When the protests in Kiev went into decline, in Donetsk everything was just beginning.
Despite this propaganda, Euromaidan calls the beginning of a split in society. In the east and south of Ukraine, propagandists spread the narrative that Ukraine is only for Ukrainians and those who communicate exclusively in Ukrainian.
They say, the new government has clearly shown: if we do not like something, we will seize the administrative buildings. If this is possible in Lviv, then why not in Donetsk and Luhansk. The pogroms of administrative buildings and the seizure of arms, which took place on February 18-19 in western Ukraine and went down in history as a “night of rage”, were manipulated to create even more tension in the Maidan and intimidate protesters from the east by Banderas.
“Of course, people in the southeastern regions also saw that the country is gradually sliding into the Makhnovsk region. That Viktor Yanukovych has fled, and the power in the country is seized by people who want to deprive them of their language.” (“Lenta.ru”)
Thanks to such messages, the image of “Ukrainians who want to separate from Ukraine” was created. The paid anti-Maidan propaganda was presented as “the struggle of the Russian population of southeastern Ukraine and the Crimean peninsula for their rights”, which the illegitimate authorities are trying to suppress by military means. So Russia disguised military aggression as a civil war.
“This is a major civil war involving foreign players. But I can't say for sure that this is a conflict of two nations. Because on both sides they speak the same language, in Russian.” (“Lenta.ru”)
Euromaidanets in Donetsk immediately faced harassment from pro-Russian political forces. And the Donetsians could not resist on their own, without the support of the authorities, for a long time.
Viktor Yanukovych, who fled Kiev via Crimea to Russia on February 21, asked Putin to introduce Russian troops into Ukraine to “restore peace”.
“Why did these people not fight for the right to speak Russian in the territories controlled by Ukraine?
You know, the volume of Alexander Pushkin and the dictionary of Ditmar Rosenthal is very difficult to fight with the “U-point”.
It is no longer a question of what language to live in, it is a question of what language to die in.” (“Lenta.ru”)
During the anti-terrorist operation in eastern Ukraine, the Kremlin created a false picture that the Armed Forces were shelling civilians in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. They say that only Russia can ensure a peaceful life.
“Nostalgia for peace was very important.” (“Lenta.ru”)
The Chairman of the State Duma Volodin, already during the full-scale invasion of Russian troops, presented his analysis of the political course chosen by Kiev 10 years ago: “As a result - the loss of population and territories by Ukraine, the collapse of the economy and traditional values.” Here Volodin hinted at a possible, so desirable for the Kremlin a new Maidan.
“The beautiful slogans of the Maidan and the cookies of the US State Department turned out to be a deception of the Ukrainian people,” Volodin stressed. The country's authorities have brought it to a dead end and, having declared the threat of a new coup, Vladimir Zelensky focused efforts on preserving personal power, he added. “Thus bringing the inevitability of a new “Maidan” closer,” Volodin summed up. (“Lenta.ru”)
Russia did not understand then - ordinary people are ready to pay a high price for dignity and freedom.
According to Mstislav Chernov, the Ukrainian tradition of protest struggle forms the responsibility of society for the future of their country:
“Maidan is not just a protest. It is a symbol of the changes that society is ready for. Changes that are expensive, but they are worth fighting for. I saw people with despair and faith at the same time standing on the Institutskaya. The war, the Revolution of Dignity, the annexation of Crimea and the Russian invasion of the Donbas and the full-scale invasion are all steps of building unity and building a whole generation of people who understand that the fate of their country depends on them,” says Mstislav Chernov in one of his comments Interviews.
We worked on the material:
Researcher of the topic, author of the text: Yana Yevmenova
Picture editor: Olga Kovalyova
Literary Editor: Julia Futei
Site Manager: Vladislav Kukhar
Euromaidan, or the Revolution of Dignity, is the prehistory of the Great War. Civil protests under the flags of Ukraine and the EU turned into a struggle for democracy and the opportunity to vote with incendiary mixtures and cobblestones in their hands. The dead protesters of the Heavenly Hundred became the first victims of the Russian-Ukrainian war. Ten years have passed since then, and Ukraine still continues to pay a high price for European values.
