#Automaidan

[sapphire--moonlight]

this post is almost entirely lies and propaganda.

banning minorities from speaking their own language in order to hold office is one way to keep them out of politics. it is not ridiculous at all to suppose that a country would allow minorities to speak their own language in government.

OP says Ukraine isn't suppressing political opponents but then goes on to admit that they are oppressing people who are supportive of Russia. that is exactly the definition of suppressing opponents.

we can argue about whether euromaidan really was a coup or not but let's lay the facts out. Wikipedia lists 7 major groups partaking in the protests:

1 & 2: AutoMaidan and Vidsich - two leaderless protest groups

3: Batkivshchyna - a right wing conservative party

4: Svoboda - a neo fascist party

5: UDAR - a minor liberal party

6. Right sector - a neo fascist organization

7. UNA-UNSO - a neo fascist, antisemitic organization

Wikipedia also lists minor players including:

Spilna Sprava - a fascist party

Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists - a far right party who has its roots in a Nazi collaboration group

Misanthropic Division - a neo Nazi paramilitary group

now I'm no scholar in what makes things coups but if the maga crowd and the KKK teamed up for some protests to repeal the constitution, I might be willing to call that a coup

And I am once again reminding you that for centuries, Ukraine wasn't given its own voice in the world discourse. Our history, politics, culture were written by the people who colonised us and benefited from convincing the world (and us!) of a distorted picture. A good majority of information in English language that exists about Ukraine, that you believe to be the default knowledge of the world, is such distorted information. Because that is how russian propaganda work. They take a snippet of truth and blow it out of proportion and add a bouquet of lies to it and repeat it many-many times until you think that it is just basic information about the world that everyone knows.

No, Ukraine is not run by nazi. Ukraine has a non-zero percent of nazi population that is marginalized out of politics because their rhetoric is not relatable to the majority of the electorate, which leans towards socialistic populism and anarchism.

No, ukraine is not "brotherly nation" with russia. Antropoligically we belong to the same slavic family of nations that includes many other eastern europeans like czechs, polish, moldovan etc. There is no reason to select russians, belorussians and ukrainians into a distinct category that isn't political. The idea of "three brotherly nations" was literally created by a theologist Theofan Prokopovych as a part of philosophical justification to russian imperialism in the 19th century meaning of the word.

No, DNR and LNR are not "people's republics". They were created by russian army, run by the russian army and following the orders from the kremlin. Russis spent decades trying to create a dissident movement in the eastern Ukraine but failed and stepped down to brute force. Everything you see in the southern Ukraine now has happened in the east in 2014. The only difference is that y'all swallowed russian lies back then.

No, Crimea didn't have a "referendum to join russia". Russian soldiers occupied the peninsula, forced the politicians under the gunpoint to announce the referendum, and made sure that the results would be the ones they like. The native population of the peninsula, crimean tatars, that had been twice genocided by the russians in the past, boycotted the referendum. Despite making up only ~12% of the population, crimean tatar rallies were much more numerous than those of the russians in Crimea. The people who "supported" the "return of Crimea" were russian nationals, who moved to the peninsula after the ethnic cleansing of the native population and proclaimed that "it has always been theirs".

No, Ukraine doesn't have a "government-run kill list". Myrotvorets is (1) run by the volunteers, not the government, (2) is a database of pro-russian propagandists, and (3) hardly anyone on that database has been killed so far. FFS, our current first lady used to be in this database.

No, Ukraine didn't ban russian language. Ukraine has implemented laws that would help ukrainian book, music, film industry survive the competition with russian industry that has for many years monopolised our market. Ukraine has implemented the law that our politicians need to know ukrainian language if they want to hold office (this will sound surreal, but many didn't. Can you imagine such scenario in any other country? A spanish minister that doesn't speak spanish?). Ukraine has implemented a law that websites, advertisements published in foreign languages need to have the information accessible in ukrainian as well Ukraine has implemented laws that state that ukrainian citizens have a right to governmental service in Ukrainian. And if you bothered to open the law you criticise at least ONCE, you would have seen that every пункт has a clarification "the communication can happen in any language as long as both parties consent, but if the consumer requests to be served in ukrainian, the provider is obligated to respond to them in ukrainian".

