Ukraine Reignites, Ctd

A handful of passionate readers are pressing us to stay on top of things:

US press coverage is, on the whole, pathetic.  Anne Applebaum’s recent piece is the most intelligent assessment I’ve read yet.  BBC and The Guardian have some good articles.  The German press is somewhat better; Der Zeit is doing a pretty good job, because they have contacts on the ground. But Twitter is the best place to work from.  Start with #Euromaidan, and work from there.

Please, do more.  What has happened since your last post is truly extraordinary.

Another reader who was in Ukraine recently recommends the Facebook page of Euromaiden, which is “translating into English the latest news being passed along the social networks and the Internet.” Another:

Ukrainska Pravda has a live feed that’s updating every day in English.  Here’s a summary of what’s going on and an updated map of who is in control of what from yesterday.  My friends who are there/have family there have been warning that the Internet in Ukraine and Kyiv might go down, so I’m not sure how accurate any updates can be or will be.

Another reader from a few days ago takes stock:

Sit with this news from Ukraine for a second. A country of 40 million people in the heart of Europe, divided between a pro-European, conservative-to-liberal, Christian (Catholic and Orthdox) west that is corrupt and a pro-Russian, illiberal east that lives by corruption too is descending into an extremely dangerous political crisis.

The president of the country, twice convicted of violent crimes in his youth, has grown obscenely wealthy at the expense of the people of his country, while mouthing platitudes about joining Europe. When he turns his back on Europe in November, protests turn up in Kyiv. That very night, student activists are beaten, some very seriously. Ukrainian society is outraged and the protests grow even more massive.

The protests last for weeks on end, and they attempt to disperse them violently December 11. The opposition negotiates with the government. Then things settle down. Then the government once again provokes the protesters by passing an insane law outlawing any protest activity whatsoever on January 17. Banned are: wearing helmets, wearing camouflage, driving in groups of more than 5 vehicles, criticizing the judiciary, and retroactively giving amnesty to members of the “Berkut” riot police for any beatings that they have delivered to protesters. It is at this point that the violence has truly escalated and protesters have began to arm themselves with clubs and helmets and actively fight with the police. I lived in Ukraine for 13 months in the last couple of years and can testify firsthand that the place is seething with political discontent with the Yanukovych regime. They will not be satisfied with anything short of a change in government; if Russia intervenes, the western half of Ukraine will fight to the death to defend its long-repressed statehood.

Given Ukraine’s regional divisions (which may be exaggerated, but which are nevertheless real), half the country completely rejects the legitimacy of the Yanukovych government. And they will be willing to fight the government, leading to a possible Syrian scenario in a state that borders on the European Union. When will Europeans wake up and see that this directly affects them? Ukraine is not some forgotten Siberia thousands of miles from Paris and Berlin (not to mention London). It is a border state with Poland, Slovakia, Romania, Hungary, Moldova, and Belarus! Not only that, but the fate of democracy and market reforms there are a hugely influential example to all of the post-Soviet states, from Belarus to Moldova to Kazakhstan and all the way to Moscow itself. If democracy in Ukraine succeeds, ordinary Russians will be forced to ask themselves, why not here?

And with all of this at stake, Obama remains absolutely silent. And you have remained largely silent yourself. Please! I urge you: take some time to reflect on this crisis and the stakes that it has for the U.S. and especially for Europe. I should mention that the U.S. and Russia are guarantors of the country’s borders and independence as a result of the country’s renunciation of its Soviet-era nuclear arsenal in 1994. This country cannot be ceded to the Russians to do whatever they want with simply because it borders on their country. The futures of millions of people and dozens of my personal friends and family are 0 in a Russian-dominated Ukraine.

I should know: I am the great-grandson of a Ukrainian Greek Catholic priest who spent 10 years in Siberia for continuing to practice his faith – performing baptisms, hearing confessions, and performing the liturgy -after his church was “outlawed” at a spurious synod in 1946. The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church is by far the largest Eastern Rite Catholic Church, fully in communion with Rome, and for the 42 years during which it was outlawed by the Soviets, it was the largest “catacomb” church in the world.

Please educate yourself and speak out! This is an issue of fundamental importance to security on the European continent and a moral issue par excellence. I was inspired with your coverage of the Green Revolution and wonder why there has been so little about Ukraine! If you want to escape America’s foreign policy fixation on the Middle East, then take an interest in a major foreign policy issue outside of it!