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| In Eastern Ukraine, the Curtain Goes Up, and the Clash Begins | In Eastern Ukraine, the Curtain Goes Up, and the Clash Begins |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| KHARKIV, Ukraine — The opponents arrived in the city’s center and prepared for the coming scuffle with ritualized familiarity. | KHARKIV, Ukraine — The opponents arrived in the city’s center and prepared for the coming scuffle with ritualized familiarity. |
| On one side of Freedom Square, beneath a towering statue of Lenin, hundreds of pro-Russian Ukrainians unfurled Soviet banners and flags and set up a public-address system on the bed of a truck. | On one side of Freedom Square, beneath a towering statue of Lenin, hundreds of pro-Russian Ukrainians unfurled Soviet banners and flags and set up a public-address system on the bed of a truck. |
| On the other, under a blue-and-yellow Ukrainian national flag atop the regional administration building, a few hundred police officers stepped from buses to reinforce the small overnight guard. They snapped on shin guards and helmets, and handed out batons and riot-control shields. | On the other, under a blue-and-yellow Ukrainian national flag atop the regional administration building, a few hundred police officers stepped from buses to reinforce the small overnight guard. They snapped on shin guards and helmets, and handed out batons and riot-control shields. |
| This was to be a choreographed demonstration against Ukraine’s new government, with a brief attempt by the demonstrators to break police lines and claim the building, followed by a loud march to the Russian Consulate to ask for intervention in Ukraine’s east. | This was to be a choreographed demonstration against Ukraine’s new government, with a brief attempt by the demonstrators to break police lines and claim the building, followed by a loud march to the Russian Consulate to ask for intervention in Ukraine’s east. |
| It would generate intense television footage that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia might use to support a claim that Ukrainians sought and needed military support, the same argument used to explain the military intervention in Crimea. | It would generate intense television footage that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia might use to support a claim that Ukrainians sought and needed military support, the same argument used to explain the military intervention in Crimea. |
| But while both sides would show a mix of on-camera resolve, even as they clashed they would knowingly flash moments of politeness, mutual respect and restraint — as if many of them were a common people caught in their divided rulers’ fight. | But while both sides would show a mix of on-camera resolve, even as they clashed they would knowingly flash moments of politeness, mutual respect and restraint — as if many of them were a common people caught in their divided rulers’ fight. |
| One pro-European observer, Anya Denisenko, would later reduce the events to their sum. | One pro-European observer, Anya Denisenko, would later reduce the events to their sum. |
| “This is,” she said, “information war.” | “This is,” she said, “information war.” |
| The rally and scuffle, while passionate, were not an effort by pro-Russian residents to storm and claim a government building, as its organizers might have had it appear. Set against a combustible backdrop of revolution, counterrevolution, secession and the possibility of war, they were street theater of a sort that has been used by both sides in Ukraine. | The rally and scuffle, while passionate, were not an effort by pro-Russian residents to storm and claim a government building, as its organizers might have had it appear. Set against a combustible backdrop of revolution, counterrevolution, secession and the possibility of war, they were street theater of a sort that has been used by both sides in Ukraine. |
| Scenes like these have been playing out in cities throughout the country’s east, like Donetsk and Kharkiv, where large Russian-speaking populations live and the country’s heavy industry is concentrated. | Scenes like these have been playing out in cities throughout the country’s east, like Donetsk and Kharkiv, where large Russian-speaking populations live and the country’s heavy industry is concentrated. |
| Some have had Russian citizens play prominent public roles, or had scenes of severe violence. This one did not. | Some have had Russian citizens play prominent public roles, or had scenes of severe violence. This one did not. |
