On August 31, 2015, police and activists who opposed the adoption of constitutional amendments on decentralization of power clashed near the Verkhovna Rada in Kyiv. More than a hundred people were injured, and four members of the National Guard were killed.
Ukrainian photographer Vyacheslav Ratynsky captured the dramatic events inside and outside the Verkhovna Rada.
On July 15, 2015, the presidential draft law on amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine on decentralization of power was made public. Politicians and a number of experts generally praised the presidential draft law on the transfer of powers to the local level. However, one of the clauses of the Transitional Provisions, which were planned to be added to the text of the Basic Law, was extremely controversial. The most important difference between the finalized draft law and its first version was the provision on local self-government in certain districts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Many politicians saw the phrase “The peculiarities of local self-government in certain districts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions are determined by a separate law” as granting “special status” to the part of Donbas not controlled by Kyiv and considered it Ukraine's “surrender” in the conflict in the east.
On July 16, the Verkhovna Rada passed a resolution to send the presidential bill to the Constitutional Court to amend the Constitution to decentralize power. On July 31, 2015, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine recognized the draft law as compliant with the requirements of the Basic Law. The first reading of the draft law was scheduled for August 31, 2015.
On August 31, the day of the Verkhovna Rada session, several political forces, including Svoboda, Oleh Lyashko's Radical Party, Civic Platform, and UKROP, organized a rally. People gathered outside the Verkhovna Rada to prevent the adoption of the draft law on decentralization. At the same time, a parallel rally was held by the Ukrainian Association of Gun Owners to demand the adoption of a law on civilian circulation of weapons and ammunition. At first, the rallies were quite calm. Conflicts on the square arose only because the sound from the two stages set up by the protesters overlapped and the speakers drowned each other out.
At the time, after a heated discussion and clashes near the rostrum, 265 MPs supported the bill in the first reading at exactly 1 p.m. Immediately after considering the only item on the agenda, the parliamentary session closed, and the Ukrainian anthem was played in the hall. The anthem was also played on the square, and people learned that the MPs had voted in favor of the amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine. Clashes immediately broke out outside between law enforcement officers and protesters. The protesters came close to the metal fence and began to swing it to break through to the parliament. The protesters began throwing water bottles at the police and beating them with sticks. In several places, activists clashed with security forces. Tear gas, smoke bombs, stun grenades and firecrackers were used.
Journalists who were in the parliament building were not allowed outside by security guards. Photographers were forced to observe the events from the windows of the second and third floors of the Verkhovna Rada. MPs also crowded near the windows.
On August 31, 2015, photographer Viacheslav Ratynskyi was photographing a session of the Verkhovna Rada. He was working for a news agency at the time, and working in parliament was part of his daily routine. However, on that day, tension was palpable and the conflict was predictable. Viacheslav Ratynskyi recalls that after the Revolution of Dignity, clashes near the parliament were frequent and commonplace. “I came to the Verkhovna Rada to film the adoption of the law on decentralization. It was clear that problems could not be avoided. The then-Speaker Parubiy was surrounded by MPs from all sides, and the rostrum was blocked. He was not allowed to put the bill to a vote,” says Ratynskyi. However, at 1 p.m. the bill was passed. Viacheslav says that he even has a photo of the bill's title on the board in the Verkhovna Rada.
After the MPs voted and the session of the Verkhovna Rada was immediately adjourned, all journalists and photographers began to move quickly to the exit of the hall. “I remember some whispers among my colleagues, and everyone started running somewhere. I also ran with everyone,” says Viacheslav Ratynskyi. ”From the session hall, we went to the corridors, from the windows of which we could clearly see the entire Constitution Square. There was already a serious scuffle there - activists with sticks attacked the National Guard. No one realized how serious it was, and no one even imagined how it would end.” Slava Ratynskyi recalls that during the Revolution of Dignity, representatives of the Svoboda party formed the backbone of the protesters. Then most of them volunteered to fight in the east, in the ATO. Oleh Tyahnybok's party remained active during the first years after the Maidan.
“I went to the window and saw that the police and protesters were fighting in earnest. I started taking pictures, but the shots were almost identical from one point, so I decided to go to the square,” says the photographer. Viacheslav recalls that all the central exits were blocked. “I wanted to get into the underground passage and go to the square from the side of the Cabinet of Ministers. I met Iryna Lutsenko in the corridor and she led me to the passage,” Viacheslav Ratynskyi recalls the details of that day. It was very noisy outside, there was smoke from the checkers, and it was very difficult to breathe because of the pepper spray. “The atmosphere after Maidan and the first year of the ATO was very electrifying. There were many volunteer veterans on the square who had just returned from the war zone,” says Ratynskyi. He filmed the activists and their clashes with the security forces on the square. Firecrackers were constantly exploding and it was very noisy.
At 13:46, an explosion occurred on the square, which was much louder than the previous ones. “The protesters tried to break through to the Verkhovna Rada. However, no one expected the events to have such an ending. One of the activists threw a live grenade that hit the National Guard,” says Vyacheslav Ratynsky. There were three lines of security forces in front of the explosion site. Panic began to spread among the people on the square and the scuffle continued. A few minutes later, ambulances arrived at the parliament. The crowd moved to the Kyiv Hotel and then slowly dispersed. Four National Guard soldiers were killed that day, and dozens of law enforcement officers were injured.
