I don't know what's making the news in America, but it's a bit of a madhouse in Ukraine right now.
First off, let me say that I am safe, I feel safe, and I don't think anything's going to happen to me.
That said, Ukraine is having a revolution. In its most important election since independence, Ukraine was split down the middle in support for Viktor Yuchenko, who wants to ally Ukraine with the West, and Viktor Yanocovich, a friend of Putin who wants to tie Ukraine closer to Russia.
In elections condemned by the EU and the United States as "flawed" (the United States has threatened sanctions), Yanocovich was declared the winner. That was two days ago. Since then, millions of Yuchenko supporters (Yuchenko is the liberal one and the one I'm rooting for)have flooded the streets. The western half of the country, including Kiev, has refused to acknowledge Yanocovich as the winner. Strikes have ensued all over the country and they refuse to stop until recounts are had or Yuchenko takes office.
In my little city, 45 minutes from Kiev, the streets haven't been flooded, but there is a trickle. Told to stay away from demonstrations by Peace Corps, I've instead watched as couple hundred people, decked out in Yuchenko's colors of orange and yellow, march up and down the main street.
As a bit of a back story, Yanocovich is both a convicted felon and supported by the Ukranian mafia. There was an assasination attempt on Yuchenko last month, apparently by Yanocovich supporters, during which he was poisoned with Ricin and, as a result, the left half of his face no longer works.
A few hours ago, Yuchenko (the loser, according to the elections) walked into parliment and,
backed by a quarter of a million supporters outside, declared himself president. He then took the oath of office on the bible used for such purposes.
During his speech to his supporters, he said this, as quoted by the AP:
"Ukraine is on the threshold of a civil conflict," the Western-leaning Yushchenko earlier told lawmakers in the chamber before his oath. "We have two choices: Either the answer will be given by the parliament, or the streets will give an answer."
Of course, violence is a concern, but thus far everything has remained peaceful. The embassy has released a warning to U.S. Citizens to avoid the rallys, and that's as far as it's gone.
There are rumors that Russian milita are moving into the area to settle the protests in favor of Yanocovich, and the Ukranian news is currently full of shaky camera shots of buses and trucks moving into Kiev that may or may not contain troops.
As far as the Peace Corps is concerned, there will be no evacuation as of yet, and the following was sent to all of us:
***1) The public demonstration in Kyiv has at least doubled in size, and itappears demonstrations in Kyiv will continue for some time with resultantdisruptions in transport, business activity, and freedom of movement in the city.
2) We have received reports that demonstrations in support of Yushchenko arealso underway in the following Ukrainian towns: Zaporizha, Kirovograd,Odessa, Kharkiv, Lutsk, Zhytomyr, Poltava, Chernigiv, Rivne, Dnipropetrovsk,Chernivtsi, Cherkassy, L'viv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Ternopil, Vinnytsya,Khmelnytsky, and Sumy. A pro Yanukovych demonstration is reportedly underwayin Sevastopol.
3) The opposition has called for strikes of workers in public services including the railways and bus services. Volunteers should avoid intercitytrain and bus travel or expect altered timetables and cancellations.
4) Thus far the demonstrations have been peaceful, and the demonstrationorganizers are on record as urging all demonstrators to avoid any use ofviolence.5) There are continuing reports that a large number thugs have been broughtinto Kyiv by Yanukovych supporters to cause trouble at the demonstrations.
6) Also there are new reports that common criminals, including juveniledelinquents, have been released from jails and encouraged by the authoritiesto disrupt the demonstrations. At the same time, the incidence of streetcrime in Kyiv including muggings, robberies, and random physical attacks isreported to have increased.
7) Kyiv Volunteers are strongly advised to stay indoors at night and to bevery careful when moving around the city in the daytime.
8) Nothing, repeat nothing, that has happened thus far is of a sufficientlyserious nature to cause PC to consider evacuation. Rumors that an evacuationis about to begin are entirely untrue.***
So that's what's going on in my world. Frankly, I find it rather exciting. I wish the Democrats had risen up this strongly during the 2000 elections. Our elections then were obviously flawed, but after a few inefectual rallies, opposition died away. Yuchenko supporters have shut the country down and refuse to let it back up until there is a full and fair recount in the disputed regions.
I wish I was out there now, taking photographs and interviewing people in broken Ukranian, but Peace Corps effectively has all the trainees in lockdown.
More information can be had by doing a search for "Ukraine" under Yahoo News or wherever it is you get your information. Also, if anyone has seen anything about this in the states, let me know. There is a dispute in my cluster as to whether the U.S. media has bothered to carry the story at all.