Motivation of mobilization, interviews with Euromaidan participants

I treat this situation as a bad comedy, just a group of clowns taking over the circus or something. But, honestly, everything is very tragic and serious because they beat our people in Kyiv. … It was very personal for me [unsigned Association Agreement]. As for me, European integration primarily involves qualitative changes that we can’t achieve from the inside, so we try to impose, to press from the outside. For example, for me, it concerns changes in education and science. … Thursday evening, when it was clear that the Association Agreement wouldn’t be signed. Friday morning, actually, when they didn’t sign the Agreement and people were beaten in Kyiv. … Thursday evening, a dozen people were standing here. I think the most striking thing is actually very symbolic: ten, fifteen people, some hundreds of people can start something like this. … I think it’s very symbolic that it’s happening near the monument to Taras Shevchenko, because more than once, actually, the speakers referred to his works, quoted, said that he was looking at us. Maybe there’s something in it: the very phrase “fight – and you’ll win” recurred in my memory many times among those people.

Male, 19 years old, recorded in Lviv, December 3, 2013, one of the Euromaidan organizers, assistant camp commandant

Well, at first, everyone seemed to be gathering for Yanukovych to sign the Agreement with the European Union. But after he didn’t, the Maidan was dispersed by the Berkut at four in the morning on Sunday. I think, now, this demonstration is more like a revolution; we just want to overthrow the regime of Yanukovych, Azarov, and their entire gang so that they finally leave our country and don’t interfere with our lives.

Male, 21 years old, recorded in Lviv, December 3, 2013, Euromaidan participant

Imagine: the country has been preparing for European integration for three years, and then in a week, it all falls by the wayside. Purely out of people’s humanistic visions. It’s unreal. Moreover, the people want it, right? I relate to the same majority; I also support this direction. … Overall, the goal of Lviv is also the signing of the European integration agreement and the resignation of the president and the government. That’s all. No other directions. But I’ve heard that in some cities, people take over the city councils and force them to draw up. Anyway, our city council works for people, we don’t need to do this.

Male, 22 years old, recorded in Lviv, December 3, 2013, Euromaidan participant

Azarov’s statement about no signing and the mistake of our leadership, who ordered Berkut to disperse students at four o’clock in the morning on Sunday night. … I think all the people, the entire Ukrainian people, will stand until the end, until the resignation of the Parliament and the impeachment of the president. That’s the only way.

Male, 23 years old, recorded in Lviv,  December 3, 2013, Euromaidan participant

Well, now, [we’re] on the Euromaidan for the youth to come to the European Union, for us to have education abroad, for us to feel similar to states of the European Union, and not, like, there more, there less, or something else. It shouldn’t be like that; everyone should be equal.

Male, 24 years old, recorded in Lviv, December 3, 2013, Euromaidan participant

I want to support Ukraine. … Well, on Monday, as I was at home on the weekend. And I admit that, for example, in the villages, people discuss this situation, but they don’t actively support it. So, when I came to Lviv, I realized I had a chance, and it was worth joining. … Well, I was watching the news. I’d say I wasn’t motivated because there was none… [But] when I came here, I saw the people’s mood. I believe in the best and want to support them. At home, I’d say, people, well, yes, they discuss it, but still stay aside. … I want to live in a free country where the voice of the people is heard. I want my children to live in the same free and prosperous country in the future. I can’t stay aside. My parents are teachers. Just today, I heard such great slogans for teachers and doctors. And I just want to express my opinion. I hope everything will change for the better. … I honestly can’t predict, but I hope with such slogans as “Together we are strong” and “Together to victory,” we’ll achieve the desired result. I hope for the dispersal of the government and the impeachment of the president.

Female, 19 years old, recorded in Lviv, December 3, 2013, Euromaidan participant

A strange question [what motivates my participation]. Of course, the dispersal of the Euromaidan in Kyiv. It showed, to a greater extent, the true face of our government.

Male, 56 years old, recorded in Lviv, December 3, 2013, Orange Revolution and Euromaidan participant

Well, today, I think, as our president hasn’t signed the association with the EU, the main goal is the governmental reset, the resignation of the government, the impeachment of the president, and the re-election of the new Verkhovna Rada. Well, I hope for a positive development, and although I don’t know how it’ll all end, I still want to believe they’ll fulfill our demands. Well, as I said, I have the most positive expectations and hopes.

Female, 18-20 years old, recorded in Kharkiv, December 4, 2013, Euromaidan participant

What motivated people is the following. They fooled us for two years, [promised] that we were just about to do it, wait for a little, and we’ll sign an association with the European Union. Then in a week they just let us down, everybody understood it, [compared] how people live there abroad, and how they live here. Then the event that happened, it’s just … we feed the police, Sokol and Berkut and everyone, they live from our “taxes,” and then they beat us! That’s the worst, and they beat us mercilessly. … I want not a single drop of blood to be shed. God forbid, I want to change the government, which has been working for the third year constantly dropping the ball, and our President to get a bit smarter and to use his head.

Female, 55 years old, recorded in Kharkiv, December 4, 2013, Orange Revolution and Euromaidan participant

Well, these events, of course. That is what happened both with the association and with this beat-up. Of course, it’s… … Refusal and dispersal. These are the main ones. Well, it explains the passion of people. And the reason is what has been happening in our country for the past 20 years. That’s the reason. …I believe it’s the protection of public dignity. I’d say so. It’s the most important thing. We’ll have everything else if we have this dignity… Well, not only [the Berkut attack motivated me]. Of course, not only. It’s like a consequence. It’s everything happening in the country. Because it’s the same thing, I think. There is no difference somewhere else, in Kharkiv, for example. Everyone knows this. These things are all over the country.

Male, 41 years old, recorded in Kharkiv, December 4, 2013, active Orange Revolution and Euromaidan participant

It’s hard to say [what motivated me]. Refusal to sign the Agreement caused the very event, and that’s why people protested. They want a normal, European life. … Of course, the best option is the removal of the government, the removal of the president, and elections. We’d be glad, but it’s unlikely. [But] it doesn’t stop me from coming here.

Male, 60 years old, recorded in Kharkiv, December 4, 2013, Orange Revolution and Euromaidan participant

The first reason was that our President refused to sign the agreement with the European Union. It was like the last straw. But overall, we no longer stand so much for the European Union as for the true independence of Ukraine because nothing has changed during these twenty-two years, to be honest. We continue to feel like slaves of the regime. … For example, when we aim to remember the victims of the Holodomor, or the victims of Kruty [battle of Kruty, t/n.], or something else, [they organize] a concert on Independence Day. Not similar demonstrations, but more like patriotic ones. But usually, it’s just for one day: you come, show you still remember, and go home. I’ve never had such an experience here as this time. …Kyiv is the capital, the heart of Ukraine, and our support is needed there. And I want to be at the center of those events. I also want to leave a mark on history. I’m not saying a noticeable mark but my own so that I’ll tell my children that “we were building a country!” … We need to overthrow the government, to build a new one. There is no perfect government, and there anyway will be some supporters, but [we need our government] to agree with the presidents of other countries and to sign an agreement with the European Union.

Female, 25 years old, recorded in Lviv, December 4, 2013, Euromaidan volunteer

I am enraged with our politicians. Those promises of one thing while doing another. I was most outraged, of course, by the violent actions against the protesters. Sometimes some skeptics have lost hope in everything. But I am convinced. Most support, of course. …Our main goal is to show that Ukrainians are a strong nation and that we cannot be always mocked. Ukraine can show what it really is. Not politicians, but people!

Female, 27 years old, recorded in Lviv, December 4, 2013, Orange Revolution and Euromaidan participant

I had no doubts. My public position motivated me, which is opposite to one of our politicians and our government. The main goal of the protest is the overthrow the ruling pseudo-government, which is “pro-Kremlin,” and also to make our dreams and goals come true. I hope to overthrow the current government, the entry of Ukraine into the EU, and new authorities, even though our opposition shows how cool it is. I believe we have to let new people into power, those who recently graduated from universities, who are not yet corrupted. It’s necessary to give way to young people who want to do something for their country. In my opinion, we have to establish a unitary totalitarian pro-nationalist regime in Ukraine, which would direct the propaganda of Ukrainian values and not those values dictated to us by the Kremlin.

Male, 18-23 years old, recorded in Lviv, December, 4, 2013, active Euromaidan and “Svitchka Pamiati” participant

The purpose of the protest? To overthrow the government, to reform it, just overthrow the current government and change it to the new one, perhaps even students. Why not? The events… we have to be steady and go on with this course because if we back down again, there may not be a third chance… People will just go nuts and radical. That is, it will no longer be peaceful demonstrations but forceful bloodshed… I am ready to [fight] till the very end, always. I’d like everything to be as in European democratic countries, where in conditions like these, the government resigns, and no one, no one bothers about it, but in our country, those burdocks have just grown into their chairs.

Female, 29 years old, recorded in Lviv, December 5, 2014, Euromaidan participant

It’s a question of honor. I’m an optimist. And I see we’ll pray, and the Lord will help us overcome today’s government, and we’ll be the state we dreamed of! The main goal is to change our leadership.

Female, 56 years old, recorded in Lviv, December 5, 2013, participant of Euromaidan and other demonstration from 1990

The impetus was that our students were passive. We wanted to involve the students because they have always been the driving force behind it, and there were no obstacles then. … We made this decision right away. We just tried to consolidate people to send them to Kyiv because Kyiv is the center of events. … The purpose of the protest is to show our “highly respected” authorities that people have consolidated. It’s the cry of the people. As for me, it’s about conveying to the authorities that we are here and will stand until they accept our decisions. First of all, people who are on the Euromaidan can help each other. And the main ultimate goal is to dissolve our government, the Cabinet, and the Parliament. They must hear us and listen to the people they serve.

Male, 18 years old, recorded in Lviv, December 6, 2013, one of the Euromaidan organizers

Here in Warsaw, we’re not protesting as much as we’re supporting those people protesting in Ukraine. We express our support for those Ukrainians because here, we see the way people in Ukraine strive to live better than today. And what’s happening under the Embassy of Ukraine in Warsaw is the minimum we can contribute to this common cause. I think these days no Ukrainian can stand aside from the events. We don’t need to look for some motivators, I don’t know, [think] about some charakterze. That is, everyone understands what we want, and everyone understands that, by protesting, we contribute our small share to Ukrainian improvement. I don’t think there’s anyone in their right mind who wouldn’t want a better life, right? … As a citizen, as a person who feels a certain connection with Ukraine. My role is to express my public position. … When it all started, the main goal of Euromaidan, I already mentioned, was an act of support for Ukraine’s European aspirations. Now it’s a real protest. Both the main goal of Euromaidan and the main goal declared by politicians differ in certain things. Actually, it all depends on the next few days. As the Marshal of the Senate said at the meeting: “We need to sit down and negotiate.” There are no alternatives here. I’m against such drastic solutions, bloody scenarios, and so on. I believe there must be some compromise. I hope for a positive development of events. As I said, I believe it should be a compromise. People… not among themselves, but people did their job. They came out and showed what they wanted. They put this trump card in the hands of the opposition. Now it’s up to the leaders of the opposition to sit down and negotiate; there are no other options here.

Male, 23 years old, recorded in Warsaw, December 6, 2013, Orange Revolution and Euromaidan participant

What motivated me? Well, look at what’s going on now, and you’ll find the answer. Ukraine is currently in a difficult economic and political situation, and the government has become too big for its pants. And to support the actions of the government and their completely inconsistent steps is just a shame. Let’s use a Maidan slogan: “Shame!” … The main purpose of the protest, in my opinion, is to overcome the government. Because this government has approved itself very “nicely” in recent years. It brought Ukraine to a crisis, it’s inconsistent. It first prepares the ground in the minds of, let’s say, average citizens: that European integration is necessary, and then at the finish line steps back and says: “You think we need it? We really don’t…”. I don’t understand it, and if the government takes such inconsistent steps, if it doesn’t understand the economic situation in the country, why do we need such a government? But, as I said, I don’t support the actions of the opposition because I believe they use this situation as a platform for further elections. Unfortunately, it’s true. That’s only my opinion. … First, I want to emphasize that the events should develop only peacefully within the framework of the legal field, but, at the same time, they should not end up with some purely cultural demonstration, that is, some concerts and dances. That’s also wrong. Still, if we’re looking for a new leader who can really lead these processes, then I’d say that common citizens… Of course, we won’t be able to get involved in big politics, but still, people and the community must have their word in it. Because if they trust, let’s say, in the elections and give their votes to their political parties or individual candidates, they must understand that the people we elect are responsible for their voters. Unfortunately, it’s not the case today. Maybe, Ukraine just needs a new opposition leader who won’t support either the government or the systemic opposition. Well, again, it’s my opinion. And I wish the ordinary citizens, in my opinion, the most respected community, should unite more and exchange information more. They should integrate more, let’s say, maintain horizontal connections. It will probably be the main achievement of Euromaidan, in my opinion.

