Elegy For Those Who Won't Stay Quiet

Sometimes, there's a great price to be paid for speaking up. It's no wonder people don't do it.

circa 2014—By Amakuha (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Whether it's outing a sexual harasser, abuser, or assaulter, or it's protesting governmental policies, whoever raises their voice in opposition has to withstand beratement, suspicion, interrogation, violence, and/or—as was the case in the Ukrainian Revolution of 2014—death.



In the Euromaidan protests of the time, one of which was centered on Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Майдан Незалежності) in Kiev, a volunteer task force had appropriated the Trade Unions Building (Будинок спілок Федерації професійних спілок України) as its headquarters and command center—mostly, to feed and otherwise support the students who were engaged in civil disobedience in the middle of a typically cold, wet winter.



And then somebody set it on fire while it was full of people. Nearly 40 of them died in the conflagration.



The corrupt Ukrainian government and the police blamed the protesters—whether it was the peaceful ones calling for an alliance with the EU to the West, or the pro-Russian ones looking to drag the country back towards the East.



And sure, a molotov cocktail or two had been thrown in the environs of the square that surrounds the Independence Monument. But the protesters say that those had been planted by the police to escalate the conflict.



As our local Kiev guide and revolutionary, Slava, tells it, it was the government that burned the building down and took those lives. And, unfortunately, the massacre didn't end there.



By and large, the protesters knew they were targets for violence. After all, police unleashed water cannons on them, despite the sub-freezing temperatures. But, instead of arming themselves, the rebels created makeshift shields out of car doors, trash can lids, scrap metal, and anything else they could find—which would've been enough to stop a spitball or a rubber bullet, but not real ammunition.



And the ammunition that was turned on them was, in fact, very real. Though the protestors had barricaded themselves inside the square with whatever they could find (imagine those from the Paris Uprising of 1892, as described in Les Misérables), it offered little protection when the police finally opened fire on and tossed grenades into the crowd.



The weren't just warning shots, though. Officers didn't fire blanks or aim their guns up into the air to scare the insurgents into submission. They carried AK-47s, and they intended to use them.



The positioned snipers upon rooftops and took aim directly at those they wanted to silence, shooting them in the heads and necks—that is, shooting to kill, despite the president having agreed to cease fire.



But it was only a temporary fix, really—because although some of those who occupied Maidan were forced into an eternal silence (including the "Heavenly Hundred" who sacrificed their lives for the cause), the massacre caused an even bigger uproar.



In fact, it's what led to the ousting of then-president Viktor Yanukovych, who was charged with mass murder for directing the police in their unspeakable actions against those who, at the very worst, were hoisting wooden sticks in their rebellion.

circa 2014—By Amakuha (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

And the so-called "police"? Some of those Security Service of Ukraine (Служба Безпеки України, or СБУ) troops who ultimately reported to the president may have actually been trained by Russian special forces.

At the very least, in 2015 it was revealed that the Ukrainian army soldiers—who eventually got involved as well, making the counter-protest effort a military mission—got ammunition and anti-riot and combat weapons from Russia.

Russia—and, specifically, Putin—has denied involvement in the massacre of these "radical" victims (later called "heroes" by the new Ukrainian government). But isn't it curious that after Yanukovych was ousted, the "Motherland" seized the opportunity to take control of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea?

That move was condemned by many nations internationally and resulted in a number of sanctions against Moscow and Russia—which brings us to why Russia may have wanted to get involved in U.S. elections.

It would be difficult to blame anyone who stayed home instead of camping out at Maidan. It's actually easier to blindly obey than it is to mindfully disobey. When under attack—or trapped by the fear of being under attack—sometimes it seems like the only thing you can do is play dead.

But that's what they want you to do—to just play along.

That's what those police officers did, despite the fact that the rebels peacefully begged them not to—appealing to their humanity by telling them that they didn't have to commit such atrocities because the government would be overthrown soon, and there would be no punishment for their disobedience.

Regardless, the troops were just following orders. Maybe they knew it was wrong but were too afraid to speak up. Maybe they thought they'd lose their jobs.

Maybe they thought their own lives were more precious than the lives they took.

Thankfully, the Maidan revolutionaries disagreed—and shed their blood selflessly, giving their fellow countrymen the precious gift of freedom beyond the barricades.



BREAKING: A number of makeshift memorials had been mounted over the past nearly four years since the horrific events of Euromaidan in 2014, but there was one more or less "official" commemoration of the heroes—placed directly below the so-called "flower clock" along Heavenly Hundred Heroes Avenue (a.k.a. Heroyiv Nebesnoyi Sotni Alley, Алея Героїв Небесної Сотні). As of earlier this month, October 2017, it has been destroyed and local law enforcement is pursuing leads on a suspect.

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Standing With Those Who Choose To Not Stand

Photo Essay: The House That Corruption Built

The first thing I saw when I arrived at Boryspil Airport (KBP) just over a month ago for my trip to Kiev and Chernobyl was a sign, just past the passport checkpoint, that showed the word "CORRUPTION" in one of those red circles with the slash through it, the international prohibition sign that means "NO," no matter which language you speak.



