Ukrainians Gear Up for Holidays as Protests Continue
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Version 0 of 1. KIEV, Ukraine — Like hundreds of thousands of her fellow citizens, Olga Begun, 29, was in Independence Square on Sunday, fretting about the future of Ukraine, but not about the push-and-pull between Europe and Russia, or if the government will resign. Instead, she was thinking about outfits for the future Ukrainian that she is set to give birth to next month. Ms. Begun, a lawyer, was standing in the Mothercare store on the top level of Globus, a shopping mall overlooking the occupied square that has been gripped by political protests for more than three weeks. While the Ukrainian capital is fixated on those events, it is also holiday season and across most of the city, even steps away from the crowds, life goes on. “You see, everything is open, people are earning money as always, selling stuff,” said Ms. Begun’s husband, Yuri Popovich, 41. Mr. Popovich pointed at his wife’s baby bump, hidden under a puffy jacket. Outside, the protest crowd cheered. “We have to do a photo session with the belly,” he said, suggesting a possible political poster. “Yanukovich — let our kid have a future.” In another aisle, Tatyana Gorodnaya, 37, was picking out a snowsuit, a gift for a friend’s 2-month-old daughter. Although she lives nearby, getting to the store was difficult. “To get to this shop, I had to make several circles,” Ms. Gorodnaya said, noting that the police blocked her way at several points. “I didn’t know how to get here.” While thousands of protesters are now on the streets around the clock, Ms. Gorodnaya said that she goes to her job in human resources every day. “After work, I go home; I don’t go on Maidan,” she said, referring to Independence Square. “Life continues.” With the exception of the area immediately around Independence Square, which is closed to traffic, and some parts of the government quarter, where police maintain a heavy presence, Kiev is functioning as usual. Schools, businesses and shops are open. The subway system is running, though three stations were closed for part of Wednesday because of police activity. In the Globus mall, adjacent Italian and Japanese restaurants served pizza and sushi to diners who could look out the windows at the teeming crowd below. Many protesters stopped in to warm up or use the toilets, or to make a purchase. On the ground floor, Coffee House did a brisk business. Shoppers crowded the escalators. Outside a shoe store, Lyubov Stanachich, 58, the literary editor of a local newspaper, and her friend, Raisa James, had each just bought a new sweater. “Clothing is always relevant, despite the revolution,” Ms. Stanachich said. “We love shopping.” Inside the store, Oksana Maksimenko, 48, who works in banking, was helping her son, Maksim, 26, a lawyer, try on boots. They had planned to attend the political rally, as they had the week before, but wanted to get proper shoes first. “We were here one week ago on Sunday, but unfortunately, we didn’t have enough time to buy warm shoes,” Ms. Maksimenko said. “This time, we are buying the shoes first.” She said her family, which lives nearby, was spending several hours each day at the protest site, expressing support for government reforms. “I believe we can receive a more democratic society,” she said. Roman Romanyshyn, 35, a furniture maker from Ivano-Frankivsk in western Ukraine, was at a small stand on the ground floor of the mall, looking at toy Santas and little bears, picking out gifts for his children, a son, 9, and daughter, 18 months, for St. Nicholas’ Day. “The holiday is coming,” Mr. Romanyshyn said. “Children need the holiday.” He said he had come to Kiev to join the protests for three days, then planned to head home, and return to the capital five days later. “The holiday is for children,” he said. “The revolution is for us.” |