Male, 34 years old, recorded in Kharkiv, December 7, 2013, Orange Revolution and Euromaidan participant

The thing is that I care about Ukraine. Very much. First, my parents, my whole family, my brother, and all my friends are there in Kyiv. When on November 30th, I saw on the Internet what happened… I knew my brother was on the Maidan the evening before. And I didn’t know if he had left for the night. It turned out he did. Honestly, I cried all day long. Maybe I took it a little too emotionally and realized we had to do something. Being here, at least in some way, I could participate in these demonstrations. Interesting thing is that I went to Ukraine for a visa from the 14th to the 24th [of November]. Actually, on the 24th, when they announced Azarov’s government refused to sign [the Agreement]. People started to organize those spontaneous Maidans. I was there on the Maidan. When there was the most numerous demonstration, I was actually on the plane to Warsaw. When I arrived here, I knew people were starting to gather. Well, actually, after that, everything was more or less stable. Well, everyone was waiting for the summit on the 29th [of November]. Everyone believed they would sign. Everything was great and so on. Well, when all these events happened, I was very worried and tried to do something about it. It seemed effective to me. … Two events were decisive: the first was the refusal to sign the Agreement, and the second – was the dispersal of Euromaidan at 4 a.m. on November 30. This second event, no matter how tragic and unacceptable, and it would have been better if it hadn’t happened, motivated a million people to come the following day. Mr. Yanukovych became such a unifying factor for East and West, and this event outraged everyone so much that it became decisive in this revolution. It transformed into a revolution from that moment. People would have stood for a couple of days on Euromaidan and gone their separate ways. Well, everyone would have been a bit sad. But after what happened, nobody could be calm anymore, and Euromaidan had transformed into a Eurorevolution. The most important goal is to overthrow the current government. To get new. Which one? No one knows for sure. The power that won’t use violence and, in fact, will support those European values people talk about and will sign the association agreement while the EU is still waiting [for us]. At first, people came to Euromaidan to show they wanted the Agreement; then they united against Mr. Yanukovych and the Azarov government, who disrupted it. Then about 90 percent of people gathered against the violence of the existing authorities, all those things unacceptable for European integration.

Female, 25 years old, recorded in Warsaw, December 7, 2013, Orange Revolution and Euromaidan participant

I’d say that when there was a protest against the thing that we hadn’t signed the European integration, well, the government hadn’t, I somehow more or less agreed, but I wasn’t going to participate. But after Berkut dispersed the students on Saturday, I decided we needed to speak up, and I had to express my position. I decided to participate because I wanted to support the people, and I believe beating people and blood isn’t normal for a European country. That is, we can’t solve with blood all kinds of protests, all kinds of views. I’d very much like to go to Kyiv and support, but I’m a girl, and I can’t… …The goal, well, initially, was the signing of the Agreement with the European Union, but now it’s the resignation of the entire Cabinet of Ministers and the President.

Female, 25-34 years old, recorded in Kharkiv, December 7, 2013, Orange Revolution and Euromaidan participant

There are no obstacles [to participating in the Euromaidan]. What obstacles can I have? None. Why did I decide to join? It’s not even a protest. I can’t call it a protest. I can call it the word of my position. Why? My dad is from Lviv. My mom is from Belgorod. Well, I can’t split up, can I? (laughs) Nobody separated anyone. The crushing of our mentality is the essence. Basically, what’s in it? I’m not against, I am not against Russia, I am not against the EU, and I’m not for Russia or for the EU. I am for the freedom of the Ukrainian people, who have been kneeling for a very long time, having this slavish consciousness. Slave consciousness, people need to understand. But we’re afraid. We fear of being left without money … Next are the forms of participation and experience. Have I ever taken part in similar demonstrations? When there was the Orange Revolution, I was at the forefront, for which I was beaten a couple of time. The villagers made fun of me. Well, now they can calmly watch “Kvartal 95.”

Female, 45 years old, recorded in Kharkiv, December 7, 2013, Euromaidan participant

I had no doubt [about participation]. We must finish with this lawlessness somehow. … I feel very sorry for the kid, there’s a lot of injustice in the country, and you understand something must be done, radically changed. I’ve been long convinced Ukraine should move somewhere, not remain in the same place for twenty years, that’s for sure. I’ve been to European countries, to three of them. Very beautiful, very cultural, and very civilized. I want Kharkiv to be the same, a European city. … Well, the majority of the parliament is corrupt and cannot be moved. Only the protesters can change something. I don’t know if our authorities are afraid, but something has to happen, something has to change for the better for us, citizens. … I’d like people to move towards some kind of progress, towards a good future, not again to sovok, sorry.

 Female, 55 years old, recorded in Kharkiv, December 7, 2013, Euromaidan participant

I didn’t have any obstacles or doubts because I like the course of European integration overall, and I think it’s the most relevant now. And also, I didn’t vote for the current government, and, that is, I don’t like it at all, its actions in general, we have such a government in our country… … Well, the main event was… a sharp reversal of our authorities, when they declared [the refusal of the Agreement], violating the Constitution of Ukraine by suspending the process of European integration for an indefinite period. They turned 180 degrees, and it turned out to be a key moment.

Male, 18-25 years old, recorded in Kharkiv, December 7, 2013, Orange Revolution and Euromaidan participant

I regularly visit some VKontakte groups, like “Patriots of Ukraine,” and also, I watch the news. And somewhere on the 20th, I found out our government refused to sign the association with the EU after six years of cooperation. I was enraged because those several people decide where I should go, and they also violated the Constitution, as we have an article about European integration. It outraged me. … Yes, the Constitution and my rights were violated, and I’m not satisfied. … I realized that who but me? Now or never, I have to stand up for my rights. … First thing was the president making a statement he wouldn’t sign [the Agreement] together with Azirov [mocking way to call Azarov, t/n.]. When the president didn’t sign this association, then our people were beaten. These are the key moments that I believe raise our society again and again. … The main goal is the impeachment of Yanukovych, the resignation of the government, and the welcoming people who reflect the mood of the real society … I’d like to discard all Ukrainian institutions, represented by cops and berkuts. I want the reforms to be transparent, as well as the judicial system and the parliament. Finally, I want everyone to adhere to the constitution and not twist it to their side so that every citizen has the opportunity to develop as he or she wishes within the framework of the law, of course. Also, for us to have a decent standard of living and the opportunity to earn money.

 Female, 18-25 years old, recorded in Kharkiv, December 8, 2013, Orange Revolution and Euromaidan participant

I learned [about the protests] from our students, who started going to the Maidan that very evening when the government said it was abandoning the European integration course. I supported my students. I didn’t want to sit passively at home, I wanted to come here, not knowing whether it’d lead anywhere or change something, but I had a feeling it was necessary to get up and go out. There were no doubts. … The main idea it’s the protest against our current government, against the usurpation of Russia, and the reluctance to go under the yoke we, our parents, and grandparents once experienced. I hope for a positive development, I’d like our government to change. Maybe it’s unrealistic, but still.

Female, 28 years old, recorded in Lviv, December 8, 2013,Orange Revolution and Euromaidan participant

Naturally, I watch the news, and when it was about Euromaidan during the time of European integration, I was quite neutral and didn’t participate. When we saw those terrible pictures of the dispersal of demonstrators, I believe any normal person couldn’t stay away and turn a blind eye to it because if we do that, then we’ll have to live with it to the end. … It’s a fight against corruption, against the permissiveness of power, a fight for our civil rights, for justice, for us to be able to walk the streets without fear that deputies, knocking people down at pedestrian crossings, won’t bear responsibility for it. So that people stop taking these events as something self-evident when no one bears any responsibility. … So that people manage to keep everything in a peaceful, right way, when everyone helps each other, and this is the goal, not some party slogans, but Ukraine.

Female, 25 years old, recorded in Kharkiv, December 8, 2013, Euromaidan participant

Because I want to live in a European country, I want my children to live in a European country. … After students were beaten in Kyiv. … I [came here] with the mood to punish, of course, the guilty, those who beat children. And no, nothing has changed. I want the guilty to be in prison and the innocent to go free. There were no “pros,” no “cons” [to join the protest]. It was just a matter of time, work, and company, let’s say.

Female, 31 years old, recorded in Kharkiv, December 8, 2013, Euromaidan participant

What doubts can there be to participate in the process? Well, as I said before, I am a normal person, and I don’t want my children and grandchildren to get beaten. I want them to live in a normal country. That’s it, that’s why I came here.

Female, 33-34 years old, recorded in Kharkiv, December 8, 2013, Euromaidan participant

Somehow I am always in this atmosphere. I didn’t have to make any decision. I am constantly outraged by our positions and the overall position of Ukraine in this world, I am constantly outraged. My father was repressed, and he fought with the Stalinist authorities. … For me, it’s about my children being happy. European integration is a change in laws that will work for the people but not for the government. There is hope that our state works for us, not the other way round. … I am 64 years old, so I only need my children to feel good.

Female, 64 years old, recorded in Kharkiv, December 8, 2013, Euromaidan participant

It was my inner feeling to be here, to support my state, support Ukraine, and so on. … I believe I have to be here; if not me, if not all of us here, there will be no future in Ukraine. … Of course, December 1st was a key moment during Euromaidan, when Berkut tortured our people, and that’s why we came here. [We came here] to prove that Ukrainians are a nation that stands up for its rights, that is, for its state.

Male, 20 years old, recorded in Kharkiv, December 8, 2013, Orange Revolution and Euromaidan participant

I’m just saying banal things: we can’t continue to live like this in this mess. What’s happening, that echelon for corruption, and not only corruption, is an illustration of this government, and its cynical behavior toward its citizens, regardless of where they live – in the West or, for example, in Donbas. I was in Luhansk and Donetsk not so long ago and in Dnipropetrovsk. I arrived three days ago. I wouldn’t say that people there are happy with this government, [although] there are privileges for these regions. But I don’t see they support [the government]. It’s just a shame, this government, its people. And the most terrible thing is that people take it for granted … I think what’s happening now is good. A category of new Ukrainians was born, who don’t want to put up with this mess, let’s say. They actively went to protests. We can see that Euromaidan started with students, quite symbolically. People who were born after 1991 in Independent Ukraine came there.

Male, 27 years old, recorded in Kharkiv, December 8, 2013, Euromaidan and Orange Revolution participant in Dnipropetrovsk

[I joined the protest] after the students were beaten in Kyiv, because among these 35 detained was the son of my good friends, the same age as my eldest… It was actually the last straw, probably not only for me but for many people. … I think it’s obvious… We all want to live in a normal country. We all have children, and we don’t want them to go somewhere abroad. We want them to live in a normal country, on their land. … I wanted all people to know about [the protest]. I talked to my students. I asked them to come somehow to support Ukraine. There’s not a single person who doesn’t support [us]. Everyone supports as much as they can. My husband, his sister, and his mother are now in Kyiv at Euromaidan. … Well, of course, a big thank you to the students who raised this whole movement when the Agreement was not signed. Great respect. Now, every person in this country must join and support. First, it’s not even about joining, moving toward Europe, it’s a very important thing, but first, we have to live in a normal country. … It’s clear we must win. All these Maidan demands must be fulfilled. There’s no way back for us. Because it will just be a country for bandits. Repressions. We can’t leave altogether. For example, I don’t want to leave this country. I want to live here. And I understand we can have only one solution to all these events – victory!

Female, 35 years old, recorded in Lviv, December 8, 2013, Euromaidan participant

I work in a charitable organization with children from boarding schools and orphanages. I came here to defend the right of these and other children to live in a better country than now.

Male, 29 years old, recorded in Lviv, December 8, 2013, Orange Revolution and Euromaidan participant

First, the beating of children. Failure with the European integration. … What about my mood? I was sure we’d win. We just need to take power into our hands and create student committees so that they get power. Just as they did in Kyiv: now, instead of the mayor, they created their committee and are taking power into their hands. We should do it all over Ukraine. … How exactly do I [join]? I go to demonstrations. Well, we don’t have a big one in Lviv; it’s peaceful here. We have to go to Kyiv and join the protests. … The decisive factor is the very thing that people went on strike and held demonstrations. The movement is the main thing. They seem to have said everything disappeared, and people were sleeping. Even though many politicians said everything was lost, no one would speak up. But people rose. Now we see it. Glory to the heroes!

Male, 36-55 years old, recorded in Lviv, December 8, 2013, Euromaidan participant

I couldn’t help but join, as I’m into analyzing the political situation in Ukraine. I follow it. I write political analyzes. And besides my professional interest, I have a personal one: I have a Ukrainian passport, I vote in Ukraine, and I choose the Ukrainian government. So, I care about what’s happening in Ukraine, not only politically, but also socially. … [I decided to join the protest] on the first day of the Kyiv Maidan, on Thursday. In fact, when the Cabinet of Ministers’ resolution appeared. We chatted on Facebook and discussed the situation. I won’t deny most of us haven’t expected that the government could sign, that is, the President could sign the association, but the government’s decision was beyond his competence. I was shocked they could break the law in Ukraine so easily. … Well, of course, I’d like all the demands of the Euromaidan, which you hear everywhere: the resignation of the President, the resignation of the Cabinet of Ministers, even the re-election of the Verkhovna Rada – to be fulfilled. Finally, we need to change the government because maybe we won’t change the system right away, but at least the nowadays system won’t be able, let’s say so, to twist us anymore, to twist the freedoms that we still have, to destroy them.