| On this day, as the demonstrators and the police gathered for their standoff, the future of eastern Ukraine, a region with deep ties to Russia but also many citizens who see themselves as Ukrainian, remained uncertain. | On this day, as the demonstrators and the police gathered for their standoff, the future of eastern Ukraine, a region with deep ties to Russia but also many citizens who see themselves as Ukrainian, remained uncertain. |
| Residents of Crimea, the peninsula still officially a part of sovereign Ukraine but under Russian military occupation, voted Sunday in a Kremlin-backed referendum to secede. More Russian soldiers were massed behind the eastern border not far from here, potentially poised to invade. | Residents of Crimea, the peninsula still officially a part of sovereign Ukraine but under Russian military occupation, voted Sunday in a Kremlin-backed referendum to secede. More Russian soldiers were massed behind the eastern border not far from here, potentially poised to invade. |
| Many Ukrainians, who saw demonstrators in the capital chase President Viktor F. Yanukovych from office last month in what some in this country regard as a justified uprising and others call a coup, wondered what part of Ukraine might remain, day by day, under the interim government’s control. | Many Ukrainians, who saw demonstrators in the capital chase President Viktor F. Yanukovych from office last month in what some in this country regard as a justified uprising and others call a coup, wondered what part of Ukraine might remain, day by day, under the interim government’s control. |
| These demonstrators made clear what they favored: Russia, and a return to Russian orbit. | |
| And while Western officials have accused Russia of filling rallies in eastern Ukraine with Russian citizens, this rally appeared to consist overwhelmingly of local people. | |
| It began with perhaps 1,000 demonstrators gathered around reliable symbols snubbing the West: hammer-and-sickle banners, signs decrying NATO, and elderly men, in uniform, reminding the crowd of the terrible suffering, and ultimate victory, of Soviet soldiers and citizens who helped defeat Nazi Germany in World War II. | It began with perhaps 1,000 demonstrators gathered around reliable symbols snubbing the West: hammer-and-sickle banners, signs decrying NATO, and elderly men, in uniform, reminding the crowd of the terrible suffering, and ultimate victory, of Soviet soldiers and citizens who helped defeat Nazi Germany in World War II. |
| One huge banner at the base of the Lenin statue read, “Our homeland: USSR!” | One huge banner at the base of the Lenin statue read, “Our homeland: USSR!” |
| The message was explicit and part of the common pro-Kremlin sentiment surrounding Ukraine. Ukraine’s interim government is “fascist,” and extraordinary measures are needed to counter it. | The message was explicit and part of the common pro-Kremlin sentiment surrounding Ukraine. Ukraine’s interim government is “fascist,” and extraordinary measures are needed to counter it. |
| “It is the working people of Kharkiv who are here,” Ilya K. Kiyuk said. “They have come to join Russia, because we cannot hold back the fascists any longer.” | “It is the working people of Kharkiv who are here,” Ilya K. Kiyuk said. “They have come to join Russia, because we cannot hold back the fascists any longer.” |
| As the minutes passed and more people arrived, the rally seemed to more than double in size, and the scene shifted. Russian flags appeared among the Communist Party banners, and more young men clustered in groups. | As the minutes passed and more people arrived, the rally seemed to more than double in size, and the scene shifted. Russian flags appeared among the Communist Party banners, and more young men clustered in groups. |
| Soon, the elderly residents were mostly left on the square, as the younger and more agile crowd pushed over a fence at the square and filled the street in front of the police formation on the government building’s steps. | Soon, the elderly residents were mostly left on the square, as the younger and more agile crowd pushed over a fence at the square and filled the street in front of the police formation on the government building’s steps. |
| A massive Russian banner was stretched across the front of the police ranks. With television cameras rolling, the crowd began a series of chants. | A massive Russian banner was stretched across the front of the police ranks. With television cameras rolling, the crowd began a series of chants. |
| “Crimea, we’re with you!” was one. | “Crimea, we’re with you!” was one. |
| “Putin! Putin! Putin!” was another. | “Putin! Putin! Putin!” was another. |