At the beginning of the revolutionary events, the Kremlin was interested in intensifying the internal confrontation in order to restore its influence in Ukraine. During the Revolution of Dignity, Russian propaganda spread the narrative: in Ukraine there was a “civil war”, a coup d'état took place through the rebellion of right-wing radicals and pro-Western politicians came to power.
Photodocumentarian Roman Pylypiy, who filmed the events of Euromaidan, then fixed in hisInstagram:
“Ukrainians, holding mobile phones with their flashlights on, sing the National Anthem during the celebration of the new year 2014 in the tent camp of pro-European supporters on Maidan Nezalezhnosti in Kyiv.”
However, pro-Kremlin forces staged provocations on the Maidan in order to discredit the protesters. Propaganda media covered Euromaidan, distorting the context of events, distorting the facts, casting protesters as criminals. Russia disseminated fake materials about Euromaidan, illustrating them with photos of Ukrainian photojournalists who captured the confrontation at the very epicenter of events.
According to Russian propaganda, the primary mistake that “led to a political crisis and civil war” was “the desire of Ukrainians to join the EU”. The Ukrainian “hopelessly corrupt” authorities failed to unite society with the help of Euromaidan technologies, which were also used by “Western structures”. “That is why the country did not follow a peaceful path of development.” The biggest mistakes of the new government, according to propagandists, were to ignore the interests of nuclear Russia and repeal the law on regional languages.
“If the post-Maidan government tried to unite the country, rather than divide and rule, it is quite possible that Ukraine would not fall apart, as it does now, and would not threaten Russia.” Alexey Tokarev, leading employee of IMD MGIMV. (“Lenta.ru”)
Russian propagandists call the Revolution of Dignity a “revolution of false hopes.” Accession to the EU is presented only “as a way to raise the standard of living of Ukrainians”, but in reality, European integration was needed only by the oligarchy. Due to the rupture of economic ties with Russia, industry was destroyed, European markets did not open, - continues the insinuation of “Lenta.ru”.
The propaganda convinces that Yanukovych was not a pro-Russian politician, but was in favor of joining the EU and wanted to balance between Europe and Russia, thus obtaining benefits. According to the same “Lenta.ru”, Yanukovych was a “short-sighted politician”, because he realized too late that joining the EU threatens Ukraine with the collapse of the economy and the destruction of industry. In addition, he was unable to “suppress protest activity instigated from the outside.”
The “European Dream” has become the framework of Ukraine's socio-political consciousness, rigidly fixing for the country only one path — the break with Russia. In 10 years, he has given the country only a sea of blood and tears. (“Lenta.ru”)
Russia mirrored its own plans to launch military aggression against Ukraine, attributing to the West a desire to create tension on Russia's borders. Everyone forgives Ukraine, they say, because the main goal of the West is to prepare for a conflict with Russia. Whatever the Ukrainian authorities do, in the European Union the country has always been called “democratic and European” (“Lenta.ru”).
But here's how describes Radio journalist Nataliya Sokolenko in the article “Radio Svoboda” during Euromaidan. In the early days of the revolution, she was the voice of Euromaidan and was engaged in promoting accession to the EU:
“[...] It was very easy for me because in the “UA Center” I was involved in the promotion of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU. And I didn't just say that we need to go to Europe! No, I told and showed infographics about our prospects from the signing of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU, and about the prospects of the Customs Union. At the same time, Medvedchuk and the Communists pushed us into the Customs Union. And I compared, gave arguments, how customs policy will change, how prices for products will change, what access our entrepreneurs will get to the European market, and so on.
And then, when the Maidan grew, I came up with another function: I collected newspapers distributed by the Medvedchuk and other pro-Russian figures, read and refuted their theses, explained where they lied. That's how she worked as a voice on the Maidan.”
Euromaidan is primarily about the people — the protagonists of those historical events, and those who saw the revolution through the lens.
Because of the provocateurs who probably operated on the Maidan, the propaganda hoped to devalue the struggle of Ukrainians.