Female, 33 years old, recorded in Warsaw, December 12, 2013, one of the Euromaidan organizers, Orange Revolution participant

Well, you can’t explain it with any words. It’s just a call of the soul, the heart, that you have to [join]. You have to go there, be with the people. Abroad, far from the events, it’s about solidarity, supporting and showing the people who live here, Poles, that there’s such a problem. … Now I think the main goal is a change in power, or even if there’s none, then for the government to pay attention to the people. I still hope they will form a new government, or it would be even better if there were re-elections in the parliament and re-elections of the president. With the revolution, we need a fundamental change in this situation and the entire system. Because [otherwise], it’ll stay the same as it was ten years ago. Maybe not 100%, but 50%. I hope there will be some understanding between the authorities and, above all, the president and the opposition. And I hope they’ll agree either on the resignation of the government or re-elections. The re-elections are important, but now it’s not possible. Well, from what I’ve seen, I think the authorities try to intimidate or discourage people, as happened with the students at the barricades at night. It makes people angry. It puts them even more in a position against the authorities. In this way, people are becoming more and more radical. I know there’s a bus to Euromaidan from Warsaw. It’ll pick up some people from Lublin, my friends. We are also collecting help. Food, clothing, and some financial assistance. From what I’ve seen, people are determined to stand until the end, until the authorities negotiate and make concessions to the demonstrators. And if the protests continue, next Saturday I hope to join. … There’s no result for me. Maybe it sounds banal, but coming here, I see the conditions people are forced to live in, this corrupt system, honestly, I start to cry. You come home, you know it’s your home, and your family is waiting for you. I have a big family, 12 brothers and sisters, and parents, and it hurts more because I’d like to return to my country, live well, work, have a decent salary, move around Europe, and have more standards [of living]. Meanwhile, Ukraine is divided among the oligarchs, there’s no middle class as such, and people are forced to exist, not to live, but to exist. From salary to salary, from pension to pension, from social assistance to social assistance. I want people to know a normal level. For a villager to feel there are some changes, that he can afford much more than his pension or salary, can go somewhere to rest, can go to a doctor, and not have to pay him a bribe… And the attitude of politicians to people, to the population. So that they don’t manipulate the people, promising to pay that many hryvnias per month. Because if people are unemployed, they take kids and do everything possible to earn some money. It’s the authorities’ fault. To force people to do something like that. It’s probably the biggest sin the government could have committed. I hope that no matter the situation in Ukraine, the people will endure and win. I hope they will win. Neither politicians, the “Party of Regions,” the president, nor any other political force but the people. Simple people. The ones who protest or support protesters with prayer and those who are rallying. And if everything goes well, then on the 21st, I’ll return to Ukraine for Christmas. If the situation is the same, I think I’ll be active.

Male, 22 years old, recorded in Lublin, December 12, 2013, Euromaidan participant

When our president didn’t sign the Association with the EU, I happened to be in Lutsk. Half of the time, I live in Lublin, and Lublin is Poland, and Poland is a EU country. It has moved forward faster than Ukraine. So I have a vision of how to live, although Lublin isn’t some German or even a larger Polish city. Everything is just beginning because it’s a border town; there are many Ukrainians here, that is, people from the east: Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine. That’s why I was most shocked by their refusal to sign. That’s why I, of course, am similar to all normal, conscious Ukrainians who have been abroad and understand the type of country we live in, who want a better life, better values, authorities’ respect. I supported the first demonstration in Lutsk. There were very few people, about twenty… But no, I am mistaken, it was when Yanukovych said the cabinet wouldn’t sign, it was on November 21. That’s why I came to support the people protesting. To express my position. I collected signatures then, I wanted it myself because I want Ukraine to move forward so that Ukrainians are appreciated, both abroad and at home. So that Ukrainians value themselves and understand they can do a lot. That we can change something ourselves and not wait for someone from above, for our oligarchs, our government, and others. They won’t do anything for us, they will only do it for themselves, and common people are left with no choice but to think for themselves. Of course, I was skeptical about it. I didn’t believe at first that anything would come of it. Many people didn’t, and many were skeptical, but anyway I looked… I was still skeptical about the fact that most of my friends I communicate with and whom I respect… They didn’t know anything about it at all, that is, they weren’t interested in it. I live abroad, not so far as in the USA, Brazil, or somewhere else. But they aren’t at all interested in the social and political life of Ukraine; they don’t care about such things. I was shocked they didn’t care. But if they don’t care, it doesn’t mean I shouldn’t. I came to express my position. I saw that the next day more people came, more young people, not only young but also active people, other people started coming. Several thousand people gathered in Lutsk on November 24, and then I realized that if so many gathered, then… It was nonsense for our city. So, I thought it would evolve. Then all the events that provoked such massive crowds at the demonstrations everywhere. … Now, every person on the Euromaidan stands for the overthrow of Yanukovych’s regime and for Ukraine to move towards Europe and not return to Russia, to their countryside. Each person stands for these things. Everyone stands for oneself and for one’s future and that of one’s children, grandchildren, and so on. Further actions? Well, I ask myself about it every day. What happens next? I can’t say what will happen next. It’s in the hands of, I don’t know, God, people. I honestly don’t know what to say, I ask my friends all the time, and we exchange ideas. Everyone feels it’s a dead end. I don’t know what will happen next. Honestly, as Polozhynskyi said: “I’m not inspired at all by our opposition either.” I don’t trust the opposition at all. It’s just that now all the power is in the hands of the people. The people who made Euromaidan a mini-country and showed what we are capable of. I think we are. I don’t know for sure, I don’t know what will happen, but I think something good will happen. If something bad happens, I don’t know yet, but maybe I won’t want to return to Ukraine. I think many people will start leaving, especially the young. But these are the plans, I don’t want to think about it, I think everything will be fine.

Female, 23 years old, recorded in Lublin, December 13, 2013, one of the Euromaidan organizers, Orange Revolution participant

Oh, it’s so, so hard [to tell how I feel right now]. One moment, I have to think. Well, actually, before the revolution, I felt most like a resident of Lviv because I was mostly interested in what happened in Lviv and some issues there. I participated in some urban initiatives such as “Let me pass” and so on. When this whole thing started, I probably felt like a European. I mean, I was very concerned about European integration, which was stalled. The thing that European idea, for the first time in many years, became so unifying for people of different views, beliefs, political orientations, and so on. Now I probably feel like a member of the community of revolutionary. I had many mental changes, let’s put it like that: people who aren’t concerned about what’s happening in Ukraine now are stranger to me than foreigners. That is, people who aren’t affected by what’s happening now are from another planet to me. So, probably, I feel the greatest unity and the greatest connection with people who are also activists of the revolution. … But there’s another thing: who could have thought a few months ago that citizens, just a group of citizens, not even political parties, could defeat the ruling party even at the local level? … I’ve never had any political beliefs in the classical sense. Of course, I’ve always supported those political forces that are for Ukraine, for everything Ukrainian, and so onBut I didn’t support any parties, of course not. They are all not worth it. Of course, I didn’t become a radical nationalist. I don’t support any kind of national segregation and discrimination and so on. But, I feel all these ideologies can merge, and something positive can emerge from them as a result of all that Maidan. I don’t know how much European integration will dominate there because people saw Europe from a slightly different side. No one expected Europe would be so careless about what’s happening in our country. The question of European integration may disappear in the course of the revolution, paradoxically enough. [What should Euromaidan achieve so that I stop my protest actions?] Well, protest actions should end. I can’t stop; it’s a matter of life and death. How will it continue without me? And what if I am needed for it to finish? That is, it’s my duty. So, I don’t know when I’ll see the end of it. I can’t imagine. I’ve already drawn some conclusions several times. The first time was November 29. I wrote a summary of Euromaidan: Euromaidan achieved such and such, and it’s okay. In 2015 we’ll win. The second time was on December 10. I will never, ever do that again. Well, Yanukovych won’t resign, and somebody will replace him in 2015. Or maybe there will be an early election. But at least all these people who gave all these orders must leave. As long as Zakharchenko is there and all these members of the “family,” we can’t say there are any achievements. The requirements are different and, surprisingly, the requirements of the “Right Sector” are the most logical for me. Although I don’t respect them, as I’ve always had liberal views. But in fact, what they say is very correct, constructive, concrete, and realistic. The demands of Yanukovych to resolve in the air so that everything will be fine are just ridiculous. Yes, the resignation of the government, the withdrawal of security forces, the creation of a technical government, the preparation of early elections, and so on are absolutely logical requirements. But, on the other hand, we can see the authorities don’t give a shit about so-called peaceful protests. That is, a peaceful protest does nothing. It hurts to admit because people devoted much time and energy to peaceful protest. … I thought there was practically no hope; now I believe there’s some. That is, I believed the most important thing is to raise my kids, who, perhaps, someday, if we’re lucky, will change something. Now I see we can also change something. It’s a huge breakthrough. The dignity of a person means something. A person this government doesn’t care of. It’s the most important thing. That’s why this revolution is called the Revolution of Dignity. Because everything else, yes, from gay marriage to the judiciary, can all vary from person to person. And dignity, I believe, is something dominant for everyone. … I hope to retain some remnants of my personality when it’s all over. Because I don’t read books, well, I almost don’t, I don’t think about my professional field or about work, and it’s hard for me to communicate with people on any topic except the revolution. I know that I wouldn’t like to be a professional revolutionary. It’s not my thing. Some people like fighting all the time. I’d still like to remain a journalist and a teacher, to have something to say to my students on various topics other than the revolution. I’d like to be interesting to my children. So I hope it won’t completely consume us. Well, of course, I’ll have to work for many years. That’s for sure, and I’m ready for it, but it shouldn’t take up all of my time, all of my life, and all of my thoughts. But it’s what I know, what I studied for. That is, an activity related to the information space, promoting ideas. My job is promotion.

Male, 32 years old, recorded in Lviv, February 5, 2014, Euromaidan and Orange Revolution activist

Well, about the protest, we’ve been living in a state of a certain protest for many years. In such a hidden, latent protest. It started when we found out that the first movements began in Kyiv, some friction with Euromaidan, even before the dispersal of student activists on the 30th, when I was surfing Facebook, and my son Levko, who’s six years old, asked what was happening there. I began to explain there was a movement against that government, against criminals, and corruption, and he asked: “Dad, why are you here and not there?” It was the start of my protest. On the second day, again, I was pushed by shame in front of my children, in front of my wife, that everyone was there, and I was here. I was there on the second day. … A radical change [needed to stop my participating in protests] is a restructuring of current power. I am not a supporter of radical ways, I’m an active pixel. I accept any solution, even the truce if it can allow me to fight and restructure. Also, the European Association is important not because of joining the European Union but determining certain rules by which we can reduce the level of corruption. Once again, for me, Euromaidan doesn’t end with Kyiv. I went to Euromaidan not because I didn’t like something in Kyiv but because here, in Lviv, I face total corruption. The same people who go to Euromaidan, the same officials with blue and yellow flags, quite often participate in corruption schemes. Sometimes a company comes to inspect your firm, same people with whom you were at the Euromaidan, begin to hint at bribes because the government presses them to patch up the hole in the budget. You understand the Maidan doesn’t end there. Maidans must be local. For me, the Maidan could be about creating effective trade union organizations and some movements protecting average businessmen. It would be a victory for the Maidan … For me, one of the priorities is to eliminate this corrupt government. I don’t mean physical removal, of course, but removal from the certain decision-making process, limiting their powers, perhaps forming a coalition government, and, again, stability. Stability in the state is also very important. This is the first step. And the second step is, for me, the Maidan will end when we manage to convince our, so to say, logical opponents that our actions aren’t destructive and not “fascist,” as they’re called. At least, we have to keep these feelings and emotions we experienced on the square and bring them to everyone’s house, bring them to everyone’s home. Then, perhaps, Euromaidan will enlarge. If we work in balance on the Euromaidan and everyone knows what they have to do… And you come and understand how you should lead that society, the Maidan, [but] returning from the Euromaidan, people forget it. They go and pay some money to the officials, violate traffic rules, and again, start to behave… their cultural level drops dramatically. If we have what’s on the Maidan, then I think the Maidan will be integrated into our society.

Male, 40 years old, recorded in Lviv, February 6, 2014, Euromaidan participant

[To be a participant of Euromaidan is] to participate in changing our country. I don’t want to sound pretentious, but we have to change this country so that our children don’t have to do the same thing we’re doing now. … Experience teaches us that experience hasn’t taught us well. We didn’t take the steps we declared and, so, our faults led us to solve the same problems. Killing sovok in oneself. [The main goal of the protest] is a change in the country. [Euromaidan must achieve] an irreversible, guaranteed movement towards European values. The way of it, whether through a change of power, or the signing of an association, or some other guarantees, I don’t know, but we must feel an irreversible movement. … I think [Euromaidan] can be compared with 2004. It can. Such a good-natured atmosphere on the square, slogans that we can overcome evil only with good, it works, I see … [How will the events unfold?] I don’t know, unfortunately. Unfortunately, I foresee two options, or there will be a bloody option. So, we win with bloodshed, but there will be radical changes. It means in the political structure. Or it’ll be calm, somewhat on the brakes. If so, our problem won’t be fundamentally solved. I wish there were radical changes without bloodshed. [Values of Euromaidan] We need to build here, on Euromaidan, this kindness, this trust, and so on. We have to realize the state is one of the tools for the development of the country, and we mustn’t rely on it, that is, to kill this paternalistic feeling, which, unfortunately, even 68% of Lviv residents suffer from, even though we’re called a bourgeois city. We don’t have any bourgeoisie here. We rely on the state very much, so it tells us where to sit, where to stand, what to drink, what to eat, and so on. And that first point of December 1, about not putting the responsibility for one’s life, one’s happiness, and so on anyone, including the state.