No, Ukraine doesn't use the war as an excuse to repress the political opposition. The only people that have been "repressed" are the ones who have been colluding with ruZzia and have helped in organising the invasion of Ukraine. FFS one of those "poor oppositioners" is literally putin's godfather, and another visits russian tv channels agitating russians to nuke Kyiv. The proof against them is overwhelming and well-documented, and ukrainian civil society has been pressuring our government to stop them for literal years. Even today, many russian agents remain in governmental structures.

No, Euromaidan was not a "coup". It was a response of civil society to the police brutality and usurpation of power. We do not need white saviours to tell us that being beat up at peaceful protests is bad. We have enough agency to understand this without external help.

It's almost a year of this war. It's high time for people to stop spreading russian propaganda, especially if they claim to support Ukraine. I am yet to see a "both sides are wrong" argument that wasn't based on russian propaganda.

[timafeinordjs]

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[fuckyeahmarxismleninism]

By Greg Butterfield

Second part of interview with Borotba's Alexey Albu on the 5th anniversary of the U.S.-backed coup in Ukraine

“Analyzing the situation in Venezuela, we see that the same funders that worked in Ukraine paid for the buildup of the crisis. We see that the imperialists use the same tactics: they create organizations to influence the electoral process, the same as in Ukraine. For riots in the streets and attacks on “undesirables,” mobile fighting units are created, consisting of so-called civil society activists. In Ukraine, this was the right-wing organization AutoMaidan, in Venezuela the Guarimberos.

"Of course, there are differences due to local specifics. In Ukraine, the right-liberal opposition in 2013 was united, and in Venezuela, the opposition is strongly split. In Ukraine, there was no real strong national leader — President Viktor Yanukovych turned out to be a wet rag. In Venezuela, there is a strong leader — Nicolás Maduro. Therefore, there is a chance that the imperialist forces will break their fangs."

[techumble]

RRB referred case to court over rogue actions of former SBU employees

RRB referred case to court over rogue actions of former SBU employees

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RRB referred case to court over rogue actions of former SBU employees

24.07.2020 05:56

Ukrinform

An indictment was filed in court against two former Ukrainian security service employees accused of beating an Automaidan activist in 2015.

[todaynewsstories]

Oleg Sentsov, Ukrainian filmmaker and activist, wins EU′s Sakharov Prize | Europe| News and current affairs from around the continent | DW

Who is Oleg Sentsov?

The 42-year-old Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov was born in the city of Simferopol, the administrative capital of what Russia has called the Republic of Crimea since annexing the peninsula in 2014. Sentsov, who is best known for his 2011 film “Gamer,” has been a fierce critic of Russia’s involvement in Ukraine and its annexation of Crimea, which followed a controversial referendum. After the outbreak of the Euromaidan protests in November 2013, Sentsov joined the Automaidan movement and helped deliver food to Ukrainian soldiers surrounded by the Russian military in Crimea.

Why was he imprisoned in Russia?

In May 2014, Sentsov was arrested in Crimea by Russia’s FSB security service. He was accused of collaborating with the Ukrainian far-right ultranationalist group Right Sector to plot attacks on pro-Russian organizations in the cities of Simferopol, Sevastopol and Yalta. The “terrorist group” that Sentsov allegedly led carried out two arson attacks — one on the office door of the Russian Community in Crimea association and another at the headquarters of the ruling United Russia party in Simferopol. In addition, Sentsov was charged with conspiring to blow up the city’s Lenin monument and Eternal Flame memorial.

Sentsov during a check-up in prison in September

The evidence against Sentsov provided by the prosecution was largely based on the testimonies of two other defendants in the case, Gennady Afanasyev and Alexey Chirniy, who were eventually found guilty and sentenced to seven years in jail. Afanasyev, who was the main prosecution witness, later withdrew his confession, saying he had been forced to testify against Sentsov and that he had been tortured.

Still, in August 2015, a Russian military tribunal in Rostov-on-Don sentenced the Ukrainian film director to 20 years in a high–security penal colony. Sentsov claims to have been beaten, showing his wounds as evidence. But the tribunal dismissed his bruises, suggesting that he had inflicted them upon himself.

The fact that no one was injured in the arson attacks was also ignored by the court. After the country’s Supreme Court dismissed his appeal, Sentsov was sent to serve his sentence in a prison camp above the Arctic Circle, in the Russian town of Labytnangi.

Read more: Activist Zoya Zvetova shares concerns about human rights violations in Russia

Sentsov was tried as a Russian citizen despite holding only Ukrainian citizenship. In October 2016, Russia denied a request for Sentsov’s extradition toUkraine on the grounds that he had become a Russian citizen upon the annexation of Crimea.

