Peaceful protests in Ukraine met with violence

Yulia and I traveled to Lviv yesterday to take part in the human chain that would connect Kyiv, Ukraine's capital, with the Polish border.

Yulia and her dad upon arrival at the chain

At the chain

The chain was supposed to be a sign of support for the signing of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement at the summit in Vilnius yesterday. It was a pretty big deal considering that the Associate Agreement would not even guarantee Ukrainian membership into the EU. The agreement was, unfortunately, not signed.

Since we got back home from the human chain last night a lot has happened in Ukraine. "Shuster Live," a Russian language news program that has a pro-government slant, aired its last episode last night. The show was supposed to feature the three leaders of the united opposition. But when it came time to broadcast the politicians and their opinions on the Association Agreement not being signed the TV channel suddenly played a serial drama instead. "According to lawmaker Iryna Herashchenko’s Facebook page, when lawmakers from the ruling Party of Regions learned that the opposition leaders had entered the studio, they blocked the doors from opening, saying that they weren’t on the list of guests tonight," says the Kyiv Post. 

This is exactly the kind of antics that the protests are about. Instead of being sure in their positions, the government and its puppet journalists instead censor all opinions other than their own. 

We also learned that the opposition will be holding a rally on Sunday (tomorrow). According to the Kyiv Post, they want to:

1. Form a coordinating committee to communicate with the European community.

2. To state that the president, parliament and the Cabinet of Ministers aren’t capable of carrying out a geopolitically strategic course of development for the state and calls on Yanukovych’s resignation.

3. Demand the cessation of political repressions against EuroMaidan activists, students, civic activists and opposition leaders.

 But this morning we heard very disturbing news coming out of Kyiv. At four in the morning, police starting beating protesters and journalists to disperse the Euro Maidan site.

And see this video by Reuters:

The US government has vowed that the Ukrainian government will face serious repercussions if they use force against the protesters. Well, they already have as of four o'clock this morning. 

Please help us try and right the wrong that the Ukrainian government has done to its own people. We love Ukraine and want to see it have a bright future. 

To help, please sign the petition to US President Barack Obama to impose sanctions against the Ukrainian government. There are other petitions as well. Please see our Twitter feed on our blog for those and other updates about the developing situation here.