I thought it odd, having expected other activities like smoking or use of cell phones to be prohibited at an international border—but, being used to other restrictions at other customs and border crossings, I was averse to take a photo of it. But it turns out that the fight against corruption would inform much of my visit to Ukraine for the next week—not the least of which was at the Mezhyhirya Residence (Межигір'я), a.k.a. the Museum of Corruption.



This palace was owned and built by former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, who went into exile after being overthrown and unseated in the 2014 revolution—though no one can actually prove his ties to the place.



President Yanukovych was so good at hiding money and running the country like a shell game that the only paperwork that exists of the ownership of Mezhyhirya, where everyone knows he lived, is tied to several companies that can't be traced back to the corrupt politician.



It's true, Yanukovych was elected. Twice, in fact. But many dispute the validity of the second time, at least.



And you know who helped get him elected, despite the popular vote going to his opponent? Our very own Paul Manafort, former campaign manager for U.S. President Donald Trump who officially registered as a "foreign agent."



Like Trump, Yanukovych had expensive taste and liked to show off his personal wealth—from his own private tennis court...



...bowling alley...



...and boxing ring...



...to his wife's pet project, a conservatory full of taxidermy, plants...



...and live, exotic birds...



...who were left behind when Yanukovych and his wife eventually fled.



Everything at Mezhyhirya is the ultimate in excess...



...from the furniture...



...to the carpeting and wood inlay flooring...



...to the light fixtures in the ceiling.



Everything is so pristine that it's hard to imagine anyone actually using any of these rooms for any routines of daily life.



That's partly because Yanukovych hated the smell of food being cooked, and therefore he required that his meals be prepared off-site and merely assembled in the kitchen adjacent to the dining area.



Of course, it's all empty now—save for the tourists who visit the compound to learn how corruption could make one man so rich and the rest of the nation so poor.



Everything appears to be bathed in gold leaf or cast out of silver ore.



And that which is not made of precious metal has been carved from some exotic wood with some delicate grain.



There's even a limited "John Lennon" edition Steinway piano on display—and, despite the velvet ropes, you can play "Imagine" on it, if you know the tune.



There are no guards to keep you from touching anything. Nobody's going to stop you from enjoying the opulence.



Some might be inclined to call Mezhyhirya "ostentatious"—and, sure, it is flamboyant. It was both designed to impress and also hidden from public view.



It's more regal than presidential, per se.



In fact, its interior design appears to be right out of the handbook for Queen Anne or some other 18th century palatial abode.



But some parts of it are actually kind of nice, though it's hard to imagine anyone actually sleeping here...



...sitting here...



...bathing here...



...or praying here.



And yet, it's all together in one place—everything a despot would need to live in secrecy and assemble wealth without drawing too much attention to himself as he profited off the state and his struggling constituents.



And when Yanukovych fled Ukraine after the 2014 revolution—to Moscow, no less—he abandoned his Mezhyhirya and its grounds, leaving all the spoils of corruption behind.



That turned out to be a boon for Ukraine tourism, as the coined "Museum of Corruption" has become a "must-see" attraction for all visitors to Kiev and the surrounding areas.



But the more that the contents of the main house (a club house nicknamed "Honka" that resembles a Finnish hunting lodge) are publicized, the more it's left vulnerable to thieves, looters, and vandals.



You couldn't blame a citizen for wanting to take what their tax dollars were spent on, after all.



The statuary...



...the gardens...



...the bathhouse and its fountains...



...and a replica of a Spanish galleon would be enough to inspire some resentment in anyone who was living in poverty while the president prospered.



And that's not even counting his collection of luxury cars from around the world—including a 1938 Dampf-Kraft-Wagen (what would become Audi), a 1945 Studebaker, and a 1950 Bentley.



Of course, most Ukrainians couldn't possibly have had an accurate sense of the scope of the corruption under Yanukovych's rule.



That is, until they got to visit his home for themselves and see first-hand the fruits of their labors.



It's a wonder that nobody has taken their frustrations and aggressions out on the windshields of any of those cars in the collection by now.



But even more than all of that, this is the president who refused to stop cozying up to Moscow...



...and who came up with every excuse not to move the country in a more westerly direction (towards joining the European Union).

He was ousted not just for those reasons, or even for the corruption, either. Ukraine's interim government issued a warrant for Yanukovych's arrest because of the mass murder of those who were protesting his policies at Maidan.



Those revolutionaries who survived the bloodbath of Maidan, like Petro Oliynykr, came straight to  Mezhyhirya after the president fled—to both expose and protect the site and its 345 acres. By that point, security police had already withdrawn from their official duties.

The rebels have guarded it ever since. And former President Yanukovych is still on the run and wanted for money-laundering, inappropriate use of state assets, and crimes against humanity.

For 360-degree views inside at outside the estate, click here. 

Stay tuned for a future post on the revolution at Maidan, which is now known as Independence Square.

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