Male, 46 years old, recorded in Lviv, February 6, 2014, Orange Revolution and Euromaidan participant

I supported the main message of Euromaidan from the very beginning. The first demand was to sign an association document. The message addressed to President Yanukovych from the very beginning: “Sign or leave.” It was the best as, anyway, the number of people who support European integration has increased recently, and according to sociological surveys, I think it’s already over 50%. So, from the very beginning, I supported the Euromaidan movement because that European integration seems to be an important direction for Ukraine, for the city, for the country, and for me personally. But what happened next is a local conflict between the people and the authorities, not yet resolved. European values went into the background because an ordinary struggle between the authorities and their people took place. I didn’t participate in the organization process of the Maidan. I communicated, helped the guys there in Kharkiv, in Kyiv, and coordinated Maidan activities. So, I am kind of aware of what’s happening there. But since I am a journalist, I decided that direct participation is probably not very good for my profession. It would mean I have to leave my job to engage in social or political activities. Or I can stay. Direct support for the demands of Euromaidan – yes, but participation – [only] indirect. … I have many friends in Kharkiv and Kyiv participating in their Euromaidans. There’s absolutely no difference because the people participating in the Euromaidan process want completely simple things. They want the absence of corruption, transparency of power, accountability of power, and European priorities in Ukraine. Absolutely the same. Of course, Euromaidan in Kyiv is much larger, it’s simply incomparable with Kharkiv. The atmosphere is exactly the same. But the plus is that here it’s stationary, but it’s not so permanent in Kharkiv. The only difference. Of course, I talked with people who live there permanently on the Euromaidan. There’s another problem. They feel marginalized. People are cut off from home. People try to help there with everything they can. Anyway, it’s very hard for a person to live there for several months in the conditions of the Zaporozhian Sich. It’s not normal and wrong. In general, such things should have lasted for a week or two at most. But not two or three months as of now. Because it just exhausts people and makes them live in inhuman conditions. Living on the street is wrong. … From the very beginning, the Euromaidan was peaceful, and there was no aggression. All these situations, the beating of students, Bankova, and Hrushevskyi streets – are escalating the conflict, and, accordingly, Berkut is one of the irritants. The way Berkut behaves is illegitimate. The law on the application was adopted two months later when the application had already happened. Yes. An increase in escalation. Escalation of aggression. Provocation of the authorities because they don’t listen to the demands, don’t compromise, and don’t negotiate. The Maidan could have ended in two weeks, or rather, say, after the dispersal of the students. Yes. If there were new demands, like the resignation of Zakharchenko, because it happened under this minister. And Azarov should have at least apologized. Nothing happened. Then, it’s all clear, it all rolls along. Today, Zakharchenko gave his explanations about what happened at Hrushevskyi street, a month after these events took place. Nonsense.

 Male, 56 years old, recorded in Kharkiv, February 7, 2014, Orange Revolution and Euromaidan participant

The whole branch of power is so rotten that it doesn’t matter at what level you apply. In any case, you have to bring money. The issues were raised again and again and will continue, I hope, were about the transparency of the system … I didn’t have any doubts [regarding my participation]. … Everyone has one [goal]: to live in a country where you don’t fear of the police. … Its very [Euromaidan] existence, the very organization of people are the most important things. The fact that people proved they could exist without the authorities, without any problems. … People realized the state is not interested in how they live, what they want. There’s no such a goal even. State power doesn’t pursue the most important thing: the interests of society. That’s the main problem.

Male, 30+ years old, recorded in Kyiv, February 7, 2014, Euromaidan participant

I’ve been on Maidan since its first days when it was just beginning. There are many friends, my buddies. At first, it was a revolution of “Facebook,” when you met all your long-time friends you’ve been with for many years. At the start, there were very few people, but then we were told it was inappropriate to shout out various nationalist Ukrainian horror stories for European integration. Then we decided to reformat the Maidan a little so that some young people, some students, would get involved. I don’t like the phrase “creative class.” We wanted to make a kind of the May Revolution of 1968. We reworked some slogans of 1968, later picked up by the students of the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy in a bit absurd and European style, such as “Europe is my right to rebel,” “top hat against earflaps”… … On the 21st, I decided to join the protest when the country turned around 180 degrees. All those years, they bamboozled us that we’d sign this Association and gradually integrate our community. It all came to nothing at once, and it was clear we were just dumped, and the aftertaste was awful. … I still doubted then, as it was the head of the state’s promises, publicly recorded. They told me: “That’s it, he won’t sign.” I thought: “Why, if everything is agreed?” At first it was a small handful of people, but then it grew larger, and it’s unbelievable, it’s the most massive protest I’ve ever seen. … We decided we should have a permanent picket on Maidan and built a space called “Mystetskyi Barbakan.” Barbican is an official building in a medieval city, a small fortress built in front of the gates. It took the first blow of the enemy while the fortress was preparing for battle and closed the gates. It’s a symbolic name, as it’s an open gallery with a permanent exhibition. There’s a wide cultural program: starting from the history of protest movements in the world, the creation of various communication strategies, and ending with various cultural lectures, for example, the integration of Islamic culture in Ukraine or the history of Jewish culture, and its connections with Ukrainian culture. The range is wide. We wanted a creative community around it, artists, directors, and writers. To start a festival. It’s a place where like-minded people can gather. The Maidan is a gathering of society. It should be a place where artists gather, where there should be a stove, where you can leave your stuff, and where there should be a 24-hour picket to watch how things unfold. There were obstacles, as first, not everyone accepted our art. They thought it was some kind of provocation and so on. Then there were constant conflicts with that occasional titushki. Barbakan stands behind the last two barricades opposite the metro Khreschatyk. That is, it’s a bit scary place to relax, but, anyway, there are always lots of people there. … It’s hard to tell, because the revolution in these two and a half months, in these nine weeks, for me, has already gone through three stages: when the students were beaten, it was a revolution for European integration. People came out to correct the course of the country. Then after the dispersal and up to January 19, it was a revolution against the criminal regime to demolish that government, to reset it. Since January 19, people finally understood it was a revolution, a domestic war for their Motherland because people who just hated the independence of Ukraine wanted to divide the country, to interfere in the internal affairs. It’s just that the war for the Motherland began, and there are three stages.

 Male, 35 years old, recorded in Kyiv, February 7, 2014, Orange Revolution and Euromaidan participant

Well, first of all, the thing is… It’s a rule to divide, to divide the Euromaidan into “before” and “after.” “Before” is the sad night of December 1, when students were beaten. Euromaidan is believed to have ended then. If you talk about a time before the beating, I didn’t actively participate. Of course, I came there to some public events. … Well, first, the beating of the students turned out to be a motivating factor because somehow, on December 1, when people came to the square, all the Facebook, I don’t know, VKontakte and so, they were filled with calls to go out and express your protest. After all, I have some experience of participation, and I’ve seen many public demonstrations, starting from the moment when Ukraine gained independence, that is, at the end of the 1980s. I attended many rallies since then, and here we agreed with my friends to go. Right away on the road, you suddenly realize that all the cars coming from our areas, such as Bilychi or Akademmistechko [districts in Kyiv, t/n.], are full of people, and all the people are going there. I must admit that then, on the first day, I probably never saw so many people on the street in Kyiv, neither in the 1980s, when independence was declared, nor during the actions of 2004-2005, when the Orange Revolution took place. It was something incredible. … Again, the phrase, “protest actions” (laughter). Well, it’s a manifestation of some kind of position. You can call it a protest, but, it seems, it doesn’t cover the entire scope. You see, when you read on social networks, for example, the statement of some Dynamo Kyiv goalkeeper, captain Oleksandr Shovkovskyi, who clearly states: “Tomorrow I’m going to the Shevchenko monument, the same place where everyone’s going.” So what is it? Well, probably a protest. … How do I assess it? I’d prefer not to take part in all that (laughter). To do my work, my job. Paraphrasing a Vasyl Stus’ phrase: “If I didn’t write poems, I would circle the earth.” Here you are forced. Zhadan said, either in one of his essays, in an interview, or even in prose, that “you prefer not to engage in politics, and then politics knocks on your door.” That’s how it all turned out. When some things directly affect you, you must participate. … I don’t associate with any group. I am here as a unit, as a citizen. Recently, I’ve been there less often due to household (laughter) injuries, though not really household. It just so happened that our students’ of film faculty at the theater institute were arrested. I realized we had to somehow support them. The same university you once graduated from, the same teachers. You have no right to leave them just like that. I had to go live, on the radio, to the Obolon court, to the pre-trial detention center. Recently, we visited the Ministry of Culture with a group of representatives of creative professions and talked not only about these students but also about the repression against representatives of the creative intelligentsia. Also, according to certain sources, twenty-one people, either artists or writers, were arrested throughout Ukraine. It all happens against your will, after all. … You know, I think, first, people came out because they felt injustice, and they felt everything went wrong, in the wrong way. Especially after the so-called “Laws of January 16,” which drew another line and became the catalyst for the events on Hrushevskyi street. And goals? They are different. Some want the president’s resignation, some want the resignation of the government, some want to get more involved with these entities or enter the government, or enter the management structures, and some want a complete reset of the system. I probably belong to the latter as it applies to everything, including the field of culture. … Still, I think something must happen to the system itself. It should be changed. With the very system of power, the system of relations between the power and citizens. It seemed we elected the president we finally wanted. The figure on the chessboard changed, but the very essence of the system didn’t change. The corruption remained, which over the years has taken on some terrible forms, that you have to think about how to change everything, how to present everything. I think everything is possible, but it requires long and painstaking work. But, after all, I’m not a political scientist … We need to start building a system with working laws. First of all. Then you have to explain to people some elementary things: don’t throw cigarette butts under your feet, don’t spit on the asphalt when you’re standing at a bus stop if you have two trash cans, put food additives in one, and polyethylene in the other.

Male, 51 years old, recorded in Kyiv, February 7, 2014, Euromaidan participant

I’ve always been committed to certain values, and I’ve always disliked the Soviet Union. I was very happy about Perestroika, and any step away from the Soviet model toward modern democratic civilization always pleased me, and any rollback in the opposite direction disappointed me. So I’ve had no doubts since then. I remember jeans are made in America. My parents and all relatives, everyone listened to Western radio stations, and from childhood, I understood that Soviet newspapers were writing lies. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have listened to alternative sources. I knew everything I love is forbidden. My choice has been unambiguous since then. … Intellectuals, try to think the situation over. Often their estimates are more accurate than those of many professional political scientists. … Once he [friend] fell ill, there was a twelve-meter barbecue, where my friend set up a kitchen. They cooked borshch, sashkyk, and chicken. On New Year’s Eve, my other friends started a demonstration, it was called “Come, bring olivier [salad].” I brought three kilograms of olivier. I have a friend who is in the “Right Sector.” I have different friends (laughs). But most of all, I like “Barbakan.” There is no single [design]. As one person under the Presidential Administration said, to whom Klichko later said: “Come on, run to the Maidan.” So that person said: “I’m here for my own.” Everyone is here for their one goal. Someone’s here for the European choice. Someone’s here for the European choice, someone stands for human rights, someone stands for their business, someone stands for personal belongings, someone stands for the freedom of sexual minorities, and someone stands against the freedom of these minorities. There are very different audiences with very different goals. These are revolutions of civilizational choice, an anti-corruption revolution and a revolution of the middle class against the oligarchs, a revolution of millionaires against billionaires, a revolution of the East-West, and a central elite against the Donetsk-Luhansk elite. Everything is different. Someone is against the Russian language, for example, someone is not. Most agree it’s the revolution of human dignity. In the beginning, it was purely civilizational [issue]. And today, the question is about dignity. They didn’t listen to us, they didn’t want to reckon with us. First, there was a peaceful Maidan. When I spoke at the demonstration on the third day, they chanted not about Yanukovych, but about love. There are no politicians but philosophers and poets. … And then it turned out philosophers talk, politicians talk, and no one listens to them. They understand Molotov cocktails. … Well, I think… Rebooting power is a big word. It’s a real change. Setting a specific date for re-elections. Some kind of format change, I don’t know. Whether the Constitution of 2004 is good or bad… I don’t think it matters at all. A very good Constitution of 1936 wrote Comrade Bukharin, and in 1938 he was shot because of this Constitution. There may be some personal change, yes, and the criminal junta ruling Ukraine today must leave.

Male, 52 years old, recorded in Kyiv, February 7, 2014, Euromaidan participant

I feel like the goal hasn’t changed for me since [November] 30. A tough and transparent investigation and the punishment of those responsible for beating students. For now, it’s about revising the procedure for voting in the Rada according to the laws of [January] 16. I know they canceled them somehow, but it doesn’t cancel the numerous violations and responsibility for these violations. Similarly, the responsibility for the fighters of units and internal troops could go beyond the charter. Many crimes were committed before our eyes. They are described in the criminal code and the administrative code. People must be held accountable for these crimes. We demand this responsibility. Starting from the president, who couldn’t say for two months, who beat the students in the center of the capital, by whose order. Our supreme commander appears to be incompetent. We must talk about his competence. And ending, yes, ending with the participants in the protest on Hrushevskyi street, who also participated in mass civil unrest. If there are honest courts, if we find those guilty, they should also be held accountable. Just let the law be the same for everyone, starting with the 30th and everything that happened after that, and everything that possibly happened before that in the country for the last ten years. Let’s figure it out. … I will stop participating when the last sick and injured person recovers, rehabilitates, and returns to normal life.

Female, 28 years old, recorded in Kyiv, February 7, 2014, Euromaidan participant, Orange Revolution activist in Dnipropetrovsk, member of the “Narodnyi Hospital” organization

I am “for” [Euromaidan]. I am only “for.” Because if you don’t do it now, everything will be lost. They are weak here, scared. They don’t understand what they need. Some shout for Yanukovych, others shout for Klichko, Tyahnybok. Who else? I am not for anyone. I want the president to give up and resign. The new government. First thing. Not only me. The boys from Kolomyia, with whom I am currently on duty there. We are all of the same opinions. Why should we work for someone? For example, in Yanukovych’s family, his son became a billionaire in one year. Entered the top ten richest people in Europe, so to speak, in one year. Bought two airlines. We have to work for ourselves, for our family, for our pension.