On August 31, law enforcement officers detained about three dozen activists who were protesting in front of the Verkhovna Rada. 16 protesters were arrested for two months in a few days. Among the detainees was 21-year-old Ihor Humeniuk, who was accused of throwing a grenade at National Guard soldiers. According to law enforcement officials, another grenade was found on his person during his arrest. At the time of his detention, Ihor Humeniuk was a volunteer of the Sich battalion, which was later subordinated to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Shortly before the events near the Parliament, he wrote a letter of resignation from the battalion and came to Kyiv from the city of Kurakhove, Donetsk region. Before joining the service, Humeniuk was an active member of the Svoboda party. According to his lawyer, Oleksandr Svyrydovsky, Ihor Humeniuk “does not admit his guilt in the events that occurred on August 31, 2015”.
Viacheslav Ratynskyi was filming one of the courts. “I was never able to take a picture of the guy who was accused of the crime. He looked somehow inconspicuous. I can't even find him in my photos among the protesters. I came to photograph a session of the Verkhovna Rada, and there were clashes that killed people. Even routine photography can become dangerous at some point,” says Viacheslav Ratynskyi.Ihor Humeniuk, accused of committing a terrorist attack near the Verkhovna Rada, died on July 5, 2023, as a result of the detonation of his own explosive device in the premises of the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv. It is unknown how he brought the explosives into the courtroom.
Viacheslav Ratynskyi is a Ukrainian documentary photographer and photojournalist. He has been working in the field of photojournalism for over 10 years. He collaborates with international and Ukrainian news agencies and media, including Reuters, The Guardian, Le Monde, Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazine and others. He has been published in many Western and Ukrainian media, including: The Time, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Telegraph, The New York Times, El Pais, Der Spiegel and others.
He has participated in numerous photo exhibitions in Europe, the USA, Japan and South Korea. His photographs have been published in several books. Viacheslav Ratynskyi works in Ukraine. His work explores the impact of war on society, social and political issues.
Social networks: Facebook, Instagram
We worked on the material:
Researcher of the topic, author of the text: Katya Moskalyuk
Editor-in-Chief: Viacheslav Ratynskyi
Literary editor: Yulia Futey
Website manager: Vladyslav Kukhar
On August 31, 2015, police and activists who opposed the adoption of constitutional amendments on decentralization of power clashed near the Verkhovna Rada in Kyiv. More than a hundred people were injured, and four members of the National Guard were killed.
Ukrainian photographer Vyacheslav Ratynsky captured the dramatic events inside and outside the Verkhovna Rada.
On July 15, 2015, the presidential draft law on amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine on decentralization of power was made public. Politicians and a number of experts generally praised the presidential draft law on the transfer of powers to the local level. However, one of the clauses of the Transitional Provisions, which were planned to be added to the text of the Basic Law, was extremely controversial. The most important difference between the finalized draft law and its first version was the provision on local self-government in certain districts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Many politicians saw the phrase “The peculiarities of local self-government in certain districts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions are determined by a separate law” as granting “special status” to the part of Donbas not controlled by Kyiv and considered it Ukraine's “surrender” in the conflict in the east.
On July 16, the Verkhovna Rada passed a resolution to send the presidential bill to the Constitutional Court to amend the Constitution to decentralize power. On July 31, 2015, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine recognized the draft law as compliant with the requirements of the Basic Law. The first reading of the draft law was scheduled for August 31, 2015.
On August 31, the day of the Verkhovna Rada session, several political forces, including Svoboda, Oleh Lyashko's Radical Party, Civic Platform, and UKROP, organized a rally. People gathered outside the Verkhovna Rada to prevent the adoption of the draft law on decentralization. At the same time, a parallel rally was held by the Ukrainian Association of Gun Owners to demand the adoption of a law on civilian circulation of weapons and ammunition. At first, the rallies were quite calm. Conflicts on the square arose only because the sound from the two stages set up by the protesters overlapped and the speakers drowned each other out.
At the time, after a heated discussion and clashes near the rostrum, 265 MPs supported the bill in the first reading at exactly 1 p.m. Immediately after considering the only item on the agenda, the parliamentary session closed, and the Ukrainian anthem was played in the hall. The anthem was also played on the square, and people learned that the MPs had voted in favor of the amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine. Clashes immediately broke out outside between law enforcement officers and protesters. The protesters came close to the metal fence and began to swing it to break through to the parliament. The protesters began throwing water bottles at the police and beating them with sticks. In several places, activists clashed with security forces. Tear gas, smoke bombs, stun grenades and firecrackers were used.
Journalists who were in the parliament building were not allowed outside by security guards. Photographers were forced to observe the events from the windows of the second and third floors of the Verkhovna Rada. MPs also crowded near the windows.
