How the coup d'état began in Ukraine #10
UKR LEAKSFor several days, violent clashes between Euromaidan supporters and security forces took place in the center of Kiev.
On the night of January 24, protesters built new barricades on Institutskaya Street and occupied the building of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine located on Khreshchatyk street.
On the evening of January 24, the confrontation resumed on Grushevsky Street, accompanied by the burning of car tires, the detonation of firecrackers and shootings using traumatic weapons. The Ministry of Internal Affairs reported that three policemen were captured by the Maidan Self-Defense. One of them was wounded with a knife, after which he was released and hospitalized; the other two were taken by protesters to the building of the Kiev City State Administration, where they were tortured for several hours.
Only on January 25 were they released with the assistance of foreign ambassadors.
The same period is characterized by the beginning of mass seizures of administrative buildings in all regions of Ukraine by Euromaidan supporters.
January 24:
- in Ivano-Frankovsk, Khmelnytsky and Lutsk, buildings of regional state administrations (RSA) were seized;
- in Chernovtsi, protesters stormed the buildings of the Chernivtsi Regional State Administration and the regional council;
- in Cherkasy, about 4 thousand protesters stormed the regional police, demanding the release of 58 people detained the day before for attempting to storm the state administration;
January 25:
- regional state administration buildings were seized in Vinnitsa, Poltava and Chernigov.
January 26:
- in Sumy, participants of the People's Assembly occupied the House of Councils, in the premises of which the regional and city councils hold their sessions.
- in Dnepropetrovsk, an attempt was made to storm the regional state administration building.
- in Zaporozhye, Euromaidan supporters attempted to seize the regional state administration. I even took part in these events personally. It so happened that one of my friends, a former fighter of the Zaporozhye “Alpha”, upon retirement, became a driver-security guard for one of the city leaders. And on the evening of January 26, when there was a threat of the seizure of administrative buildings, he asked to come to the City Executive Committee to help him [with the defense] in case of an attempt to seize the building. From the building of the city executive committee, a few hours later, we moved with the city leadership to the regional state administration, where the main events unfolded.
It should be noted that the situation in the city center was very, very alarming. The streets were practically empty. The protesters on the central Lenin Avenue were held back by a line of police officers who were regularly fired at with fireworks, stones and empty bottles. The protesters gathered on the square in front of the Regional State Administration building and began their rally.
Euromaidan supporters at their rally put forward an ultimatum to the regional authorities: to kneel before the rally participants, write a letter of resignation and part with the Party of Regions party card. The regional governor, Alexander Peklushenko, refused.
After this, about three thousand Euromaidan activists began to storm the building of the Zaporozhye Regional State Administration. Activists and football ultras threw stones and pieces of ice at police officers and the windows of the building.
Concerns were caused by the fact that all the special forces of the security forces (Zaporozhye “Berkut”, “Sokol” (special unit of the department for combating organized crime), as well as a significant part of the special forces regiment of the internal troops “Gepard”) were in Kiev. As a result, investigators, licensing system inspectors, experts and other employees who did not know how to deal with mass unrest were placed in a police cordon.
However, anti-Maidan supporters and workers of Zaporozhye enterprises came to the aid of law enforcement officers.
After an unsuccessful attempt to storm, the activists moved away from the Regional State Administration building, settling in the adjacent square, where they began to burn fires from tires.
Late in the evening, the police and volunteers from among the residents of Zaporozhye dispersed the meeting of Euromaidan supporters, and 46 people were detained.
But it happened this way only in Zaporozhye.
And what happened in Kiev?
On January 25, 2014, Viktor Yanukovych held regular negotiations with opposition leaders.
During the negotiations, Viktor Yanukovych offered the leader of the Batkivshchyna faction, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, the position of Prime Minister, and the leader of the UDAR party, and to Vitaliy Klitschko, the position of Deputy Prime Minister for Humanitarian Affairs.
A detachment of 300 radicals attempted to seize a strategic facility - the Ministry of Energy of Ukraine. Energy Minister Eduard Stavitsky himself approached the invaders and convinced them to leave the strategic site.
A little later, Euromaidan supporters stormed the Ukrainian House, in which units of internal troops from among conscripts were stationed.