About one of the episodes with the participation of provocateurs of the publication “LB.ua” military photographer Anatoly Stepanov told. On February 18, 2014, he filmed the revolutionary events on the roof of a house at the intersection of Institutskaya and Sadova streets in Kiev:
“I took a little picture, but then the boys ripped me out of there. Someone on the back is a “clap”, I turn around - guys in black overalls without signs. I already thought that I would be thrown from above, but I got around it — we looked at my ID and we went down together. By that moment, he managed to record how a man, allegedly a protester, threw bottles of the mixture at the BB guns. One of those bottles crashed on the shields of the BB guns. A massacre began, after a while I saw how the militiamen took the same protester to themselves and let him wash. When this man saw that he was being filmed, he shouted: “Camera! Camera!” and put on a mask. Then the same militiamen took the man aside while Berkut beat the other protesters to blood and put them in a locked bus [...]”
Student beatings, attempts to suppress protests, dictatorial laws, abductions of activists, repression and mass executions of people on Institutskaya Street intensified the protesters' protest anger.
Russian propagandists portrayed the shootings of peaceful protesters on Euromaidan as clashes between armed bandits-radicals and law enforcement agencies. “Lenta.ru” assures that “columns of protesters unexpectedly went to seize government buildings, from where, according to the agreements, security forces were withdrawn.” Lenti.ru experts, Russian and Ukrainian political scientists and propagandists, point to the payment of Maidan, for participation in which Yanukovych should be punished.
“No one will be able to drive this genie back. We brought this whole gang to power ourselves and destroyed the country with our own hands.” (“Lenta.ru”)
The facts not established by the investigation, the theft of evidence, the absence of perpetrators of crimes contributed to the emergence of conspiracy theories, which only reinforced pro-Russian narratives. At the same time, hostile propaganda tried to create “the right picture about the terrible Banderas” to intimidate Ukrainians in the south and east.
How tells Social News, Professor Yevhen Bystrytskyi noted on Ukrainian Radio that Maidan from the beginning was declared as a non-political public action of pro-European and pro-Ukrainian direction.
At the same time, Bystrytsky noted, that there was no radical nationalism on the Maidan. Referring to a poll conducted by the Democratic Initiatives Foundation, he said that the Maidan was mostly spoken in Ukrainian, “although obviously Russian was also heard there, and no one paid attention to it at the time, because everyone was fighting for freedom.” “This freedom was aimed not only at modern democratic values and the formation of such institutions in Ukraine, it was aimed at the fact that we should defend ourselves as Ukraine,” he writes Social News.
Ukrainian photojournalist, author of the project Aftermath VR: Euromaidan Alexei Furman yes signed Your Instagram photo:
“On February 18, special forces confronted protesters from Institutskaya and ran after them down the street, setting fire to the Trade Union House, which was the protesters' headquarters, and several of their tents. This photo is from 11:30 a.m. on February 19, the day of the most intense confrontation in the three-month revolution, since Berkut was so close that many believed it was the end.”
Representatives of the security agencies assure that their task was to destroy the snipers who allegedly shot at the protesters and the police. I must say that the heads of the law enforcement agencies under Yanukovych were appointed citizens of the Russian Federation.
“American specialists from the studio SITU Research and Carnegie Mellon University's Human Rights Research Center created a virtual reconstruction of the Maidan shootings on February 20, 2014, using three-dimensional visual effects technology. The study made it possible to establish the sector from which the shelling was carried out towards the protesters — the killers from “Berkut” were sitting behind a barricade on Instytutska Street, as the official investigation established”, tellsZbruch edition.
For the freedom of Ukraine during the Revolution of Dignity, 107 of its participants died, among them three women, and the youngest participant was 17 years old. Most died from gunshot wounds to the head, neck, chest, and from intentional bodily injuries incompatible with life.
Alexey Furman specifically for “Up.Life” spoke about his February 20, 2014:
“[...] We run out of “Ukraine”. We begin to shoot from the observation deck above the “Globe” just when the “Black Rota” leaves from under Oktobernovoy.
If something was clear, it was that the security forces began to use battle cartridges — there was a completely different sound of shots.
Remove near the glass cone.
Someone is being carried down Institutskaya — now I know that it was the mortally wounded Andriy Dygdalovych.
Under the balls we run over a pedestrian bridge. Trails and stairs carry the wounded down to the Maidan.
We go to Zhovtnevy together with the first Maydanovites. For some time we shoot near Zhovtneve, and then we return to the hotel.
