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Thousands of Protesters in Ukraine Demand Leader’s Resignation Ukraine Leader Called to Resign as Anger Swells
(about 4 hours later)
KIEV, Ukraine — More than 100,000 people took to the streets of Kiev on Sunday, and thousands more rallied in other cities across Ukraine, to demand the resignation of President Viktor F. Yanukovich, the largest outpouring of fury so far over his refusal to sign far-reaching political and trade accords with the European Union. KIEV, Ukraine — Enraged by a violent crackdown by security forces, Ukrainians took to the streets with new, revolutionary urgency on Sunday, with hundreds of thousands of protesters demanding the resignation of President Viktor F. Yanukovich and a realignment of the country away from Russia toward Europe.
Speakers at the rally in Kiev said that protests — now in their 11th day — would continue until Mr. Yanukovich was toppled and new elections were called. “I want the authorities to know that this is not a protest; this is a revolution!” Yuri V. Lutsenko, a former interior minister and an organizer of the Orange Revolution nine years ago, told a vast crowd here in Independence Square that many observers said outstripped even the biggest gatherings in 2004.
“I want the authorities to know that this is not a protest; this is a revolution!” said Yuri V. Lutsenko, a former interior minister and a leader of Ukraine’s Orange Revolution in 2004, speaking to the huge crowd that thronged Independence Square in defiance of a court order. “Revolution!” the crowd roared back. “Revolution!” “Revolution!” the crowd roared back. “Revolution!”
With the public’s anger deepened by the brutal force used by the police to disperse protesters in Kiev early Saturday morning, fissures have emerged at the highest levels of Mr. Yanukovich’s administration, as well as in Parliament. Eleven days of intensifying protests over Mr. Yanukovich’s refusal to sign political and free trade accords with the European Union have now directly shaken the president’s prospects of remaining in power. Cracks have begun to emerge in his political base: his chief of administration was reported to have resigned, and a few members of Parliament quit his party and decried the police violence.
Serhiy Lyovochkin, the chief of the presidential administration staff, reportedly submitted his resignation on Saturday. Many Ukrainians see the agreements with Europe as crucial steps toward a brighter economic and political future, and as a way to break free from the grip of Russia and from Ukraine’s Soviet past. Now, the outcry over Mr. Yanukovich’s abandonment of the accords is pushing Russia into a corner.
At least five lawmakers from Mr. Yanukovich’s Party of Regions, which controls Parliament, spoke out forcefully against the violence by the police, and at least two, David Zhvania and Inna Bohoslovska, said they had quit the party. The Kremlin, which has supported Mr. Yanukovich as a geopolitical ally for years despite its frequent annoyance with him, used aggressive pressure to persuade him not to sign the accords. Now the anger over Russia’s role has made it all but impossible for Mr. Yanukovich to take the alternative offered by the Kremlin — joining a customs union with Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. Any compromise with the protesters would have to revive the accords with Europe, and reduce Russia’s sway.
Ms. Bohoslovska sent a text message to one of the protest leaders, Yegor Sobolev, telling him: “If I can be useful, I am here. Let’s go to the rally.” Even as Mr. Yanukovich was said to be considering declaring a state of emergency, parliamentary leaders began contemplating various ways to curtail his powers, rather than remove him from office entirely. Volodymy Rybak, the speaker of the Parliament, which is controlled by Mr. Yanukovich’s Party of Regions, on Sunday called for “round-table talks” to help resolve the crisis. Similar talks were conducted in 2004 to resolve the disputes that set off the Orange Revolution.
Many Ukrainians view the agreements with Europe as crucial to a brighter economic and political future and to breaking free, once and for all, from the grip of Russia and Ukraine’s Soviet past. The steady escalation of the protests — and the violent crackdown — has created a volatile situation. The steady escalation of the protests — and the threat of further violent crackdowns — has created a volatile situation that showed no sign of abating.
More violence erupted late Sunday afternoon outside the presidential administration building when demonstrators clashed with a battalion of police officers guarding the building. Smoke bombs and stun grenades were set off, and the police responded with tear gas. More violence erupted Sunday afternoon when demonstrators clashed with a battalion of police officers guarding the presidential administration building. Smoke bombs and stun grenades were set off, and the police responded with tear gas.
The authorities reported Sunday night that about 100 police officers and more than 50 protesters had been injured, including some with chemical burns to their eyes from tear gas. The police made scattered arrests but did not immediately release a tally. The authorities reported Sunday night that about a hundred police officers and more than 50 protesters were injured, including some with burns to their eyes from tear gas. Witnesses said that some protesters, including women, were beaten brutally.
