Larysa Zariczniak, Kyiv.
On February 18, 2015, Debaltseve fell. On the same day, Kyiv began to mourn its dead from a year ago. The silence around the Maidan was palpable. Maybe it was because of the failure of their military or the fact that the fall of this important strategic town in eastern Ukraine was one more blow to Ukraine’s pride, but the emotions expressed on the streets of Kyiv during these few days of national remembrance were as much cathartic as they were wretched.
Walking around the city, there were various events to commemorate the tragedy that befell a people who just wanted to live in a dignified way. There were stories assembled in the Globus Shopping Centre under the Maidan of 12 displaced people (interestingly only in Russian and English, and not in Ukrainian).
On the night of February 19th, there was a sound and visual presentation of the Maidan outside of the Ukrainian House on European Square where people gathered were presented with last year’s events along with a candle-light vigil.
At the Ivan Honchar Museum there was also an exhibition of Maidan artifacts – shields, clubs, tires, Molotov cocktails and the burned remnants of some Maidan tents. One impression that stuck out while exploring these simple instruments of protection and defence was the Medievalness of it: as compared to the modernity of the Ukrainian police, the protesters' desperate turn to anything and everything around them is a truly remarkable aspect of the Revolution of Dignity.
At the Ukrainian House there was also another exhibit of Maidan art – from painted original helmets, portraits and an original painting whose canvas was from a burned tent. All this interesting art was a visual reminder of the hard road that Ukraine has had to endure this last year. It has endured, and it has survived.
On the night of Friday February 19, 2015 was the official commemoration ceremony. It began with a mass congregation in Maidan. It was a truly surreal experience. From the crowd there was a mixed conversation of the war, accusations of pro-Russian sentiment about a family friend and the frequent “Slava Ukraini! Herojiam Slava!”(Glory to Ukraine! Glory to the Heroes!), “Slava Natsii! Smert Voroham!” (Glory to our Nation! Death to our Enemies!) and “Ukraina – Ponad Use!” (Ukraine above all!).
At a distance, a large group of Ukrainians gathered and, as is almost always the case, they began singing national Ukrainian songs. Kozak songs of loss, love, war and victory. It seemed fitting since the war was a constant theme of the remembrance ceremonies.
However, the official ceremony had a mixed feeling of political campaigning more than a national expression of representation. The long classical rendition of Mozart’s Requiem was incredible – as Ukraine’s musical talents usually know no bounds – however, its usage was mixed with some apprehension as many people did not know what to do or how to react: should they stay and wait for the end of the Requiem or should they move on and remember this night one year ago in their own way?
The most powerful image of this evening was the lighting of the commemorative spotlights to represent those who were killed on those very streets of Kyiv last year. Their use brought back the physical memory of the Heavenly Hundred and it is a common hope that they will be left as they are – to become a constant reminder of the people who gave their lives for this country’s future.
The real commemoration and remembrance however came the next day, on February 20th. By this point the stage, where the politicians stood, was being dismantled and people could walk up and down Instytutska Street without having to walk through metal detectors.
Walking down past the shrine that has been created on the top of the street near the entrance to Khreschatyk Metro station – a mother was trying to explain to her small daughter what occurred here last year while trying not to cry at the memory of it all. Others were placing flowers and lighting candles. This was how the Heavenly Hundred was remembered: by explaining who these people were and why they came out there to those streets.
The entire street was filled with people wishing to say their thank you’s and to say their good-bye’s. Even truck drivers delivering sound equipment stopped to pay their respects before they drove their lorries down to Khreschatyk. There were many tears shed on this day as “Plyve Kacha” (a song now connected with Maidan funerals) constantly played on speakers set up along Instytutska and around the Maidan.
However, the thoughts of war were never far from anyone’s minds as veterans and soldiers mixed in with the crowd in almost all occasions: many of them stood on these streets last year and have gone through their own version of Hell because of the actions of some who sit in Moscow demanding their power be restored in Ukraine. That power was represented in the exhibit of captured Russian military equipment that was on display outside of Mykhailivskyj Sobor. From the SMERCH missiles to the pilotless drones to the Armoured Personnel Carrier and a Russian tank – it proved that Russia was involved in this war and was not going to stop its support anytime soon. It was eerie when a child sitting on top of their parents’ shoulders pointed at the Russian equipment and said: “Tato – tank!” This is the new normal for Ukraine.
The March of Dignity was February 22nd and began at the shrine on top of that now infamous Instytutska Street. The procession was led by various political leaders including those from Lithuania along with President Poroshenko and Prime Minister Yatseniuk. The crowd was several thousand long and was occasioned by the echoes of “Slava Ukraini” and “Smert Voroham”. One old man added his own twist to the chanting replying with “Smert Putinu” (Death to Putin) to “Slava Natsii”(Glory to our Nation). He laughed when he was told he was correct. The procession took the same route where the heaviest of fighting took place last year and ended on the Maidan with the lighting of commemorative candles by the political leaders.
Watching over all of these events was the screens flashing the faces of the Heavenly Hundred – making them more human and individual and harder to forget. The weekend was unfortunately turned more fraught with the news of the terror attack in Kharkiv – with an additional 3 more into the ranks of the Heavenly Hundred while on a peaceful commerative Maidan walk.
Instytutska is even more sorrowful in the evening, when the lights are casting their red glow along the sidewalks and the candles are burning brightly along the entire street. The white beams of light reminds you that a person’s life ended here last year. A person’s hopes, aspirations and fears were diminished by the act of one man. It is even more profound when thinking that many of those lives perished outside the Orange Palace – the former KGB building where thousands more Ukrainians lost their lives for one man’s and one party’s delusions.
The Heavenly Hundred represent all those Ukrainians who lost their lives for the fight to make Ukraine a better place – for the thousands who stood up to challenge a system of governance that was ill-equipped to handle the Ukrainian mindset, the millions starved for Stalin’s cruel determination to communism, the hundreds of dissidents and the millions more that were crushed by the hand of Russian imperialism. They should never be forgotten and their memories should be always eternal in the heart of the capital of Ukraine.
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