Like
many of you, our friends, my wife and I have been literally rooted to our
chairs as we watched events in our beloved Ukraine roll out, ever since those
terrible days in Kyiv last November when Ukrainians began to die because of the
brutality of Yanukovych’s Berkut. Since then, many, many more innocents have
sacrificed themselves to protest injustice, tryanny and corruption. Ukrainians
have been incredibly brave throughout all this. They have withstood freezing
cold, Militia attacks, titushki beatings, kidnappings, torture, murder, Berkut
Molotov cocktails and finally, an ultimate horror, the cold-blooded, merciless snipers of their own
government’s security forces:
(WARNING - GRAPHIC)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kg9fjOfPZyE
While
parts of the beautiful city certainly suffered too, with burned out buildings
and ruined streets, for the most part protesters showed restraint and
extraordinary care for property and especially for human life. Perhaps you too
have seen the live stream images or video recordings from the battlefield of
Maidan and Dynamo Stadium, where medics and priests risked their lives to
rescue others and save lives. Maybe you thrilled with us as we watched ordinary
citizens use their very bodies to block the advance of robotic Berkut troops,
keeping them from the defenseless still huddled around the stage at Maidan.
Hourly we listened to the stirring sound of a thousand or more voices singing
the anthem of Ukraine in the face of those who would deny them a say in their
own future. And also like us, you may have sat shocked and with tear-filled
eyes as you witnessed Yanukovych’s armed thugs killing defenseless protesters
by the dozen as events reached their awful, bloody climax earlier this week.
One
little known fact most Americans are not aware of is that Ukraine’s 40 million
citizens legally possess more than 2 million private firearms: 400,000 of them
are in Kyiv alone. And yet, even in the face of murderous provocation and
killings by the police and Berkut, very few of those privately owned firearms
were ever raised in anger, even against their tormentors: the ratio of citizens
killed to police casualties was over 10 to 1. It tells us that Ukrainians are a
people possessing extraordinary restraint and respect for life, because if
every private gun in Ukraine had been fired in anger, the dead would be in the
many thousands by now. But Ukrainians are not ordinary people. With few
exceptions, they are gentle, friendly, kind, loving and welcoming to strangers.
They understand firsthand what it is like to suffer at the hands of others. In
short, Ukrainians define what it means to be a civilized people. They paid for
this label with the endurance and restraint they demonstrated even as they
suffered injustice after injustice.
And
what do we have to show for all this suffering? A series of events that amaze
us and leave us feeling like we are witnesses to history: Yanukovych flees Kyiv
like the coward he truly is, leaving behind gold bullion, incriminating
documents and unfed animals in his private zoo. Then we see the Rada grow from
a collection of squabbling yes-men into a focused deliberative body intent on
changing their country before it is too late to save from riot and ruin. We
watched as Yulia Tymoschenko, weakened by 30 months of confinement as a
political prisoner, wheeled out triumphantly into freedom, then whisked away to
lay flowers at the site where so many brave people died for their country in
Kyiv. Finally we listened to her words of love, comfort and encouragement to
the people she once wronged, and now wants to do right by. We think she
deserves another chance. For who else is there in Ukraine that has even a
remote chance of uniting the country in this difficult time?
There
is still so much to be done: the ex-president to be impeached, prosecuted and
brought to justice for his many crimes against his own people; buildings,
streets and lives to be rebuilt; new laws to be passed and new independent,
fair and incorruptible judges and prosecutors appointed to carry them out; an
economy to be rebuilt virtually from scratch; bodies, minds and hearts to be
mended…indeed the list of tasks ahead for Ukrainians to tackle is as daunting
as it is long.
But
we have absolutely no doubt that Ukraine will rise from this chaos and
bloodshed to be the country that it always was meant to be: a reflection of the
superb people who live there and who deserve so much better than they have been
dealt in the past. Now, for the first time in years, they have the keys to
their own future in their hand. We wish them well with the confidence that
Ukrainian men and women can do ANYTHING that they set their minds and hearts
to.