Male, 29 years old, recorded in Kyiv, February 7, 2014, Euromaidan participant

What happened? They beat us, bustards. There’s nothing human about them, nothing, in those berkuts. These are not people. They gave an oath to the people, but they also beat the people. Well, what kind of people are there? Well, if it’s a man, okay. Men are patient. But women, children, pregnant women? I saw with my own eyes how he beat a pregnant woman. 15 meters away. You see, hit her in the stomach. With a club. … Klichko pulls in his direction, and Tiahnybok pulls in his. We need Yulia [Tymoshenko]. If there was Yulia, we’d see some order. Honestly, I don’t believe them. I don’t know. I don’t belong to any party. I’m on my own. Those boys too. It’s self-defense. Not a party. It’s just self-defense. These are the guys who voluntarily stand there. For the last time, maybe someone won’t be with us [soon]. Still, they stand and hope that something might be better. … One goal is to arrest Yanukovych. And that’s all. Into the cell. … I’ve always been a patriot. And my father was a patriot. My grandfather was a patriot. My grandfather saw two wars. My father was born in [19]31. He also went through the war as a big boy. Taught me. He taught me you should never leave your homeland, anywhere, because “the grass is always greener on the other side.” Motherland is the motherland. That’s it. Maybe someone has their own opinion, and maybe someone thinks differently. I don’t.

 Male, 50 years old, recorded in Kyiv, February 7, 2014, Euromaidan participant

I saw at the very beginning how people gathered there because he didn’t sign European integration. Well, I wasn’t motivated much because as I remember, people gathered like that more than once. Honestly, I thought nothing would come of it. But then, as they dispersed the students, I saw people gathered. For one, two, or three days. And they don’t give up. And they are defending their rights. They have finally woken up, they no longer want to be a gray mass, they want to be people, they want to live, not survive. You know, I felt proud of my people. And then, when they just started mocking those people, Havryliuk, those students, when they killed them. I just couldn’t stand it anymore. It can’t be like this anymore. Of course, it’s sad that some people in the East still don’t get it. They call us Banderites. I’ll tell you. I’m not here for Bandera. Where is Bandera, and where are we? Really. Well, my grandfather fought in the Red Army. The second grandfather too. Well, I was brought up in a nationalist spirit. You know, for those 22 years, I’ve wanted to live in the state. Live, not survive. Because our people survive. When you walk around Lviv, you even see an old lady begging for money. I want to cry. It cannot be like that. When she has worked all her life and can’t afford a piece of bread. And some people are rolling on money. Some people can leave in a restaurant, I don’t know, 10 thousand hryvnias just for breakfast. It’s just sad. … [Decided to join this protest] after those students were shot. Well, those people. … You know, I have no doubt or fear. I’m just glad that finally, people want to protect themselves. Just their rights, the ones they have. … At this moment, I feel radical. I believe we should have kicked it a long time ago. It just took too long. I am just afraid that people will get disappointed, as earlier in 2004 with Yushchenko. People had such high hopes. You know? I have the impression that Yanukovych is simply dragging it out. He hopes people will disperse. But they won’t. I am radically opposed to Mr. Yanukovych. Because when he earns 10,000 dollars a day, and my mother has, say, a pension of 1,000 hryvnias. You know, it’s too much. Nowhere in the world does the president’s son become a billionaire in three years. Just nowhere. … I wouldn’t even call it Euromaidan. What purpose? I doubt those people who came here want to join the European Union. The goal is to live, not to survive. For freedom, for your freedom. For the children. They are already, as one old man here said: “If not for me, at least I leave something for the children so that they can live in some decent country.” So what is it? Look, wherever you go, you see stereotypes. Police will stop you, and you have jitters. You know they have to find something. If they stop you somewhere in Europe, for example… If you have some sort of minor breakdown, I don’t know, the headlight doesn’t light or something, you’ll get a warning. And then “goodbye.”But ours, they want to pull some money out of you. … What do we have to achieve? First, changes in that government. Well, I don’t care so much, but I want those responsible to answer for the deaths of people. For beating of those children. It’s a basic thing that someone answers, and someone should be responsible. Not just to make noise and stop. As a rule, it happens like that. Just to answer for those beaten children, for those eyes, for those deaths. It’s my main goal. … I’d like, of course, for Yanukovych to resign peacefully and for new presidential elections to be held. But they shouldn’t bribe people to give their voices. People should think. TV propaganda brainwashes them. They vote for a pack of tea or a pack of buckwheat. You know? So that people will finally think and elect such a president, a real man, a real patriot of his country, who would defend national interests. … Do you know what we need? Whatever is needed, I will [do it]. I’m just an honest person, I’ll never give a bribe, never. I won’t give it. If I violated, I’d go and pay at the cashier. But I won’t grease a palm, whatever happens. I’m stubborn and stupid like that. … Maidan begins in every person somewhere deep in the soul, in the heart. The Maidan begins there. When they want to be independent and when they don’t want to be slaves. A slave of oneself. Man is a slave in oneself. People want to be independent at last, not to be afraid of anything. That’s where the Maidan, the Maidan of Independence begins. When a person starts to push that slave out of oneself.

Male, 29 years old, recorded in Kyiv, February 7, 2014, Euromaidan participant

Now I am standing here, fighting for my rights for my dear Ukraine. Voluntarily. … Well, I wouldn’t say I’m so glad I am taking part in it. The Maidan is just a place where we gathered. It may not be the Maidan, but it could be any other point in Ukraine. I’m here for the idea, for the struggle, for my Ukraine. I’m not a participant in the Maidan, I don’t need any titles or a certificate, like, “been to Maidan.” It just so happened we are here now, yes, we’re here, a participant, yes, a participant. … I was motivated by the fact that I was there that night when Berkut dispersed and beat the students. … I was on the square then, but when there was a cleanup, we went to get some coffee. No one obliged us [to be on Maidan], we stood, and we had a free schedule. I felt cold, and we went to drink some coffee. Just in half an hour we turned around, heard phone calls, it was hotter there, and we could see this picture from afar, we saw it and ran up, we were also dispersed, well, not by force, because the cleaning had already happened, it was very technical, and then it was not worth running to them and asking for something. I was outraged, like, how come? I’ve been to revolutions in other countries. They detain activists there, grab them, and twist them. In short, I just stand with people who express their opinion because there’s always a kind of crowd feeling, when some stand there, while others want some radical actions and start making a mess, provocations. I think we can separate such people. But when people just stand there, don’t take any action, don’t break anything, don’t do any harm, everything is within the law… Just run out and beat them, not just push or drive them away, or ask them to leave, but to use violence is insane. It’s as if someone on the street just punched me in the face and said that it should be like that. … I reassured myself once again in my friends. Who is who, who’s here with me, who can’t come, but supports me and worries about me? I even broke up with my girlfriend because of the Maidan. She didn’t really support me, she didn’t wait for me, and she took a neutral position: neither for nor against. She decided I didn’t go to the Maidan, not to the revolution, not to take part and help the people, but to rest, to look for revolutionaries. … I think there are different people here, even with different religious views. They communicate in different languages, but the common thing is conscientious patriotism. That is, everyone who really does something, who came here to defend an idea, is a group of patriots. All the rest are just people who come and go, that’s all. … The idea is the same, it’s just that sometimes the performance, or the approach to it, may be different. There’s a group that controls the correct performance, that is, the discipline because everyone has their own opinion and everyone thinks it’s correct. But proving your personal opinion right on the square isn’t a good idea. It’s a good idea to express a national opinion, to convey it. We try to form people so that they fight more for what they came for instead of quarreling among themselves because you’re in such pants, I have such, why did you come here in yours? There must be discipline. … Look, the goal of the protest, not even a goal, I’ll just tell you this phrase: a Ukrainian is a person in whom patriotism comes first, God comes second, God, faith, and third – human. People have gathered here according to such an order. There are those taking care of their well-being, taking responsibility for their family, living a spiritual life, not according to the canons but rather religious spiritual life, and are patriots of their country. These people aren’t corrupt, you can defend the country with them. Patriotism gathered people. … Look, the demands, I have a very simple demand: we change power to the power of the people. Honestly, I’ve never been, I’ve never been to prison, but I visited it, I performed there, we danced once there. I communicated with these people. I saw their laws, they explained everything, I even have friends, well, my friend who was there, I know everything from the inside, how it happens there. I feel Ukraine is a big prison because, honestly saying, there are no laws, and no rights. I give you – you give me, and Ukraine is in the background. I paid you, you gave me, well, it’s between us, no responsibility, no such thing. I’m not saying there should be some USSR, so-and-so, or some army, but there should be a framework that will ensure some procedures of the law so that there’s no crime and no harm to the people. If you and I have a good, correct relationship,\ and business, well, if other matters don’t interfere with the Ten Commandments and some constitutional laws, don’t cross the line from good to bad, that’s how it should be. But in our case, we have everything, the constitution, religion, everything, but the government decides all the issues under the table, among themselves, and the people stand aside. It’s wrong, we have to change this government. … Well, we’ve already signed up for some demands. It will end when our demands are fulfilled. There are not so many, and they are not absurd, but quite relevant, I don’t know, time will show. But we have them, and it’s the opinion of the people, that is, everyone voted for it, and everyone believes it’s the right opinion, and we must achieve them. … Yes, the dispersals, because Ukraine, Ukrainians have been bending their knees for many years. I’d be very happy for them to bend another way. They bend, as our people are so patient, they pay taxes, listen to lies, and everyone still does their job because they understand they’re responsible for their families. The harder it is, the less they speak up because they don’t have time. But now it has grown so much that people started going to peaceful protests all the time. There were a lot of protests that year, lots. But they made the mistake of dispersing it. People aren’t aggressive, they just want to be heard. This Maidan could stop two days or three days after the dispersal. It’s just that people realized, once again, that no one listened to them. Probably, they would have gone home as always. But they made a mistake, and then the people understood: oh, they don’t only treat us badly but also beat us for what we say, they don’t take us for anything at all. It was the point when people rose and grouped to fight for their rights, for their lives. … I didn’t draw parallels, but we had such stories in Ukraine, the uprisings, struggles for one’s own, for the truth. History repeats itself and goes in a circle, but every time it changes, because the century changes, time changes, the rules change, and the Maidan is now new. The idea of the Ukrainian uprising for truth is eternal, and these people will rise until they get their way. I’d like it to be the last time on our territory, in our Ukraine, so that everything will finally be the way we want, we strive for. I think all those rebels dreamed about the last time so that it would not happen again. Because now we have blood, we have victims, and once people died in great numbers. Every time it’s sad because people die for the truth.

Male, 25 years old, recorded in Kyiv, February 8, 2014, Euromaidan participant

I have hope. When Yushchenko screwed up that revolution, there was no longer any hope that the people would rise. If he [Yanukovych] hadn’t bombed the poor students, it wouldn’t have happened. Now the people are stirred up. It’s just insane! … There’s no other way back. … There are indifferent people, many just pass through the square and have a look. To whom it’s not Maidan, they just pass through it. … Several people came up and asked: “Why are you here?” and so on. [The main goal of Euromaidan] is to remove Yanukovych. Someone else should come, even from his clan and so on, but that person will see how it ends and won’t be like this … It’s the worst case. You know? The main thing is to remove him. And this one in Belarus is still sitting, worse and worse. And if he knows that he can be removed in the same way as the previous one, it’ll be better. … Well, I think Yanukovych is unlikely [to be punished], but all his shift, all his technical team should be punished. The maximum program is Yanukovych, but still, we have to wait for the elections. Maidan won’t end without punishing the technical squad and everyone who mocked our people. Well, the people stand to the very end because there will be only chaos. Well, I expect there to be this technical team soon. As Poroshenko said, some commissions of inquiry or something. Our observers will sort out all these iniquities.

