Commemoration

It's Sunday, May 31st. I'm in Kyiv the capital city of Ukraine, Europe's largest country. 

Early in the morning I get up in my hotel overlooking Maidan Square the scene of last year's revolution where peaceful protest turned violent where over 100 protesters now revered as the  "Heavenly Hundred  Heroes" lost their lives. Many killed by government snipers. 

I see a number of displays down on the square, but I'm too far away to discern what they are. 

Maidan Square was also the scene of the Orange revolution 10 years ago which promised so much, but ended up delivering another corrupt government which was followed by a series of succeeding corrupt governments ending (hopefully) with the one overthrown last year.  I say hopefully with hope but by no means great certainty as we've seen this movie before and it may not have a different ending this time.  But I do think there is reason for hope but certainly no certainty.

Last year when I came here the square was not a pretty sight with burned out cars and piled up tires. and men dressed in military fatigues living in tents. This year it looks a lot better having been cleaned up, the volunteers having finally left after some reluctance and controversy as to whether they should or would.

But as a volunteer said to me last year the night of the Presidential election as we watched the returns together on the big screen TV set out on Maidan Square in answer to my question as to who he hoped would get elected, “It does not matter, if they don't do what they should do we will come back here”. And I believe they will if necessary.

Leaving my room, I went down to the restaurant on the first floor to the elaborate buffet breakfast. In addition to the great selection of food, this restaurant offers the chance to meet people from all over the world. In fact it would quite difficult not to, even if one were so inclined which I am not.

Dining is at 25 or so long tables seating 6 to 8 people each. As the hotel is apparently quite full, inevitably someone sits down across from you and inevitably you start talking. Starting topics are well established. “Where are you from? And "what brings you to Ukraine”.

There were a lot of casually dressed (not here on business) single guys in the restaurant this morning and the guy who sits down across from me told me they are here for a bike race. He's a German here on holiday with his daughter. We talk about Ukraine and its people and he says they tend not to work as collaboratively with each other as they need to. They are good with their families but not so much for others. I found this hard to relate to and I told him that they had been incredibly helpful and friendly to me and he agreed that this was also his experience.

After he left a guy sat down who was a bike racer. He told me he lived in Moscow. He had grown up in another country but had met and married a Russian woman, and his business was in Moscow now as well. I asked him how he would compare Moscow with Kyiv and he told me the Ukrainians are far friendlier than Russians even when he tells them he's from Moscow. He said it is very “stressful” in Moscow. As to Putin's popularity? He told me he's popular with the people but not so popular with the upper levels of society. I told him I had heard the famous chess champion Gary Kasparov question the accuracy of the Russian polls saying something like “What are you going to say in Russia when some stranger calls you and asks you if you like Putin”. The Moscow guy then told me he wasn't really into politics.

After breakfast, I walked out onto Maidan Square. From my hotel window high up on the 14^th floor I had wondered what the large placards and posters were portraying, but they were too far away to tell.

Down on the square I see that the displays are a large number of architectural designs  -landscapes, buildings and monuments to commemorate the revolution. There are scores of different designs from, I believe, all over the world beautifully presented.

At the top of the displays the words appear  - "Commemorating the Revolution of Dignity and memory of the Heavenly Hundred Heroes".

On the large portrait style poster boards,  other pictures show in graphic detail the struggle that has been going on in Ukraine since the start of the 2014 protests and revolution.  While it is now calm here on Maidan Square,  in the Eastern part of the country where the Russian-supported separatists are waging war with government forces and Ukrainian volunteers there is great suffering of both civilians and military personnel.

I then headed up the road to the hotel looking at the pictures of the "Heavenly Hundred" who lost their lives here in the 2014 protests. The pictures are displayed on a wall which runs along the side of the road 

I joined others looking at each picture as we moved slowly up the hill.

The Heavenly Hundred were mostly men. Of all ages, the eldest was 82. The youngest only 17.

Some were fathers who left small children behind. 

Quite a few of the men were very young, in their early 20's.  

Their whole lives ahead of them. 

One held a small rabbit.  One held three kittens.


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They appeared kind and thoughtful.

As  I turned from  the last picture, a gentle rain began to fall.

Like tears from the sky.