Activists and human rights organizations continue to demand Sentsov’s release

Why did Sentsov go on a hunger strike?

On May 14, 2018 Sentsov went on a 145-day hunger strike, demanding that all Ukrainian political prisoners be freed from Russian jails. According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, their number has now reached 64. Although the hunger strike posed a threat to Sentsov’s life, his lawyer Dmitry Dinze pointed out that his client did not want to starve himself to death. “His goal is not to commit suicide or die in jail but to win. He just wants his demands to be met,” Dinze revealed in an interview with Russia’s online magazine Afisha Daily. He ended the strike on October 5.

Why is he considered a political prisoner?

Sentsov’s case has received widespread international attention, with several human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch denouncing the judgement as disproportionate and politically motivated. Numerous prominent intellectuals, such as Nobel laureates Herta Müller and Svetlana Alexievich or film directors like Pedro Almodovar and Aki Kaurismäki, have also highlighted Sentsov’s plight. Russia’s best-known human rights organization, Memorial, deems Sentsov a political prisoner and has demanded his release.

Sentsov has pleaded ‘not guilty’ to all charges. “I consider myself a Maidan activist, but that does not mean that I am a criminal,” he said in his courtroom speech. “We drove out our criminal president. When your country occupied Crimea, I returned there and engaged in the same volunteer work as on Maidan,” he added. Sentsov also pointed out that he had spoken to hundreds of people and ��considered what to do next.”

“But I never called on anybody to carry out actions that could have led to deaths. I did not create terrorist organizations, and I certainly had nothing to do with Right Sector,” he claimed.

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The post Oleg Sentsov, Ukrainian filmmaker and activist, wins EU′s Sakharov Prize | Europe| News and current affairs from around the continent | DW appeared first on Today News Stories.

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[researching01]

How Angry Car Owners Became The Driving Force Of Ukraine's Protest Movement

View this image ' Reuters KIEV, Ukraine - Eight days after he vanished without a trace during a midnight police attack on Automaidan, the activist drivers' group he leads, Dmitry Bulatov was found wandering, covered in bruises and severely concussed, in a village near Kiev, his face Read more at http://headacheshelp.com/awesome/how-angry-car-owners-became-the-driving-force-of-ukraines-protest-movement/

[sportsbilly-blog1]

How Angry Car Owners Became The Driving Force Of Ukraine's Protest Movement

How Angry Car Owners Became The Driving Force Of Ukraine’s Protest Movement

View this image › Reuters KIEV, Ukraine — Eight days after he vanished without a trace during a midnight police attack on Automaidan, the activist drivers’ group he leads, Dmitry Bulatov was found wandering, covered in bruises and severely concussed, in a village near Kiev, his face encrusted with black streaks of blood. Unknown assailants with Russian accents had kidnapped him and taken him to a…

[russianreader]

Maria Kuvshinova: What Sentsov Could Die For What Sentsov Could Die For Maria Kuvshinova Colta.Ru May 25, 2018 Oleg Sentsov. Photo by Sergei Pivovarov.

[creofire]

Winter on Fire – An Essential Celebration of People’s Power

http://creofire.com/winter-on-fire-an-essential-celebration-of-peoples-power/

Winter on Fire – An Essential Celebration of People’s Power

Peaceful marching through the streets has always been the time-honored way of public protest. The 2013/14 Ukranian AutoMaidan Revolution (aka “Revolution of Dignity”) started with orderly demonstrations as thousands of fed-up citizens people took to the streets of Kiev (capital city). The pro...

Read Comfortably from Creofire.com

http://creofire.com/winter-on-fire-an-essential-celebration-of-peoples-power/

[shokkk]

Одесса таки да это Украина! У кого-то есть еще сомнения!? 😉 Слава Украине! #Одесса #Украина #Одесса #Україна #автомайдан Odessa is Ukraine! someone doubts? Glory to Ukraine! #Odessa #Ukraine #Odesa #UA #automaidan #bestoftheday #ig_today #picoftheday #photooftheday (в Одесса / Одеса / Odessa)

[folkwebnet]

War in the frontline - betrayal in the rear: While the volunteers as Zenon from «Lugansk» battalion are fighting in the Eastern Ukraine, protecting working people of Donbass from the hands of Russian imperialists, in the rear the police and corrupt generals begin... http://dlvr.it/6jhbfK

[demolitioncrush]

The AutoMaidan

On January 22, several guys from our office and I decided to join the AutoMaidan. Wikipedia says that the AutoMaidan is the group of independent columns of drivers, one of structural subdivisions of the Euromaidan. In reality, that is not the case, but at that time that wasn't so important.

