We found some photos on Tanya's mobile that she had taken on Maidan February 18th when we were in Kyiv. That was the day the final battle began that ended with Yanukovych and some of his mafioso fleeing the country. We were in Kyiv applying for Tanya's visa to visit UK, and decided to go to Maidan to see for ourselves what it was like. At that time, all the news was pretty much controlled by Yanukovych so it was suspect.
We found the Square pretty peaceful, with people coming and going about their business in and around the tent city and barricades. There were lots of Ukrainian flags and EU flags as well as flags of various parties, including Right Sector and others of the right and left. This was about noon or somewhat after. there was smoke pouring into the sky up on the hill in front of the Rada or parliament building and we knew there was action there. On the train home that night we we sat with a young man from Dnipro who had participated in the fight on the hill. He was a young businessman who realized the only future for Ukraine was one without Yanukovych and without the layers of corruption.
We got home and turned on the TV to see the Maidan in flames and the Berkut attempting to storm the place but held back by gasoline bomb throwing protesters. The authorities had closed off the Metro (subway) to prevent reinforcements coming in or people from fleeing. Anyhow, a few of Tanya's pictures from early afternoon are at the end of this post.
Some links to interesting sites:
NEWS FLASH - this JUST in, a perfect example of Russian lies.
Paul Gregory writes for Forbes and does a wonderfully funny job of describing the trolls and how they work. Read the comments too as the trolls come out of the woodwork and illustrate his article beautifully.
Putin's New Weapon In The Ukraine Propaganda War: Internet Trolls
http://www.forbes.com/sites/paulroderickgregory/2014/12/09/putins-new-weapon-in-the-ukraine-propaganda-war-internet-trolls
StopFake.org is a great website dedicated to exposing the lies on Russian media of which there are no end. Just go to the site and hop around to see the kind of thing we are up against. If you find one of the Stop Fake newscasts, it has English sub-titles.
This video is not well made but does pick out the high spots of Russian fakery. Especially their use of photos from anywhere which they then claim to be of Ukraine. Syria, Chechnya, Russia, anywhere but Ukraine and age of picture doesn't matter or if the person is still alive or died years ago.
We found the Square pretty peaceful, with people coming and going about their business in and around the tent city and barricades. There were lots of Ukrainian flags and EU flags as well as flags of various parties, including Right Sector and others of the right and left. This was about noon or somewhat after. there was smoke pouring into the sky up on the hill in front of the Rada or parliament building and we knew there was action there. On the train home that night we we sat with a young man from Dnipro who had participated in the fight on the hill. He was a young businessman who realized the only future for Ukraine was one without Yanukovych and without the layers of corruption.
We got home and turned on the TV to see the Maidan in flames and the Berkut attempting to storm the place but held back by gasoline bomb throwing protesters. The authorities had closed off the Metro (subway) to prevent reinforcements coming in or people from fleeing. Anyhow, a few of Tanya's pictures from early afternoon are at the end of this post.
Some links to interesting sites:
NEWS FLASH - this JUST in, a perfect example of Russian lies.
Russia says small military mission in east Ukraine at Kiev's request: RIA
Paul Gregory writes for Forbes and does a wonderfully funny job of describing the trolls and how they work. Read the comments too as the trolls come out of the woodwork and illustrate his article beautifully.
Putin's New Weapon In The Ukraine Propaganda War: Internet Trolls
http://www.forbes.com/sites/paulroderickgregory/2014/12/09/putins-new-weapon-in-the-ukraine-propaganda-war-internet-trolls
StopFake.org is a great website dedicated to exposing the lies on Russian media of which there are no end. Just go to the site and hop around to see the kind of thing we are up against. If you find one of the Stop Fake newscasts, it has English sub-titles.
This video is not well made but does pick out the high spots of Russian fakery. Especially their use of photos from anywhere which they then claim to be of Ukraine. Syria, Chechnya, Russia, anywhere but Ukraine and age of picture doesn't matter or if the person is still alive or died years ago.
Interesting pics
ReplyDeletethe Ol'Buzzard
The pictures are an interesting comment on how life goes on even while upheaval takes place nearby. Tanya's photos are about as close I want to be.
ReplyDeleteWhen we got home and saw Maidan in flames and demonstrators fighting for their lives, we were not sure if we were thankful we were home or sorry we were not there to help. Home won.
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