Male, 69 years old, recorded in Kyiv, February 8, 2014, Euromaidan participant

Universal values concern me the most. Well, of course, if we talk about the events on November 21, then, well, of course, people protested for European integration, for European values, for the European movement of our country and all of us. But if we talk about European values, for me they are universal human values. The Declaration of Human Rights, things like that, tolerance, respect for people, for their opinions, for private property, for history, different histories, not authoritarianism. Well, as for me, at different stages of life, you can identify yourself in different ways, but I always identify myself as Ukrainian. … I found out about Euromaidan on November 22, at about 10 p.m., when I logged in to my Facebook. At that time, I was in Zhytomyr for my father’s anniversary and spent the whole day helping my mother to organize everything and prepare food. When I started reading the news in the evening, I realized a revolution had begun. I somehow felt it, well, people didn’t go to the Maidan in vain. But I didn’t expect it would start then. It was sudden. But I read not even the news but my friends’ messages on Facebook and realized all my best friends, the smartest people I look up to, were already there. And I was in Zhytomyr at that time, helping with the household. I understood I had to return. … December 1? And, yes, on December 1, there was a great veche, but also Bankova events. I only read about them in the evening the next day, when I got home. I don’t have a smartphone, so my friends read it. They knew there were some explosions and stuff. But in fact, we couldn’t know right away about the terrible dispersal and beating of people, which happened a few hours after the events on Bankova Street. And after a day or two, we found out about at least nine random people detained at Bankova, different people who weren’t even Euromaidan activists, so to speak. Someone was passing by, someone drinking coffee, someone was just walking along Instytutska Street or Shovkovychna [street], for example, Yaroslav Prytulenko, the youngest detainee. I understood something had to be done to free these people. It wasn’t just about standing on the Maidan but expanding the protest because the protest was, as I said, not only about European values or the European association but about human rights because we had to liberate those beaten people, those, beaten by Berkut and policemen, and then illegally imprisoned just because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. And no one detained those people who staged provocations and threw cocktails at the officers and soldiers of the internal troops. Everybody knew about Dmytro Korchynskyi’s connections with the provocateurs. Not only from the press, but I also met people who knew him, and I found these people very unpleasant. But yes, some people believe in all kinds of conspiracy theories. They also participated somehow. It was strange to see a grader going along Bankova Street, in a government block heavily guarded even in peacetime, the night before the Friday evening. It was going there on Friday, in the evening, when it was already dark. On Saturday, on Saturday 30, yes, because we went down to the Maidan from Mykhailivka Square with posters, so that people who came to the Maidan and were looking for those beaten people, well, where the Maidan was dispersed… We redirected them to Mykhailivska Square, and they stood there for several hours. Then we saw the grader driving along Instytutska toward the government quarter. How it ended up there in a day and how the Security Service of Ukraine didn’t know about it is all a big question. That is, there were no attempts to catch the provocateurs. There’s video confirmation of people throwing stones and other things at the soldiers of the internal troops, whom Berkut put forward without ammunition. And then the same people, two in jackets, let them through the border of the internal troops. They appear on the other side, near the Berkuts, they do something there for a few minutes, and then those provocateurs are released back. That is, there was no task to catch the provocateurs. They were trying to catch random people to scare others so that no one would go to the Maidans again. And the opposite happened, that is, these are completely illogical things. Fortunately, during the three years of Yanukovych’s rule, Ukrainian society was somewhat intimidated, but not to the extent of sitting at home after such events. … I was attracted to people. I haven’t seen such a concentration of smart, kind, honest people in one place for a long time. There are many smart, kind and honest people around the world, but here it’s so concentrated. … It’s very nice, first. Second, transparency attracted me. Transparency in both financial reporting to “Demalliance” members and the general community, and how funds are collected for the party. It’s the only party funded by the people, not the oligarchs. The only one in Ukraine, as far as I know. And also the simplicity and democracy of making some decisions inside. I saw from the beginning that even if you are not a member of the “Democratic Alliance,” you can go to anyone – to the deputy, to the head of the party – and ask anything. You can contact them if you have any trouble. If you feel dissatisfied, contact and express some constructive criticism. First, they listen to you politely, and second, you find a solution to any problems. And even if there are problems in everyday stuff, in camping, then these were solved immediately and quickly, politely, and with respect for each other, even though all people were very different. Also, “Democratic Alliance” is doing what I believe should have been done since 2004. They intelligently and constantly work not only in the center and west of Ukraine but also in the east and south: there are branches of the “Democratic Alliance” in Kharkiv, Odesa, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, and Crimea. Not only there but also in Mykolaiv, in the Mykolaiv oblast. They may still be small, but in Odesa, it’s quite powerful, perhaps even more than in Kyiv. … I didn’t want to join the party just for the sake of it. I just wanted to do something. I thought about “Demalliance” for a long time, whether they suit me or I suit them because it was a responsible decision when I joined. Not only did I get some benefits in solidarity, mutual aid, in support, but they should also get some benefit from me. And when I become a member of the “Democratic Alliance,” I have to think ahead about my actions because I also shape their image, and now it’s the most valuable thing. Because we, young people, fortunately, are not discredited, and reputation is the most valuable thing we have. We have to protect it and magnify it not only for the sake of reputation but for the sake of helping people. … I fully support the number one demand of “Demalliance” because nothing will happen without it. Demand number one is the resignation of Yanukovych. … [People protested] for values. For values. And so for oneself, for the children, for the future, that’s it. That’s the difference. For rebooting the system, but also for the values of this state, for compliance with the law. That is, people didn’t want material things. It’s not like it was on the Tax Maidan when entrepreneurs were pressed for taxes. Not like in 2004, when people were against falsification, therefore, to some extent, for Yushchenko. Someone stood up for values, not for Yushchenko, but they supported him, as the election was rigged in favor of his opponent, that’s it. It’s the first time Ukraine protests for values so massively. To massively support strangers: detainees, prisoners, and those in the hospital. Now, there are many great grassroots initiatives. They’re called “grassroots activities” abroad. It has been developing daily since 2004, step by step. For example, in Kyiv, there were successful initiatives to defend the yards, [called] “let’s make it better,” when people protested against the development. These protests were small. We have to unite at the level of neighborhoods and our yards. These grassroots, small initiatives are exactly what can change our state. If every citizen understands their responsibility for what is happening in the country, if they can change something, they should change something. They can’t just feel careless. There are two categories of people in Ukraine: those who believe something depends on them and try to change something, and those who sit on the sofa and cry that nothing depends on them. Well, if to think like that, nothing will ever depend on us.

Female, 29 years old, recorded in Kyiv, February 8, 2014, Euromaidan participant

I expect change. I expect this mess and lawlessness to end. … It should not only be a change of power. It should be the People’s Council, people who will control the process and be responsible. We should elect those responsible for further actions.

Male, 23 years old, recorded in Kyiv, February 8, 2014, Euromaidan participant

To show human dignity, human life in general, is the highest value [for me]. … [Did the Euromaidan change your life?] It did. It gave me hope that we could change this country and make it more European and more humane because back in October, I seriously thought about where we should move and where our children should study. Maidan gives hope that we don’t have to do this anymore.

Female, 30 years old, recorded in Kharkiv, February 9, 2014, Euromaidan participant

Such a form of protest is effective, the protection of one’s rights and the achievement of one’s goals, yes, the same European integration. If our government can hear peaceful protests or rallies. Yesterday, just hundreds of people gathered at the Euromaidan; even titushkas aren’t interested in us. For some reason, I feel something has gone backward, well, I mean the very form of the rally, yes, I don’t mean convictions have been shaken. … That is, changing the system and bringing it into line with European standards of life, yes, not only rights but life in general and social relations in general. As for my workplace, well, there no one supports Yanukovych. Some of my colleagues took those murders very painfully, well, it shocked everyone. And some of my colleagues were shocked. We couldn’t get over it. Well, in general, I don’t know if they went to the demonstration, though, of course, they also oppose the existing system, and they realize it’s a road to nowhere. At the same time, there are no active actions on their part. Well, I don’t know for sure, but they don’t go to the demonstration, maybe to some other things … Changing the system, yes, it’s very vague, changing the relations of power and society, changes in power, changes in the very relations in society, yes, and towards European values, and, so, European integration, yes, what European integration provides. … Again, what does it mean to participate in Euromaidan? For me, it’s not just participation in a demonstration or some kind of educational work with neighbors, colleagues, and so on. Rather, it’s about things I’ve already spoken about, like, personal growth and changes towards those notorious European values. Well, we can achieve them through communism (laughter). It shouldn’t be like that. So, I’ll stop participating, not when Euromaidan finished, but when I realize the methods Euromaidan now observes really helped. … I was very pleasantly surprised by those events in the regions. For example, such an active position in Zaporizhia and Dnipropetrovsk, but it’s a big blow that it all ended with persecution and threats to people’s health and life. … We need more and more people to realize the humanistic ideal. And the means of its implementation. I can say about the means I see for myself and what I’ll do for society. First, a good attitude towards other people. Also, following these ideals whenever possible. That is, to develop an appropriate style of thinking and action.

 Male, 27 years old, recorded in Kharkiv, February 9, 2014, Euromaidan participant

It’s an opportunity to change the future and change the fate of my country, the fate of my Motherland. … I was motivated by the system in which we live, by the fact that our state ceased to perform all its functions. We have a country of absurdity, where, excuse me, the worst take the place of the best, where peace is war, and good is evil … I’d been waiting for something like that since they elected Yanukovych. I knew something would happen, but I waited for it a year or two after he came to power. Unfortunately, it happened almost after four years, but I expected it. I knew it would happen, more or less. … The goals are strategic, tactical, and general abstract goals. But, of course, everyone has a different personal goal. Well, for example, anarchists and nationalists have different views on Ukraine, but anyway, they understand Ukraine should be democratic and free. They know the power should be elected based on true information and not on manipulation and lies. … Well, let’s say, ideologically, I am a rightist. I am not a nationalist, but a republican, I am a radical, more liberal than a nationalist, but I have certain national views. … It seems to me that in terms of parties, Euromaidan, to a greater extent, concentrates on changes in the constitutional mechanism and changes in power and personality. The community of Euromaidan concentrates on changing the overall state mechanism and changing state functioning. Ideally, there should be an understanding of arranging the relations in the state. The citizens, let’s say, should be a priority for the state, not the other way around. … It’s actually a difficult issue. I understand it should at least, at a minimum, it should be a change in the relations of the constitutional powers of the executive, legislative, cabinet of ministers, and so on. It should be included in the Constitution of 2004, but temporarily. Then, on its basis, we have to create a balanced Constitution with less conflict. It would be in Kyiv, but it doesn’t mean I won’t come here again. The first is to take away the power of the president. I believe our president isn’t adequate. I don’t know, from a psychological point of view, from any other point of view, he’s an inadequate person. He did inadequate things, inadequately at inadequate time. But in general, we have to change Kyiv people. It would be the basic change of these relations between the citizen and the state. But, of course, strategically, it’s the citizen and the state that must be completely changed, fundamentally. … Well, if we draw parallels with the Orange Revolution, then it [Euromaidan] is much bigger than the Orange Revolution, much deeper, I think. It’s larger in terms of the numbers and structures, it’s clearly larger. Although it was better organized there, because it was smaller, that’s the first thing. Well, the meaning of the very essence of Euromaidan is deeper. When the Orange Revolution happened, it was more personified and less idealistic, let’s say. There are more ideas here. As for our country, I like the analogy of the Orange Revolution the most. As for other countries, well, I don’t know, I hope it’ll be a certain bourgeois revolution there, like in Britain, in France. When the bourgeois and the middle class didn’t understand their common goals. I hope we’ll reach that point of confrontation, when political forces and certain social structures will expose the interests of the middle class. … From what I know about Ukraine, the Maidan will not disperse. [If] the political leaders don’t take responsibility, they risk being replaced by others with more adequate public demands. It will actually be a step towards solving the situation. There should be a person who will talk with the environment of “regionals,” who will talk with security forces and with officials. This is the first scenario. Another scenario is the overthrow of the “Party of Regions,” its representatives in the parliament, and a return to the Constitution of 2004. And, of course, the coalition government, not a coalition, but more oppositional, let’s say. The government, the president, of course, won’t agree on it, and everything will quickly end up not in their favor. This situation will turn fast and bloody because the part of the “Party of Regions” controlled by the oligarchs will break away, and behind them are many regional organizations. Then, Yanukovych will be desperate to do something. This other scenario is more, let’s say, peaceful. The first scenario is more violent. … Well, I’d like one of the three leaders of the opposition to take responsibility, that is, go to the Maidan and ask the people if they are ready to entrust him with this mission. It’s really a mission because you can be killed. It’s a historical mission. … It’s as if one of them takes with the environment of the “regionals,” with the security forces, enlists their support, comes to Yanukovych, and negotiates, it’s simply a key argument. Or, maybe, adopt a constitution there, a so-called constitutional act, and then come and present the arguments. I’d like it to be a harmonious, normal path. I just understand it won’t be any other way. No authority will go to negotiations, from the point of view of some European democratic principles. They will be ready to leave only because the people are protesting. Those [authorities] won’t leave; these are not such people. That’s why you need to forget about it. We have such a situation and such behavior, and that’s it, period. … For my part, I perform some educational work. I work in a certain structure where we try to control the government, build a civil society, and so on. I can do it personally. Values, let’s say, European values or Maidan values, that’s how we bring them to the masses. It’s a question of who will speak because it all starts when someone stops. Let’s say, some are sincerely surprised that people take bribes. His [president’s] subordinates take bribes, ministers, and deputies. That is, he doesn’t understand that if everyone knows he steals every day, then the next level, no matter how much you say, will also steal. You must personally start by establishing certain standards with your behavior regarding bribes, regarding certain values there. You don’t need five or seven cars, please, or other special privileges, you just need to be open, simple, and not inside the “family”… You know, there is such a concept that every person must fulfill a certain mission in this world. If a [decent] person comes, they must find their place.

Male, 30 years old, recorded in Kyiv, February 9, 2014, one of the organizers of Euromaidan

What was against me was my enormous physical fatigue. I was very tired. I just wanted to be at home and sleep. It was really against, but as soon as I read that they needed glasses, tea, and people there, I got up, wiped my tears, as I had cried for two hours, wiped my tears, got dressed, and drove off. … [Motivated me to join the protest] blood, blood on the paving stones. I remember that photo after the Maidan was dispersed near this Christmas tree. It went like a snowball, our government got brighter, and everything happening in our country, too . … I’d not call [Euromaidan] Euromaidan, I’ll highlight once again. As for me, it’s a Maidan of confrontation against the government, against the system. To overthrow the power is the biggest goal. … You know, on November 30, I had a sticker on my jacket saying: “I’m not leaving the Maidan until Yanukovych’s resignation.” For me, it’s probably not the limit, but I’d want it to happen. I don’t think I’d have left right away, but for me, the resignation of Yanukovych is a minimum program. … I can’t compare it to 2004. There was nothing like that. … In 2004, everything was very peaceful. It’s probably the main difference. There were no deaths, and no blood, that’s the main difference. … It’s not that I think, I hear from different sources that both violent scenarios and civil war can happen. I don’t know how it can be, but I understand it can’t end just like that, looking at people’s moods. … You know, I’m a girl, I’d like him to resign now, so that everyone resigned and we went to Khreshchatyk to plant flowers in sundresses and paint benches. I want peace. These are my hopes. How will it be? … I’m ready to motivate and agitate people, tell them how important it is. I do communicate with colleagues at my company and give lectures not only about how to work in our campaigns but also hint at what kind of people we should become. These are some of my attempts to change something.