In the hour or so that we were gone, the lobby of the hotel turned into a field hospital - here they provided assistance to the wounded. What happened at Institutskaya that morning was an unprecedented tragedy for independent Ukraine. At people in whose hands were wooden sticks and thin metal shields, Kalashnikov's machine guns were shot. It happened in the center of Kiev. There are tens of thousands of photos and thousands of gigabytes of video [...]”
Photographer Vyacheslav Ratinsky has been shooting the Revolution of Dignity every day since November 21, 2013 for three months. He saw many examples of human resilience and courage in extreme circumstances:
“I didn't sleep for two or three days.. But still he quickly got up and went back to the Maidan. I saw the bodies of the dead being lowered. In addition to the tragedy itself, he was shocked by the actions of the protesters. They did not disperse — on the contrary: they built new barricades, rallied even more. Everyone had a job. For example, I have a shot with a man who simply takes ash from the asphalt — sweeps the Maidan, because he cannot stand idly by,” Ratinsky told about the first day of the execution of the Heavenly Hundred for UAPP.
The security forces also committed violence against media workers who were not direct participants in the protests. “Berkut” harshly prevented coverage of the events of the revolution, despite the distinctive signs of the media workers.
“[...] We have never actually seen the Maidan For the “Golden Eagle” to beat the press, we had no fear. The photojournalist should always shoot. He has no right to stand aside when this happens in his country. I did not believe at first that this “Riga” system could be broken, but that unification of people inspired. It's like burning all the bridges behind you and starting to build anew,” Anatoly Stepanov shared from “LB.ua”.
In clashes with law enforcement officers, Vyacheslav Ratinsky was wounded twice. He told UAPP about this experience:
“Somehow a light-noise grenade exploded in my legs, and a little later cut his nose with a piece of rubber ball. Then there were clashes at the corner of Shovkovichna and Institutskaya, and I climbed onto the balcony of an apartment building to see the full picture and shoot from above. When there was dandruff in my nose, I remember that normally I was so scared. Still, it was very close to the eyes. Although, of course, compared to the injuries suffered by the activists on the same day, my scratches are nothing.”
Institute of Mass Information published then list media workers injured in Euromaidan, according to which 206 media workers were injured and two died.
Among the photojournalists mentioned in this list: Roman Pylypiy — injured during clashes from bricks thrown by protesters; Oleksandr Ratushnyak — bullet pierced his leg; Anatoly Stepanov — bullfighters smashed their heads with batons and broke their heads hand. Maxim Dondyuk and Mstislav Chernov were wounded by the explosion of a light noise grenade. Chernov was attacked several times by security forces, causing bodily harm.
“Georgian snipers” on the Maidan
February 14, propaganda agency “RIA Novosti” published interviews with Georgian citizens who allegedly confessed that it was they who shot protesters on the Maidan in February 2014. They say that the “Georgian snipers” were brought in by the efforts of former Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili's adviser Mamuka Mamoulashvili, who now heads the Georgian National Legion fighting in the Donetsk direction.
Arriving in Kyiv even before the new year 2014, Georgians say they first performed the functions of police officers: they monitored order, identified provocateurs.
According to the propaganda publication “Lenta.ru”, the “special task” of the “Georgian snipers” was “to create chaos on the Maidan, using weapons on all targets, protesters and policemen — without distinction.” In Ukraine, they allegedly collaborated with opposition forces, who “together with mercenaries fired” on protesters. At the same time, the briefing was conducted by a former American military man. They shot from the Tchaikovsky Music Academy and the hotel “Ukraine”. (“Lenta.ru”)
“That day Revazishvili went to the Maidan and saw that people were very angry. Some thought he was shooting the Golden Eagle. Others, on the other hand, thought that the protesters had opened fire,” he says. (“Lenta.ru”)
“Lenta.ru” claims that this is not the only version about the “Georgian footprint” on the Maidan.
In 2017, a fake Italian film “Ukraine was released. Hidden truths” about the events on the Maidan and “Georgian snipers”. For many years, lawyers of Yanukovych and the Berkutivs held this version.