| For a short while, one group of protesting men — cleareyed and sober, but projecting toughness — deliberately defended the police. When there was a briefly chaotic rush for the building’s side door, and a much smaller police contingent blocking it, these men, seeming to take instructions by cellphone, intervened. They ordered the crowd back to the front steps. | For a short while, one group of protesting men — cleareyed and sober, but projecting toughness — deliberately defended the police. When there was a briefly chaotic rush for the building’s side door, and a much smaller police contingent blocking it, these men, seeming to take instructions by cellphone, intervened. They ordered the crowd back to the front steps. |
| The crowd complied. | The crowd complied. |
| “Today is going to be a peaceful march,” said one of their leaders, Pavel, 27, who declined to give his surname. A pinkish bruise, which he said was two weeks old, was visible under his left eye. | “Today is going to be a peaceful march,” said one of their leaders, Pavel, 27, who declined to give his surname. A pinkish bruise, which he said was two weeks old, was visible under his left eye. |
| It came when he and hundreds of other young men stormed the building two weeks ago with clubs and a wooden battering ram to break down the front door. | It came when he and hundreds of other young men stormed the building two weeks ago with clubs and a wooden battering ram to break down the front door. |
| They beat about 100 opposition activists they found inside. Today would not be the same, he said. | They beat about 100 opposition activists they found inside. Today would not be the same, he said. |
| Instead, his colleagues made their own rank, two men deep, between the chanting crowd and the police, who watched warily. | Instead, his colleagues made their own rank, two men deep, between the chanting crowd and the police, who watched warily. |
| One police officer, a major, stood in front of his helmeted officers, without a shield and with his baton tucked inside his flak jacket. He wore no helmet, and projected to the crowd that the police were not looking to fight. | One police officer, a major, stood in front of his helmeted officers, without a shield and with his baton tucked inside his flak jacket. He wore no helmet, and projected to the crowd that the police were not looking to fight. |
| “Violence begets violence,” he said to a reporter, even as the crowd noise built. | “Violence begets violence,” he said to a reporter, even as the crowd noise built. |
| The pieces were now in place. The protesters who held their fellow protesters back abruptly slipped away, to watch. | The pieces were now in place. The protesters who held their fellow protesters back abruptly slipped away, to watch. |
| About 50 men, many smelling of alcohol, stepped forward and taunted the police officers behind the shields. They handed out surgical masks from only a few yards away and, as if on signal, rushed forward and crashed into the center of the lines. | About 50 men, many smelling of alcohol, stepped forward and taunted the police officers behind the shields. They handed out surgical masks from only a few yards away and, as if on signal, rushed forward and crashed into the center of the lines. |
| The police shoved back. But the weight of the charge was great, and the line briefly broke. | The police shoved back. But the weight of the charge was great, and the line briefly broke. |
| The police were organized, however. Units behind the front row swiftly enveloped the intruding men. In a matter of minutes, the right side of the formation opened and the protesters were expelled. | The police were organized, however. Units behind the front row swiftly enveloped the intruding men. In a matter of minutes, the right side of the formation opened and the protesters were expelled. |
| A few protesters pleaded with the police to abandon their posts and join them. “Come here, come here,” they said. | A few protesters pleaded with the police to abandon their posts and join them. “Come here, come here,” they said. |
| By then it was all but done. | By then it was all but done. |
| A riot shield that protesters wrested from one police officer was returned with an apology. A woman among the protesters came forward and wiped tears from another police officer’s face; he allowed her to reach up under his plexiglass face shield. | A riot shield that protesters wrested from one police officer was returned with an apology. A woman among the protesters came forward and wiped tears from another police officer’s face; he allowed her to reach up under his plexiglass face shield. |
| The crowd marched several blocks to the Russian consulate, where the people chanted, “We are Russian,” and delivered a letter asking Russia to intervene in eastern Ukraine. | |
| A new set of banners had appeared. They were bright red, and bore two words in white: “Russian Spring.” | A new set of banners had appeared. They were bright red, and bore two words in white: “Russian Spring.” |