Female, 33 years old, recorded in Kyiv, February 9, 2014, Euromaidan participant

I want to admit that as a participant in Euromaidan, I am very passive. It means I can’t take any active actions due to my health and weakness, let’s say. My joints hurt, and I can hardly walk. The only thing I can do is [stand here]. I live alone, and my grandson, and they go here, they participated in many demonstrations, only perhaps not on Hrushevskyi [street], but all the openings of the Maidan. I can only help financially or with my presence. I try to come here as much as possible… I like the very atmosphere of the Maidan. I experienced such moments of unity when people are connected with a common noble goal, I think, several times: when there was a Day victory; when Gagarin flew [to the space]; and when there was the first Maidan. Nine years ago, I was still working with students, and, of course, starting from November 21, I stayed here, took pictures, and participated. We stood, we brought everything they needed, and so on. Then I was able to do more of what everyone was doing. There were no such organizations, and overall, the Maidan was a little different. Everyone voted, in fact, against, we always seem to vote against … Against the emerging corrupt regime under Kuchma, and then not the opposition was protesting, but we had slogans against unfair elections. And now people came here because they were given a cold shoulder. That’s what I think of Maidan. … You know, the thing is that, unfortunately, I am here for the mass effect because I can’t be useful anywhere else. Well, except when I’m standing in line at the pharmacy, or my children buy food for me, my daughter, and grandson, I don’t go to stores very often, but among neighbors, among everyone, I can express my point of view, but I … You know, I have more of an analytical attitude to everything happening in the country. I read the press, I find diverse statements and articles of people, supporters, and opponents. I want to understand, I want to get to the bottom of everything. You know? I want to understand the patterns, to see the development of any society, civil society. Therefore, I am also into explaining to those young people I communicate with, those neighbors who come here, younger than me, that temporary defeat doesn’t mean defeat at all. It’s a step, after all, toward the development of society. People are brought here from different regions. They may not share the point of view of the Maidan, maybe they do, but they appear, as it were, on the other side of the barricades, but I believe that when they are all… First, the political society develops and grows, of course, the economy determines politics, and it’s not fashionable now, but, anyway, the political development of society happens because of that… The only thing I fear, like all people on earth, so that there are no victims and bloodshed. Then, maybe, I’ll come out and defend, scream, do what I can. … The goal of the Euromaidan? The purpose of the Euromaidan, in my opinion, began with a completely harmless demonstration. It has now turned, perhaps for many, into a symbol of civic conscience. Now, what is the purpose of the Maidan? I think too many people come here to formulate goals, you know because few people think about the fact that there may be a change, even a leadership, but not right away. But I want to believe that we’ll move forward. And the purpose of the citizens is, of course, dissatisfaction with the way the government performs its duties. It seems to me that this goal is clear to everyone.

Female, 76 years old, recorded in Kyiv, February 9, 2014, Euromaidan participant

I came to the Maidan for personal reasons and personal goals, I don’t belong to any party. Now I am in the security, so-called “Self-defense of the Maidan.” Well, in general, we became participants after those ugly actions. And I believe we all came here, each of us has our preferences and intentions, aspirations. Well, here we are like participants because here we have, so to speak, a small piece of free, independent land in the center. Well, driving here, I realized we need to be here, where people defend not only their rights but also the rights of all Ukrainians, especially mine and my children. Having come here, seeing quite interesting and intelligent people, many students, of course, there are also seniors and middle-aged people here. Well, it’s quite nice and pleasant to communicate [with them]. If all Ukrainians were like that, then we’d be the center of Europe and be considered quite worthy Europeans. … Well, everyone has the same goal. These are certain categories expressed at the time. The first thing is the resignation of our “guarantor.” Everyone supports it. Second, it’s about a complete reset of the government because it’s no longer Ukraine. It’s a disgrace not only to Ukraine but to the entire nation. We were never slaves. Nobody can bring us to our knees. We were serfs, but not slaves. … People want the same thing they wanted in the beginning: a complete reset of power, that’s for sure. And the laws they adopted there, like, Azarov was resigned, it’s just nothing. It’ll be fine when the guarantor says “I will resign” or “Let’s make elections.” It’s about having a really good Cabinet of Ministers, not the way it is now. Well, it’s a complete reboot of the government. We should kick out these security forces everywhere, without even looking or asking for their name and surname. … Well, what needs to happen… We should come to our victory, a joint victory, and then work to bring these values to a greater number, well, not to a greater even, but generally to the number of people. It takes time and effort to understand. Well, you have to, first, be here on the Maidan to understand its spirit, its energy, and its values. If you haven’t seen it, it’s difficult. You need to be decent in communication, to control it. You have to start with yourself.

Male, 31 years old, recorded in Kyiv, February 9, 2014, Orange Revolution and Euromaidan participant

When the revolution began, I came to the second day of the student revolution and spent quite a lot of time there. After I started living here (laughter), one of the magazine’s editors offered me a freelance job as a correspondent. So I even worked here as a journalist for a while. But then Automaidan appeared. Its founder was my good friend, and after a while, I realized standing like this on the Maidan really produces some effect, but in fact, it’s better to press the power from everywhere. So, their pain point is where they are. That’s why people come directly to them. So, Automaidan is a mobile force, actually much stronger than just simple protesting on the square. And then I joined them. I even asked my dad to join. He started going on patrols and so on. I used his car. Then, I offered to help the guys with the creative concept of the demonstrations. So, we came up with a creative concept and a demonstration. But after repressions against the Automaidan, after I, let’s say, got attacked by Berkut and everything else, I realized we needed to strengthen even more and help more. And after that, I became the press secretary of the Automaidan because we, unfortunately, needed to constantly rotate people, so that the team didn’t fall apart. Well, the very value of both Maidan and Automaidan is that there are simply no leaders who can suddenly disappear, and that’s it. That is, here, people organize themselves so much that even if you remove the top ten, there will still be another second ten that will continue to work. It’s our power that no one will overcome. … I can’t compare it with the Orange Revolution or any other movements because there was always a leader, and the movements were, like, accepted. There’s no leader here, and the opposition isn’t leading, no one is a leader. That’s why it’s absolutely a new phenomenon.

Female, 25 years old, recorded in Kyiv, February 9, 2014, activist of Euromaidan and Automaidan, Orange Revolution participant

Personally, being a participant in the Maidan means creating history. I got fed up when they started beating and destroying the people, when they started showing real aggression against the people, a real occupation of Ukraine. … One of the reasons I am here is self-respect, taking care of self-respect, about the respect my children and my family. When Ukraine is in need, when the people are in need, I have to participate. … For the people here, this protest is a matter of life, or really, maybe even death. For the protesters, it’s about an awareness your country is free and not under, not under a gang or knowing that it is and being ashamed of it. [The purpose of the protest] is a change of power. The resignation of the president and Verkhovna Rada, at least the appointment of the next Verkhovna Rada elections. Today, the fate of Ukraine is a tool in the hands of certain politicians. The fate of Ukraine is decided in the high offices of the world, not in Ukraine and not in Russia, in the high offices of the world. And the Maidan is like a chess game now. But the Maidan is a king. … Change, change of power, and finally, in the long run, change of the social mentality of the society. I don’t like today’s Ukrainian society at all levels.

Male, 55 years old, recorded in Kyiv, February 9, 2014, Euromaidan participant

Although I am a citizen of Russia, I still feel I live here, and of course, I am part of this society that came out on the Maidan. In general, as I said, it’s a special experience for me. I came to Ukraine five years ago, and everyone told me about that Maidan of 2004, like, you didn’t see it, you won’t understand. So I knew a lot about the Maidan of 2004. Mostly from friends who participated, including the guys from Lviv and friends from Kyiv who gave their gallery on Reitarska [street] for a little headquarters and so on. I knew about this Maidan. It was very interesting for me from the very beginning because the last rally I went to was in Kazan, a Perestroika rally, a little one. I went there with my parents. My brother was a student, he went to Kerch with a badge of Gorbachev, yes. … Well, actually, after this first day, I didn’t go to the Maidan, and I watched it disappear. There were fewer and fewer people there, and of course, I understood it had disappeared, and I was a little sad because of it, but I understood it was normal. So, I didn’t expect what would happen next, so, and when, and when we found out the young people were very severely beaten, the main TV channels showed it, it was, it was very tough. The next day we came to the square. I remember I called Tania, they took some food, sandwiches. So, we came there and stood there the whole evening, with our friends, we just stood there, it was rather strange. I just stand and do nothing, but also I protest somehow. … I didn’t understand how. I understood I just needed to be here because there should be many people. So should I, among them, there should be a lot more of us. But the next day, hundreds of thousands went to the center, and we were among them too. I was into it very quickly. Like everyone else, we read the news all the time. I began to read my Facebook feed, which I had skipped before. What happened next? A lot of time has passed, two months. … It happened on the night of December 11. I remember I watched the broadcast on the Internet. I had four different broadcasts open, I was horrified, and I knew I had to go, and I was afraid. I was afraid to go there alone because I knew that people were intercepted on the way. So my girlfriend woke up, we called, called her brother, we called our friends, we called Tania and went there on the first metro, so we arrived when the worst thing was over. We helped a little with building new barricades. And there, I remember, for some reason, I remember this fear. I understand what is needed, I see people chanting, “Kyiv, get up! Kyiv, get up!” I knew I had to go help, and I got scared that if I didn’t, I’d be ashamed. Many probably say: “You know that when you arrive, fear disappears; you feel fear when you see the broadcast.” Well, in general, I always try to tell my parents via Skype about the most important things. They are in Kazan … Well, they are more informed than most, than most ordinary Russians, even though they don’t watch “Dozhd,” they don’t listen to “Echo,” I tell them about everything. I still feel they don’t fully realize what’s happening. Moreover, even though I understand that I am different, I am different from the people of Kyiv. [It’s hard] for me to overcome caution and fear. I feel that here, of course, people are freer, it’s much easier for them to be, to do some kind of action. … Of course, I’m not a revolutionary at all. I felt people were freer here or that the climate was different. As for protests, there may be some kind of protest tradition here. … I participate just a little, I think that we need to, that we need to somehow listen to what is happening there. Listen and try to be… Listen and try to be helpful. I [did] what I could. Yes, I helped those people who stand and do something. I waited for the moment when I was needed, and something came in handy. … Well, of course, I’d like everything to end well, peacefully, without bloodshed, without cruelty. So that there’s justice, so that all evil, bad people went to jail, but the good ones, ours, came to power, and so that there would be one constant Maidan, I don’t know. I think that all sorts of hard things are waiting for us. It can’t end in anything good no time soon, under any circumstances, because people had gone through this very long history of the Maidan. They won’t retreat, they won’t give up. Those people at the top, opponents, and enemies of the Maidan are also not going to retreat and surrender. And it means no one knows what will happen next, no one can predict. But I think we can say that, probably, the worst is ahead of us. There was a chance to do it without any clashes, to win bloodlessly, but, probably, this chance is left behind.