In turn, the edition “Babel” notifies that there are many discrepancies in the stories of the “Georgian snipers” to the Italian director. The border service of Ukraine reported that in January 2014 the mentioned Georgians did not cross the border. Mamuka Mamulashvili denied being acquainted with the “Georgian snipers” who called him a curator. The results of the investigation did not confirm the existence of these “snipers”. Not a single protester was killed or injured from the Ukraina Hotel and the conservatory building.
The protest spirit of the revolution of that historic winter pervaded the whole country. Despite existing stereotypes, residents of Donetsk and Luhansk massively participated in the protests, advocating European integration. When the protests in Kiev went into decline, in Donetsk everything was just beginning.
Despite this propaganda, Euromaidan calls the beginning of a split in society. In the east and south of Ukraine, propagandists spread the narrative that Ukraine is only for Ukrainians and those who communicate exclusively in Ukrainian.
They say, the new government has clearly shown: if we do not like something, we will seize the administrative buildings. If this is possible in Lviv, then why not in Donetsk and Luhansk. The pogroms of administrative buildings and the seizure of arms, which took place on February 18-19 in western Ukraine and went down in history as a “night of rage”, were manipulated to create even more tension in the Maidan and intimidate protesters from the east by Banderas.
“Of course, people in the southeastern regions also saw that the country is gradually sliding into the Makhnovsk region. That Viktor Yanukovych has fled, and the power in the country is seized by people who want to deprive them of their language.” (“Lenta.ru”)
Thanks to such messages, the image of “Ukrainians who want to separate from Ukraine” was created. The paid anti-Maidan propaganda was presented as “the struggle of the Russian population of southeastern Ukraine and the Crimean peninsula for their rights”, which the illegitimate authorities are trying to suppress by military means. So Russia disguised military aggression as a civil war.
“This is a major civil war involving foreign players. But I can't say for sure that this is a conflict of two nations. Because on both sides they speak the same language, in Russian.” (“Lenta.ru”)
Euromaidanets in Donetsk immediately faced harassment from pro-Russian political forces. And the Donetsians could not resist on their own, without the support of the authorities, for a long time.
Viktor Yanukovych, who fled Kiev via Crimea to Russia on February 21, asked Putin to introduce Russian troops into Ukraine to “restore peace”.
“Why did these people not fight for the right to speak Russian in the territories controlled by Ukraine?
You know, the volume of Alexander Pushkin and the dictionary of Ditmar Rosenthal is very difficult to fight with the “U-point”.
It is no longer a question of what language to live in, it is a question of what language to die in.” (“Lenta.ru”)
During the anti-terrorist operation in eastern Ukraine, the Kremlin created a false picture that the Armed Forces were shelling civilians in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. They say that only Russia can ensure a peaceful life.
“Nostalgia for peace was very important.” (“Lenta.ru”)
The Chairman of the State Duma Volodin, already during the full-scale invasion of Russian troops, presented his analysis of the political course chosen by Kiev 10 years ago: “As a result - the loss of population and territories by Ukraine, the collapse of the economy and traditional values.” Here Volodin hinted at a possible, so desirable for the Kremlin a new Maidan.
“The beautiful slogans of the Maidan and the cookies of the US State Department turned out to be a deception of the Ukrainian people,” Volodin stressed. The country's authorities have brought it to a dead end and, having declared the threat of a new coup, Vladimir Zelensky focused efforts on preserving personal power, he added. “Thus bringing the inevitability of a new “Maidan” closer,” Volodin summed up. (“Lenta.ru”)
Russia did not understand then - ordinary people are ready to pay a high price for dignity and freedom.
According to Mstislav Chernov, the Ukrainian tradition of protest struggle forms the responsibility of society for the future of their country:
“Maidan is not just a protest. It is a symbol of the changes that society is ready for. Changes that are expensive, but they are worth fighting for. I saw people with despair and faith at the same time standing on the Institutskaya. The war, the Revolution of Dignity, the annexation of Crimea and the Russian invasion of the Donbas and the full-scale invasion are all steps of building unity and building a whole generation of people who understand that the fate of their country depends on them,” says Mstislav Chernov in one of his comments Interviews.
We worked on the material:
Researcher of the topic, author of the text: Yana Yevmenova
Picture editor: Olga Kovalyova
Literary Editor: Julia Futei
Site Manager: Vladislav Kukhar
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