Who exploited the veterans?
The leaders of political forces that led Soviet Army, OUN, and UPA veterans out on a march on Kyiv’s Khreshchatyk Boulevard on Oct. 15 used them in their own interests. This is the opinion of Minister of Internal Affairs Yuriy Lutsenko, who spoke from the parliamentary rostrum last Friday, when law-enforcement bodies were reporting on those events. “I think that the veterans — from both camps — were used as a weapon of agitation and propaganda by certain political forces. I believe that the leaders were thinking about their reputation rather than about the real development of culture and democracy in Ukraine,” the minister said, emphasizing that this was his personal opinion.
The minister also informed MPs that the Kyiv police have opened a criminal case under Article 293 of the Criminal Code, citing a large-scale breach of the peace during a political demonstration in downtown Kyiv on Oct. 15. He said that if the organizers of the demonstrations are found guilty, they may face a fine of UAH 850 or a maximum six-month jail term. “This is why I am rejecting in advance any claims about political repression. We must finally understand that democracy is not just freedom but also responsibility,” Lutsenko said.
The minister believes that these events show “lack of political culture among Ukrainian party leaders.” He stressed that representatives of the parties that organized these actions had guaranteed their peaceful nature but during the demonstrations incited their followers to riot.
At the same time, Lutsenko admitted that the current law on street demonstrations is inadequate and suggested increasing penalties for organizers of actions that lead to clashes.
While the police are trying to provide proof of the organizers’ guilt, the Prosecutor General’s Office is going to lay the blame on the police. For instance, Deputy Prosecutor General Vasyl Prysiazhniuk said his office has instructed the Kyiv police chief to launch a departmental investigation to determine whether the police acted in a timely manner during these actions. His office is also investigating Minister Lutsenko’s involvement in provocation during the Oct. 15 events.
Meanwhile, the Security Service of Ukraine believes that no crimes were committed during the Oct. 15 riot, which would require the SBU to investigate, said the head of the SBU Ihor Drizhchany. He revealed that since Oct. 5 the SBU had been warning law-enforcement and government bodies that clashes might occur during the demonstrations. According to Drizhchany, the Kyiv Municipal Administration then requested the Shevchenkivsky Raion Court to restrict the venue of the demonstrations. However, the court found no grounds to satisfy the administration’s request.
The SBU chief also regrets that some parliamentarians took part in the events. “They were not just participating but in fact guiding the people,” he emphasized. In his view, these events show the level of political leaders’ civic responsibility for what is going on in this country. Drizhchany thinks that as political passions are heating up, some individuals are resorting to the principle “‘the worse things are, the better’ — not the most sterile of instruments, to put it mildly...Unfortunately, it is only better for some politicians but it is worse for society,” he said, adding that the events that unfolded in downtown Kyiv on Oct. 15 are evidence of an “ideological conflict,” but “the street is not the place to solve it.”
The SBU chief has asked the Verkhovna Rada to pass a law on peaceful public gatherings as well as a law on combating extremism. He emphasized that very little time is left before the Nov. 7 anniversary and the Nov. 21 festivities to mark the anniversary of the Maidan. In his opinion, it is very likely that attempts will be made during those days “to exploit the emotions of some people against others.”
Regrettably, the Ukrainian government’s political assessments of these events are limited to the statements issued by the interior minister and the SBU chief.