So, we contacted the AutoMaidan via Facebook, then we arrived to European Square (that was the meeting place — near the Maidan Nezalezhnosti) and met one of the coordinators in person.

Since we had our own car, they proposed us several variants for spending that night – patrolling in certain districts, victim assistance or searching for titushky (that was the term for agent provocateurs who were intentionally gathered in Kyiv for organization of disorders or armed assaults). Of course, most of us chose the last variant, as it was the most risky.

The coordination of all movements was organized using the mobile app Zello (http://zello.com).

I want to say that that evening the agent provocateurs had no chances. The number of the cars that were taking part in the search and extremely fast response to some events or other, as it seemed to me, rose beyond 500 units.

Maybe, so it was every day, but the fact that so many people are ready to virtually sacrifice their vehicles – at that time that was the thing that really astonished us.

The mood was great and combative.

We had been driving the half-night across different districts of Kyiv, but we were always getting on false signals. Closer to the morning, we arrived to the Maidan and saw with our own eyes that the group of the people just like us, in an orderly manner delivered by two minibuses about 15 migrant criminals that had been intentionally brought to Kyiv for organization of disorders.

The next day – on January 23, several cars from the AutoMaidan were attacked by the “Berkut” (the special forces of Ukrainian police). The cars were crashed, the people were beaten and delivered to police stations. The part of them was released in a few days, another part was held there for several weeks.

It's quite possible that, had we joined the AutoMaidan on January 23 instead of 22, then we could also have been among those who were beaten by police.

[fuckyeahmarxismleninism]

Analyzing the situation in Venezuela, we see that the same funders that worked in Ukraine paid for the buildup of the crisis: Freedom House, USAID, International Republican Institute, National Endowment for Democracy and others. We see that the imperialists use the same tactics: they create organizations to influence the electoral process, the same as in Ukraine. In Ukraine, it was the Committee of Voters of Ukraine, and in Venezuela it’s Foro Penal Venezolano. For riots in the streets and attacks on “undesirables,” mobile fighting units are created, consisting of so-called civil society activists. In Ukraine, this was the right-wing organization AutoMaidan, in Venezuela the Guarimberos. And so on… Of course, there are differences due to local specifics. In Ukraine, the right-liberal opposition in 2013 was united, and in Venezuela, the opposition is strongly split. In Ukraine, there was no real strong national leader -- President Viktor Yanukovych turned out to be a rag and a vegetable. In Venezuela there is a strong leader -- Nicolas Maduro. Therefore, there is a chance that the imperialist forces will break their fangs.

Alexey Albu, coordinator of banned Ukrainian Marxist organization Borotba

From a forthcoming interview with Struggle-La Lucha

[ptashkak]

[grahamwphillips]

Kherson, Ukraine's New Border, Automaidan, Afghans

Kherson, Ukraine’s New Border, Automaidan,��Afghans

Despite having been to nearby Nikolaev many times, this was my first time in nearby Kherson. I came the 40 miles there just after having spent the day doing street interviews in Nikolaev. Situated both east, and south of that city which had expressed generally pro-Russian sentiments, yet with few expressing any real desire to be a part of Russia, I was interested to see how Kherson would compare.

[theatlantic]

The Wanted Man Behind Ukraine's Protest-on-Wheels

It's a gruesome story.

After vanishing for eight days, just as an emboldened protest movement extracted key concessions from a reeling Ukrainian government, Dmytro Bulatov is now lying prone on a hospital bed. The 35-year-old activist—one of the leaders of Automaidan, a group of pro-European Union motorists working alongside the 'Euromaidan' street protesters—says unidentified men with Russian accents abducted him, cut off part of his ear, cut up his face, hung him up by his wrists, and left him to die outside Kiev in the bitter cold. Instead, Bulatov pounded on a villager's door and was rushed to the hospital.

"They crucified me, they nailed down my hands," he said on Ukraine's Channel 5.

The government has reacted ominously. Officials have opened a criminal investigation into the incident, but they have also sent police and prosecutors to the hospital, placed Bulatov on a wanted list, and speculated that his kidnapping was "staged with the aim of committing a provocation."

Read more. [Image: Reuters/Glen Garanich]