Demonstrators in Kyiv protest possible U.S. military action in Iraq

by Roman Woronowycz
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - Nearly 2,000 Ukrainians marched in Kyiv on February 15 as part of worldwide demonstrations to protest possible U.S. military intervention in Iraq. About 300 demonstrators also gathered in Symferopol, located on the Crimean Peninsula.

The marches were part of a series of anti-war rallies held in major world capitals in which millions of people took part. In London some 900,000 peace activists and anti-globalists gathered on the streets, while the U.S. saw the largest anti-war demonstrations in Washington, New York and San Francisco since the Vietnam era.

Kyiv also saw plenty of young anti-globalists and peace activists costumed in skeleton outfits and caricature masks of U.S. President George W. Bush, as has become their tradition. They began gathering at noon for a "Rock Against War" concert held prior to the demonstration. But even on a frosty Saturday afternoon, old-time Communists came out in even larger numbers to fly their red banners and chant anti-American slogans.

The protesters, representing up to 35 mostly nondescript political parties, but also including members of several Arab and Kurd groups, gathered in European Square for the beginning of the Ukrainian "March of Peace." Wearing stickers that read "No Blood for Oil" and waving placards bearing messages such as stated, "U.S.-Evil Empire" and "No War Against Iraq," they first walked down the Khreschatyk before proceeding uptown to the United States Embassy, where they held a rally.

The various speakers, including Communist Party leader Petro Symonenko and Progressive Socialist leader Natalia Vitrenko demanded that the United Nations recognize the United States as a terrorist state and insist on its de-militarization. They called on the U.N. Security Council to resist pressure by the Bush administration for a war resolution and to resolve the Iraq crisis by peaceful means. They also exhorted Ukraine's leadership to break diplomatic ties with Washington.

Ms. Vitrenko, bombastic as ever, told the crowd that only the U.S. wanted war against Iraq. "Today there are Marches for Peace on all continents. No one wants bandit law," exclaimed Ms. Vitrenko, waving a Ukrainian Kozak mace (bulava), a symbol of authority.

The former lawmaker said she would present the mace to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein when she visits Baghdad in a few days. (The week of February 17 she traveled to Iraq as part of a delegation led by Russian Communist Party leader Gennadii Zyuganov).

Meanwhile Communist Party Chairman Symonenko said that not only those gathered for the demonstration, but all of Ukraine stands united against a war in Iraq.

An opinion poll released by the respected Razumkov Center for Economic and Political Studies the previous week seemed to support Mr. Symonenko's words. It found that 73 percent of Ukrainians did not support a war against Iraq.

There were those in Kyiv, however, who demonstrated that same day in support of the contrary viewpoint and expressed their unqualified support for U.S. military intervention in Iraq to neutralize the Iraqi strongman.

The group, most of them members of the quasi-military organization Bratstvo (Brotherhood), gathered in the Podil district of Kyiv and marched toward the downtown area and inevitable confrontation with the anti-war demonstrators, according to state militia, who quickly disbanded the procession for not being sanctioned by local authorities. They also arrested 19 young protesters for carrying weapons, which police identified as wooden sticks.

A few days later, more moderate Ukrainians also voiced their support for the United States. On February 19, up to 100 members of the national democratic youth organization, Youth - the Hope of Ukraine, staged a rally in front of the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv to express solidarity with the United States and its effort to lead an anti-terrorism military initiative against Iraq.

In Symferopol the Communist Party of the Crimea organized an anti-war rally that included about 50 students of Arabic origin, according to an Interfax-Ukraine report. Ten days earlier, Symferopol city officials had rejected an application for an anti-war rally submitted by the political party, so the protest was held as a meeting between city residents and Leonid Grach, regional lawmaker and Communist leader in the Crimean Parliament.

Ukraine's President Leonid Kuchma has stated repeatedly that the country would not support a unilateral act by the United States in beginning a war against Iraq, but would go along with a U.N. resolution sanctioning force against the Middle East country. Mr. Kuchma has also said that Kyiv is ready to provide a support battalion of anti-nuclear, anti-biological and anti-chemical weapons specialists should the United Nations approve military action.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, February 23, 2003, No. 8, Vol. LXXI

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