Kyiv Protests: My Experience

On the 24th of July, I attended the protests in Kyiv about the controversial law, demanding independence for NABU and SAPO. I talked about my opinion here yesterday.

It took place under the presidential palace, as the previous ones had. I was walking with a friend of mine, and we bumped into someone he knew, a barista, and we joined them as they were also heading to the protest. I wanted to see what it was like, what people were saying.

There were mostly young people, but also families, older people, foreigners, Ukrainians, people of different political persuasions, all united in the sometimes dubbed “Carton Maidan” or “Revolution of Cardboard” due to the use of Nova Poshta signs, as the private post office is giving them out for free to protestors.

There were also dogs.

Cat

And an orange cat.

Around 1000–2000 people attended, though it was hard to count, as many people came and left. Even as we left around 9.30 pm, people were coming to join in.

There was a ring in the centre for people, mostly journalists, to make reports and take photos. Most people had signs, mostly in Ukrainian, but others in English, all critiquing the law in one way or another,

Some lamented how their husbands were fighting for democracy, not corruption.

Case in point.

A fair few highlighted specific Ukrainian politicians who were under the target of NABU. Or made comments about how this felt like returning to Yanukovych.

Some used jokes or memes. A fair few “Don’t push the horses” quotes, in relation to the line from Usyk. Unfortunately I don’t have a good photo of that.

Many emphasised that Ukraine consists of people, not politicians.

Others, like a rather eccentric man we met, were making wider points about the suffering of the youth in Ukraine due to other laws.

One of my favourites was “Eat a fascist dick, MTG” who was pretending the protests were anti-Zelensky and pro surrender.

I spoke to a few people there, as well as the eccentric. I will summarise what most people were doing there, and some key things they said.

I asked one girl “Zelensky agreed to put forward a law to render the bodies independent. Isn’t that enough?”

She replied, succinctly, “It’s a 50/50 step.”

One man said this isn’t enough, it needs to be implemented, and they need to know the people are unhappy, and independence and democracy must live on, and corruption has no place in democracy.

Another woman said,

“We are here for Zelensky and the government to hear our roar. We don’t want promises. We want the law signed and guaranteed, and for them to know we will not leave until it is signed. We don’t want to get rid of Zelensky. We just want independent anti-corruption bodies.”

I think that is the best summary of the movement.

People made chants, such as “Ukraine is not Russia” “Money to the front, not to the pockets”, “Glory to the ZSU”, and people would often break into the national anthem. Anyone wanting to claim this is against Zelensky, or for surrendering, woefully misunderstands these protestors.