There were also signs that some of Ukraine’s wealthiest business leaders, the so-called oligarchs, were turning against Mr. Yanukovich or at least positioning themselves for a potentially big shift in the government. The police made scattered arrests, but did not immediately release a tally.
Mr. Sobolev, a former journalist and now a civic activist, noted that he had been invited to appear on a prime-time television show on the Ukraina channel, which is owned by Rinat Akhmetov, Ukraine’s richest man. Mr. Sobolev said he viewed the invitation as an effort to reach out to the opposition forces rallying against Mr. Yanukovich. Protest leaders said they intended to make Mr. Yanukovich a prisoner in his own capital on Monday, with streets blocked, government buildings surrounded or occupied and possibly a general strike by workers and students. A map was posted on Facebook showing supporters where to put their vehicles to obstruct traffic.
Mr. Yanukovich was also the antihero of the Orange Revolution in 2004, when mass protests erupted in response to blatant election fraud that led to his comfortable victory over Viktor A. Yushchenko in contradiction to exit polls and preliminary returns. The protests led to a new election, which Mr. Yushchenko won. By Sunday evening, demonstrators had taken police barriers meant to keep them out of Independence Square and repositioned them to mark their own control of a large area in the city center.
Mr. Yanukovich made a comeback in 2010, when he defeated Yulia V. Tymoshenko, the former prime minister, who has since been convicted of abuse of authority and imprisoned. There were demonstrations in cities like Lviv and Chernivtsi, in the generally pro-European western part of Ukraine, and also in the predominantly Russian-speaking east, which tends to favor close ties with Moscow and where Mr. Yanukovich has his main base of support. Several thousand people rallied in Dnipropetrovsk in the southeast, defying a court order banning a protest there. Even in Donetsk, Mr. Yanukovich’s hometown in the east, hundreds rallied in favor of European integration.
Although Mr. Yanukovich condemned the violence by the police on Saturday and promised an investigation, there was immediate fallout as the government drew heavy international criticism, including from the United States. Serhiy Lyovochkin, the chief of the presidential administration staff, reportedly resigned on Saturday over the crackdown. At least five lawmakers from the Party of Regions spoke out forcefully against the police violence, and at least two, David Zhvania and Inna Bohoslovska, said they had quit the party. Ms. Bohoslovska sent a text message to a protest leader, Yegor Sobolev, telling him: “If I can be useful, I am here. Let’s go to the rally.”
The Kiev police chief, Valery Koryak, submitted his resignation on Sunday, saying he had given the order to use force, though it was not clear he had control over the officers engaged in the violence. The interior minister, Vitaly Zakharchenko, did not accept the resignation, but he said he was suspending Chief Koryak while an investigation was underway. There were signs that some of Ukraine’s wealthiest business leaders, known as oligarchs, were turning against Mr. Yanukovich as well, or at least were positioning themselves for a major shift in the government. Mr. Sobolev said that a television channel owned by Rinat Akhmetov, Ukraine’s richest man, invited him to appear in prime time, which he took to be an effort by Mr., Akhmetov to reach out to the opposition.
Mr. Zakharchenko also publicly apologized for the use of excessive force by the police, but it did little to mollify the outrage. The Orange Revolution in 2004 also centered on mass protests against Mr. Yanukovich, in response to blatant election fraud that made him the easy winner of the presidential election that year, contradicting early returns and exit polls that showed him losing to Viktor A. Yushchenko. The protests led to a new election that Mr. Yushchenko won, but Mr. Yanukovich made a comeback in 2010, defeating Yulia V. Tymoshenko, the former prime minister. Ms. Tymoshenko has since been prosecuted and imprisoned for abuse of authority.
Unlike in 2004, the current protests have been focused not on installing a particular political leader, but rather on the thwarted ambitions of millions of Ukrainians who view integration with Europe as a step toward eliminating rampant corruption, overhauling the justice system and generally improving the nation’s quality of life. Although Mr. Yanukovich condemned the police violence on Saturday and promised an investigation, his government drew heavy international criticism, including from the United States.
The chief of the Kiev police, Valery Koryak, submitted his resignation on Sunday, saying he had given the order to use force, though it was not clear whether he had control over the officers involved. The interior minister, Vitaliy Zakharchenko, did not accept the resignation, but said he was suspending Mr. Koryak pending the investigation.
Mr. Zakharchenko also publicly apologized for the use of excessive force, but his apology did little to ease public outrage.
Unlike the protests of 2004, which focused on installing a particular leader, the current protests stem from the thwarted ambitions of millions of Ukrainians who view integration with Europe as a step toward eliminating rampant corruption, overhauling the justice system and generally improving the standard of living.