On August 31, 2015, photographer Viacheslav Ratynskyi was photographing a session of the Verkhovna Rada. He was working for a news agency at the time, and working in parliament was part of his daily routine. However, on that day, tension was palpable and the conflict was predictable. Viacheslav Ratynskyi recalls that after the Revolution of Dignity, clashes near the parliament were frequent and commonplace. “I came to the Verkhovna Rada to film the adoption of the law on decentralization. It was clear that problems could not be avoided. The then-Speaker Parubiy was surrounded by MPs from all sides, and the rostrum was blocked. He was not allowed to put the bill to a vote,” says Ratynskyi. However, at 1 p.m. the bill was passed. Viacheslav says that he even has a photo of the bill's title on the board in the Verkhovna Rada.
After the MPs voted and the session of the Verkhovna Rada was immediately adjourned, all journalists and photographers began to move quickly to the exit of the hall. “I remember some whispers among my colleagues, and everyone started running somewhere. I also ran with everyone,” says Viacheslav Ratynskyi. ”From the session hall, we went to the corridors, from the windows of which we could clearly see the entire Constitution Square. There was already a serious scuffle there - activists with sticks attacked the National Guard. No one realized how serious it was, and no one even imagined how it would end.” Slava Ratynskyi recalls that during the Revolution of Dignity, representatives of the Svoboda party formed the backbone of the protesters. Then most of them volunteered to fight in the east, in the ATO. Oleh Tyahnybok's party remained active during the first years after the Maidan.
“I went to the window and saw that the police and protesters were fighting in earnest. I started taking pictures, but the shots were almost identical from one point, so I decided to go to the square,” says the photographer. Viacheslav recalls that all the central exits were blocked. “I wanted to get into the underground passage and go to the square from the side of the Cabinet of Ministers. I met Iryna Lutsenko in the corridor and she led me to the passage,” Viacheslav Ratynskyi recalls the details of that day. It was very noisy outside, there was smoke from the checkers, and it was very difficult to breathe because of the pepper spray. “The atmosphere after Maidan and the first year of the ATO was very electrifying. There were many volunteer veterans on the square who had just returned from the war zone,” says Ratynskyi. He filmed the activists and their clashes with the security forces on the square. Firecrackers were constantly exploding and it was very noisy.
At 13:46, an explosion occurred on the square, which was much louder than the previous ones. “The protesters tried to break through to the Verkhovna Rada. However, no one expected the events to have such an ending. One of the activists threw a live grenade that hit the National Guard,” says Vyacheslav Ratynsky. There were three lines of security forces in front of the explosion site. Panic began to spread among the people on the square and the scuffle continued. A few minutes later, ambulances arrived at the parliament. The crowd moved to the Kyiv Hotel and then slowly dispersed. Four National Guard soldiers were killed that day, and dozens of law enforcement officers were injured.
On August 31, law enforcement officers detained about three dozen activists who were protesting in front of the Verkhovna Rada. 16 protesters were arrested for two months in a few days. Among the detainees was 21-year-old Ihor Humeniuk, who was accused of throwing a grenade at National Guard soldiers. According to law enforcement officials, another grenade was found on his person during his arrest. At the time of his detention, Ihor Humeniuk was a volunteer of the Sich battalion, which was later subordinated to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Shortly before the events near the Parliament, he wrote a letter of resignation from the battalion and came to Kyiv from the city of Kurakhove, Donetsk region. Before joining the service, Humeniuk was an active member of the Svoboda party. According to his lawyer, Oleksandr Svyrydovsky, Ihor Humeniuk “does not admit his guilt in the events that occurred on August 31, 2015”.
Viacheslav Ratynskyi was filming one of the courts. “I was never able to take a picture of the guy who was accused of the crime. He looked somehow inconspicuous. I can't even find him in my photos among the protesters. I came to photograph a session of the Verkhovna Rada, and there were clashes that killed people. Even routine photography can become dangerous at some point,” says Viacheslav Ratynskyi.Ihor Humeniuk, accused of committing a terrorist attack near the Verkhovna Rada, died on July 5, 2023, as a result of the detonation of his own explosive device in the premises of the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv. It is unknown how he brought the explosives into the courtroom.
Viacheslav Ratynskyi is a Ukrainian documentary photographer and photojournalist. He has been working in the field of photojournalism for over 10 years. He collaborates with international and Ukrainian news agencies and media, including Reuters, The Guardian, Le Monde, Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazine and others. He has been published in many Western and Ukrainian media, including: The Time, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Telegraph, The New York Times, El Pais, Der Spiegel and others.
He has participated in numerous photo exhibitions in Europe, the USA, Japan and South Korea. His photographs have been published in several books. Viacheslav Ratynskyi works in Ukraine. His work explores the impact of war on society, social and political issues.
Social networks: Facebook, Instagram
We worked on the material:
Researcher of the topic, author of the text: Katya Moskalyuk
Editor-in-Chief: Viacheslav Ratynskyi
Literary editor: Yulia Futey
Website manager: Vladyslav Kukhar
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UAPP represents Ukrainian professional photography in the international photographic community and is an official member of the Federation of European Photographers (FEP) — an international organization representing more than 50,000 professional photographers in Europe and other countries around the world.
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