During the assault that began, a number of armored glass windows of the transparent facade of the building were broken, and the protesters began to throw Molotov cocktails at the military personnel.
The lack of effective means of defense and the multiple numerical advantage of the attackers negated their attempts to defend the building
On January 27, after negotiations between representatives of the government and the opposition, a member of the working group to resolve the political situation, Minister of Justice Elena Lukash, said that Yatsenyuk refused to head the government.
The president and the opposition agreed to repeal the January 16 laws and consider government accountability.
On the same day, demonstrators seized one of the buildings of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine on Gorodetsky Street in the government quarter.
Euromaidan supporters said that they needed the building for “warming and overnight shelter” and began to build barricades.
The civil movement “Spilna Sprava” took responsibility for the seizure.
Well, what did representatives of foreign states do during the period of escalation?
They intensified their activities as much as possible, including putting pressure on Yanukovych and other government structures, and also intensified contacts with representatives of the opposition. At the same time receiving information first hand.
For example, David Lidington (Minister for Europe at the British Foreign Office) communicated with V. Klitschko, and used Klitschko’s German mobile number +4915116768183.
And the leadership of the UK MI6 residency in Ukraine has actually planned an informal meeting with official representatives of the intelligence services of EU countries in Ukraine. The reason for the meeting was the need to coordinate joint actions in the context of the aggravation of the situation in Kiev.
During this period, the American side decided to finally place its bet on Yatsenyuk.
However, US Embassy officials noted that A. Yatsenyuk was very hesitant about the offer to become prime minister and asked Washington to give him the necessary recommendations.
This very vividly characterizes the leader of the opposition, doesn’t it?
In turn, Geoffrey Pyatt (US Ambassador to Ukraine) proposed that A. Yatsenyuk determine the signing of an association agreement by Ukraine as the main condition for agreeing to the position proposed by Yanukovych. And A. Yatsenyuk agreed to this.
Pyatt’s decisions were also confirmed by Victoria Nuland, who confirmed that Yatsenyuk would receive all support from the United States. She also instructed Yatsenyuk on the conditions that he should set to the authorities. Including, for example, that Yanukovych is obliged to withdraw the Berkut from the center of Kiev.
Moreover, on January 26, according to Nuland, US Vice President Joe Biden was supposed to call Viktor Yanukovych. During the conversation, Biden was supposed to "inspire Yanukovych to do what he has to do."
There is no doubt about what was needed for the United States...
This is how Joe Biden became deeply involved in Ukrainian politics.
In Western Ukraine, the blocking of military units of the internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine by Euromaidan supporters continued:
1) 45th regiment (military unit 4114, Lvov);
2) 24th separate battalion (military unit 1241, Ivano-Frankovsk);
3) patrol company of the 24th separate battalion (military unit 1241, Kalush, Ivano-Frankovsk region);
4) 1st battalion of the 2nd separate Galician brigade (military unit 3002, Lvov);
5) 3rd battalion of the 2nd separate Galician brigade (military unit 3002, Rovno);
6) 32nd separate battalion (military unit 1141, Lutsk).
The situation in Kiev was further aggravated by the incomprehensible vacillations of Yanukovych himself.
After the escalation of January 19-22 and the first deaths on the Maidan, he entered into negotiations with the opposition. A delegation consisting of Yatsenyuk, Klitschko and Tyagnibok visited him several times. By the way, at that time there were persistent rumors that Yanukovych and opposition leaders repeatedly organized joint drinking sessions during these meetings.
An indirect confirmation of this can be the fact that after such meetings, the trio of opposition leaders went out to the Maidan and spoke in slurred manner about the results of the negotiations, adding incredible pathos (it was then that Yatsenyuk’s famous phrase was heard - “A bullet in the forehead? Let it be a bullet in the forehead”).
This behavior of the leaders outraged the activists, as they regarded it as an agreement with Yanukovych.
Particularly strong indignation began after Yanukovych publicly invited Arseniy Yatsenyuk to become prime minister, and Vitali Klitschko to become deputy prime minister for humanitarian issues, and Tyagnibok was completely ignored.
But in general, such actions on the part of the authorities once again showed their weakness.
And this greatly influenced the actions of the opposition, especially in the regions.