“People are not on the street to support exact politicians,” Mr. Sobolev said. “There are even a lot of people who said we don’t need politicians. The general opinion was something closer to the American and European ideal — that the real power should be citizens, not ministers, not presidents, not politicians.”“People are not on the street to support exact politicians,” Mr. Sobolev said. “There are even a lot of people who said we don’t need politicians. The general opinion was something closer to the American and European ideal — that the real power should be citizens, not ministers, not presidents, not politicians.”
Still, in a meeting on Saturday night, civic activists agreed to yield organization responsibility for the protest movement to the three main political opposition parties: Ms. Tymoshenko’s Fatherland coalition; the Udar party led by the champion boxer Vitali Klitschko; and the nationalist Svoboda party, led by Oleg Tyagnibok. Even so, civic activists agreed on Saturday night to allow the three main opposition parties to take the lead in organizing the protests: Ms. Tymoshenko’s Fatherland coalition; the Udar party led by the boxing champion Vitali Klitschko; and the nationalist Svoboda party, led by Oleg Tyagnibok.
Mr. Sobolev said the civic activists wanted to tap into the larger financial and organizational resources of the parties. Standing near Shevchenko Park, where the thousands of demonstrators began their march on Sunday, he pointed at a truck driving by with loudspeakers fixed to its roof belonging to the Fatherland party. “See, they have these things,” he said. Mr. Sobolev said the civic activists wanted to tap into the parties’ financial and organizational resources. Standing near Shevchenko Park, where demonstrators began their march on Sunday, he pointed to a loudspeaker truck belonging to the Fatherland party. “See, they have these things,” he said.
At the march and rally on Sunday in Kiev — by far the largest gather in the nearly two weeks of protests — demonstrators waved blue and yellow Ukrainian and European Union flags. They chanted, “Thieves out!” “Shame!” and “Criminals behind bars!” The crowd included the young and old, parents carrying small children on their shoulders and students who occasionally chanted the names of their schools as they marched. Demonstrators in Kiev waved blue and yellow Ukrainian and European Union flags and chanted “Thieves out!” “Shame!” and “Criminals behind bars!” The crowd included the young and old, parents carrying small children on their shoulders and students who occasionally chanted the names of their schools as they marched. Every so often, another cry would go up: “Revolution! Revolution!”
Every so often, another cry would go up: “Revolution! Revolution!” Adrian Karatnycky, an expert on Ukraine with the Atlantic Council of the United States, a research group, said the protests were initiated by members of a new post-Communist generation who are increasingly frustrated that their country seems stuck in the past.
Cities across Ukraine, a nation of 46 million people, reported the largest protests since the government announced that the agreements with Europe would not be signed. In Dnipropetrovsk, in eastern Ukraine, several thousand people rallied in European Square, defying a court order that had banned a protest there. “The Euro-revolution is a mobilization around an aspiration — Ukraine’s development along a European path,” Mr. Karatnycky said.
In Chernivtsi, in western Ukraine, about 4,000 people demonstrated, and more than 20,000 gathered in Lviv, the region’s largest city, which is about an hour by car from the Polish border. Even in Donetsk, Mr. Yanukovich’s hometown in eastern Ukraine, several hundred people rallied in favor of European integration.
Adrian Karatnycky, an expert on Ukraine with the Atlantic Council of the United States, a research organization focused on international affairs, said that the protests in Ukraine were initiated by a new post-Communist generation, whose members were increasingly frustrated that their country seemed stuck in the past and who were empowered by the tools of the Internet age.
“The Euro-revolution is a mobilization around an aspiration — Ukraine’s development along a European path,” Mr. Karatnycky said. He added, “This is a revolution of the broadband and mobile-device era, where detailed information-alternative communication does not require established structures to attain mass proportions.”
Even before the start of Sunday’s event, protesters had hatched plans to paralyze city streets with a traffic blockade on Monday, complete with a map distributed on Facebook showing where supporters should position their vehicles. Others called for university students to abandon their classes and for workers to engage in a general strike.
Mr. Karatnycky said that in response to the protests, a reconfiguration of Parliament seemed to be underway, with coalitions loyal to various oligarchs, including Mr. Akhmetov; Viktor Pinchuk, a media magnate; and Dmytro Firtash, who made his fortune in the energy sector, maneuvering for relative advantage.
The clearest sign of upheaval in the government, however, was the reported resignation of Mr. Lyovochkin, the chief of the presidential administration staff. Mr. Lyovochkin has refused to comment publicly, but his wife, Zinaida Lihacheva, a well-known clothing designer here, has been supporting the protests.
On Facebook, she posted, “Every thinking person that feels Ukrainian, must react when this is happening in the country.” She also posted a painting by her young son of a holiday tree in red, not green. “Son is coloring a bloody fir tree,” she wrote.