Male, 33 years old, recorded in Kyiv, February 9, 2014, Euromaidan participant

Well, first, I want to say that the Maidan started as a demonstration for joining European integration, for joining the European Union. I didn’t support it. I was even arguing with my dad. I didn’t like it very much, because, well, there are several points. I even wasn’t interested in what was happening. And after the Orange Revolution, this stereotype, well, like most people, I cooled down. Those processes in our country, political, didn’t interest me because they were a big disappointment. But the first impetus was, of course, when I found out that people had been beaten, and I watched that video the next day and was shocked by what was happening. Well, I realized I couldn’t stand aside, it concerned me, first of all, as a person, as a citizen of Ukraine, as a person who cannot remain silent about evil, about what was happening, about the mess our authorities started to make. I went to my friends. They live in Kyiv. We studied together. They were also participants. I don’t even know how to describe it. For me, it was, like, a protest action. It didn’t differ in anything. Well, I took part, like everyone else, in protests. We went to Luteranska Street when there was an assault. They first began dismantling checkpoints and then assaulted the Maidan. Not the Maidan, but the Ukrainian House. Well, like everyone else. Nothing so special. Later, when I returned to Kharkiv, I participated in all these protest actions. Every person participates, yes. Every person tells their friends. And, of course, the confrontation happens inside because it’s very difficult when you come across people who believe in the opposite. They don’t have a position. They don’t even want to justify their position. They are just against it. Not clear even what they’re against. They aren’t open to dialogue. And the most difficult thing to explain to such people, who are still your friends, to explain to them because the mind turns off, and emotions come in. … Well, it’s more like a confrontation, I don’t know, in social networks, when you communicate with people, especially, those from the east of Ukraine. I have no friends from the west of Ukraine, or Central, who are against what is happening. And many people [in the East] react negatively for some reason. It’s hard to talk to them. My friend told me she considers her mission in this Maidan to open the eyes of the people who live here, so that they become interested in what is going on because I believe it changes our attitude to the territory where we live, yes, to who we are, because everyone somehow lives in such a very abstract way, feeling like nobody at all. … Well, for me, it’s some kind of human reaction. For me, participation in Euromaidan means that I can’t pass by and can’t be indifferent when I see that a person is being beaten. Just a person. How Slavik Vakarchuk said once that if somebody from the “Party of Regions” had been beaten, he would have reacted in the same way. Because it’s very strange when people are lying on the ground, lifeless, and they are simply beaten to death. When people can’t even defend themselves, even they [Berkut] don’t know who they are, the girl or the guy. So, for me, it’s like fighting evil (laughter). I know it sounds a bit metaphysical. But it amazes me why other people don’t take part and protest. I don’t understand how you can, for example, just pass by when you see someone being beaten. Right? I think the first step of the heart is to understand this person is not an outsider, not a stranger. Right? It’s about the division into “ours” and “theirs.” If it had happened to your loved one or some relatives, you wouldn’t have stood aside. And for me, being a participant in Euromaidan means, somehow, I don’t know, discovering my humanism. Right? And second, to understand that you are a citizen of Ukraine… this anthem: “One for another, brother for brother.” To understand the Ukrainian Brotherhood. And above all, it’s also an opportunity to find, not just a common language but an opportunity to talk. Right? Get to know another person because people are often closed. They are inside their opinions. Even, it seems to me, not entirely clear for them, but sharp and radical. … It looks like a human, human desire, I don’t know, human desire, because if you protest peacefully at first, no one cares and doesn’t notice you. And then you want more active actions. And this demonstration, those people who formed “Right Sector,” we don’t know who are there, what kind of people they are. But I know, for example, that my friends also support what happened on Hrushevskyi [street]. Others don’t support it. They consider it bloodshed, an inappropriate thing. … I think that the main goal, one that is not quite conscious, is still the transformation of people’s consciousness. Because it somehow affects all spheres, even people who oppose it. It concerns them too. They build their counterpositions. But it still concerns them. The goal is to open the eyes of those indifferent people. But if we talk about specific political goals, then, of course, it’s the overthrow of that government. Right? The one that exists now and those people who don’t feel responsible for what happened. They have to leave. That’s for sure because it’s impossible to live in a country where people start to protest. It seems to me that some kind of process has been launched. It should completely change the entire existing system because it’s rotten, and we can’t just change some figures. It’s not about the figures. Right? It’s about some deep structures there. … Well, I’d like us to get rid of Yanukovych. Maybe not from Yanukovych, because it’s obvious he’s some kind of figurehead, a manipulated puppet. There are some other people. I don’t know. Putin or who? I don’t really know. Security Service of Ukraine? I’d like us to succeed, I don’t know, somehow, but I know it’s somehow utopian. Of course, I’d like everyone to be punished. But I think it’s a utopia. Azarov left, and his government won’t be responsible for this. Right? I just wish we had a new system. I don’t know how it’s possible. I wish we had our own little leaders for each district, I don’t know, so that we personally know them, and personally choose them, and personally ask them. Some chieftains (laughter). Like it was in Cossack times.

Female, 26 years old, recorded in Kharkiv, February 10, 2014, Orange Revolution and Euromaidan participant

The main goal of Euromaidan? Here people are like: “How long will they oppress us? How long will we not be considered human?” My personal opinion is the following. … Laws that are more or less observed. Some decency. Right? Nobody does it here. So, they said they summed up this, 2012 football, the Euro. Yes. 18 billion went to the trash bin. And who was responsible for this? Couldn’t they at least investigate those stolen billions? Only on the roads, there are more than four billion, the snow fell then, and money was washed away. Four and a half billion washed away on the roads. Well, like in Moscow now. You know? In the Sochi Olympiad, they also spent four times more money, same. [I want] Yanukovych to leave and, well, you can expect everything from him. It’s clear these criminals put him there, and these criminals are keeping him there. As they said, during Yanukovych’s years, more than 400 criminal authorities came to Ukraine. And only four of them were expelled. That is, they all live here. Everyone lives well here.

Female, 72 years old, recorded in Kharkiv, February 10, 2014, Orange Revolution and Euromaidan participant

I found out a new revolution is taking place. I didn’t participate in the revolution of 2004 because it seemed political to me. And I’m out of politics. All the same, I found out the details of the clash between the authorities and the protesters when Berkut started attacking people and beating them. It was wild and cruel. I saw footage from those events. And it really struck me. I realized something different than in 2004 was happening. And I realized I could go and find out what was happening without intermediaries because television, radio, and the media are probably distorting all this. In any case, I think it’s always better to find out for yourself. And I went to Kyiv.

Female, 26 years old, recorded in Kharkiv, February 10, 2014, Euromaidan participant 

I was motivated, of course, by the economic benefits of the European Union. Not values. I’m not a supporter of many European values. First, I like economic principles because I know how the business develops in Europe, their approaches, and how their loans work. It’s very interesting for me. They are open there. And, of course, something rather smaller but it was also the reason, so to speak, not such a big push and motivation, but of course, I was motivated by the democratic principles that I, as a young person, strive for. … The first task is the protection of participants, and the second is the implementation of European integration processes. … I recently spoke to journalists from a well-known German newspaper, and they still think we are standing there to join Europe. It’s important to us, but it’s not the first thing. From the 19th to the 26th, when people began to protest for a complete change in society’s systems and values, the main goal was the resignation of Yanukovych, but Yanukovych’s resignation was like a symbol. Kind of a symbol. … Frankly, since I’m there since I’m not just a participant of the Maidan but one of the coordinators, I got the necessary support and even technical means that helped me to be safe. I’m totally up for the violent resistant option, and so are many people. But I want to admit that I see the Maidan more deeply than the average Maidan participant, and I am afraid many processes there are controlled by a few people. Why Verbytskyi [Ukrainian scientist, Euromaidan activist, who was kidnapped by the unknown on January 21, 2014, tortured, and killed, t/n.] was beaten? Because he’s from Lviv, and Ihor Lutsenko [a Ukrainian journalist and politician, t/n.] wasn’t beaten but subjected to cruel torture. My colleague, Andriy Shevtsiv, drove him, and he told me what condition he was in, this grimace of the body or whatever you want to call it. I just don’t know what to call it. Why was the Lviv resident killed, and Ihor Lutsenko not? Why was he left alive? The two of them were in the same situation. Why did they leave Bulatov and Tetiana Chornovil alive, and Verbytskyi was so abused? It’s easy. Lviv started it all. Lviv shows the greatest activity. And wasn’t the beating of Verbytskyi the reason to activate people from Lviv, who are the readiest to go so radical? Verbytskyi was being bullied. And what about Bulatov? He was gone for seven days. Of course, he wasn’t nicely fed there, as we see a delicately cropped ear. I am not at all to blame – these are all victims. But there is some kind of game going on here. And regarding the “Right Sector,” on the 22nd, I had a nice view of what was going on. I saw how the police measured the meters very clearly: meter by meter, a clear job against the protesters. How they chased them away and drove them away. I saw how they let some of the protesters go. In front of my eyes. I was just where the arch was. I saw everything from that height. I saw how the armored personnel carrier arrived as if to scare the demonstrators, but I saw how it incited them to action. Is it because many processes on the Maidan are uncontrolled? I think so. … “Just give me a match, and I’ll go with a gun, I’ll fight, that’s all, just give me weapons.” And when we see these actions begin, and many people are willing, and there are people on the front lines, on Hrushevskyi, there are people who don’t need any recognition or anything else. There are real fighters who don’t fake. They don’t shout they’ll shoot everyone there. These are people who are ready to die. I was there on the 22nd, and they shot at me. I have a small wound from a shrapnel bullet. I ran there with a gas mask, a civilian. Me, who didn’t shout I’d be on the front line to fight. For me, a man is someone ready to fight for Ukraine in any form of resistance. Not every man is such a man on the Maidan. … This is Zaporozhian Sich, which absorbed all the eras of Ukrainian people’s struggle. I hear all the time: “Brother, believe me, the grandsons of the Cossacks, Upivians [from UPA, Ukrainian Insurgent Army – t/n.], Makhnovians, and so on, so forth, have gathered here.” This Sich is not only Cossack but the one that absorbed the entire history of the Ukrainian people’s resistance. It’s wider than Zaporozhian Sich we know from history; yes, as a category of Cossacks. It’s wider, it’s Sich, which has absorbed very broad sections of the population. … [Maidan begins] Probably from my family. Because we can’t outline separate planes here, it’s not true. Many people have one foot on Maidan and another – somewhere else. In no case. The Maidan is every person. You need to start with your family. Wherever a conscientious person steps, who considers themselves a participant of the Maidan, there Maidan begins. Whether it’s a church, a recreation complex, or anywhere – it’s all our Maidan. Especially now, when the revolution has spread to absolutely all categories of the population. … [What needs to be done so that the values of the Maidan are embodied in everyday life?] Work more and more in the educational field. The only format is an educational field. It’s about constantly working in the public space. Publishing and broadcasting these values, conveying them to a broad population. First, I’m ready to go fight. I’m not saying to put my life there, no. This is not the time. But I am ready to make very big sacrifices to get it across. Now the Maidan has become the heart of a conscientious Ukrainian. And can there now be a conscientious Ukrainian without the Maidan? I doubt it. Because of this, it’s one of those outposts of life where a conscientious Ukrainian must convey it to, roughly speaking, unconscientious Ukrainians. Those who have not yet become a Maidan citizens in their hearts. I think soon we’ll see a surge of revolution. In a violent format. I think it’s still manageable for now. But there is option “A.” Or it will be the point of the final disintegration and split of the “Party of Regions,” so, the further course will be peaceful. I think it’ll be like that. And on the other hand, the one managing the violent scenario won’t manage it, and people will simply go ahead with weapons and shoot them. I don’t know. This is something uncontrollable, just bad. Very bad.

Male, 23 years old, recorded in Lviv, February 10, 2014, one of the organizers of Euromaidan

I can only talk about myself. Because there [in Kyiv] it’s the same, people massively join the protests… I’d think [that I’m] one of those people who just get a kick out of it. The question is, well, I don’t know if it’s the adrenaline level or something else. You understand you’re doing a great job. And, honestly, not very safe, not very safe, or rather just the opposite. But you still do it, and it’s cool. And you understand that you can lose your job. It can get tough. Someone can, I don’t know, hit you on the head with a bat. But you do it anyway. Well, it’s like that. If it wasn’t for pleasure… But even this buzz is so complicated, you don’t always go out just for adrenaline. It may be shameful, it may be cold. I don’t know, we stood there in the cold for three days, got very cold there, then had to take some medicine. But all the same, you understand you’re doing something not only useful but also pleasant. And I think that’s mostly just that. A group standing not because it has to but, well, because it’s sort of fun. … The thing is that we have a very cool chance to change everything, transform everything the way we need to. Only time will tell whether we use it. And it’s a minimum program. And the maximum program, of course, is far beyond that. Take a banal example. If we make it so that our policemen… By the way, they’ve equated our policemen to state employees constantly kicked out in Kyiv as trash. They kick them out as they do with the education workers and others, to stand there with flags. That is, I don’t mean Berkut, but ordinary police, people studying to be policemen, I don’t know, and others. Somehow the Maidan, in my opinion, drew a very cool parallel, showing what was there before and what we will have after. The thing is that people now understand it will no longer be the way it was. And the question is whether it will be worse or better. And if we can change the entire vertical. But we have to change even the very names. Seriously, Berkut, the police, I don’t know, everything. We just have such a chance. If we can start with a clean state, tabula rasa. Well, that’ll be the biggest goal. … Well, the question of participation… Again, I’ve already finished my Euromaidan, probably finished here in Kharkiv. When the entire Kyiv Euromaidan comes to Kharkiv and ends here, we’ll probably finish it. … Well, I’ll say again that I am, on the one hand, a team player, so I’ll do what needs to be done. On the other hand, I understand that I am a musician after all. So, I will, will conduct cultural and educational work.

Male, 39 years old, recorded in Kharkiv, February 11, 2014, one of the organizers of Euromaidan

I am responsible for its fate [of Ukraine]. Change our country for the better. … Rather, the feeling that if I don’t do it [take part in the protest], I’ll feel uncomfortable. When I do this, I try to somehow influence the development of my country as much as I can, so that there’s no torment and pain for lost opportunities. Talking about help. Plus, it helps me because I get to know good people and do interesting things. … Everyone wants a fundamental, let’s say, change for the better, the overthrow of this regime. Some people build some consensus on things. For example, about the system overthrow, these massacres, this state-gangster feudalism. I mean, almost everyone here thinks the same way. There are nuances. I’d say, in a philologic way, as postmodernists say. Here and there, some people are trying to pull on a costume, say, of the nationalists’ era, so to speak, of the Bandera era. Here and there, some people put on the costumes of anarchists, earlier Makhnovist era, or modern anarchists. Sometimes, it’s a redundancy, but in general, at the internal level, so to speak, people believe some of these contradictions are philological. The rest is neither one nor the other. Neither ultranationalists nor anarchists. Different options are there, let’s say, I’d not say purely liberal, liberal-social-democratic, some kind of ideology. What Comrade Stalin called “the leftist swamp of right-wing opportunism.” …Definitely [our goal] is not integration into Europe. Of course, it’s about the elimination of this mafia regime. No questions. At a minimum, the resignation of Yanukovych and an honest election. Well, and some obvious reforms in the future, understandable to people and which most people support. At what point will the square itself get empty? I don’t think it will ever get. It’ll just change the way it works. I think most of these people will make up a new political force or several political forces. So, in a broad sense, the area won’t go anywhere. It’s an important experience we should never forget.

Male, 48 years old, recorded in Kharkiv, February 11, 2014, one of the organizers (speakers) of Euromaidan

On the one hand, I believe the first [motive] is the signing of the association. I see that the signing of the association is one of the tools for improving the state, well, including the people. And then I was motivated by the thing that they beat up people. Well, it’s in the records. And there’s no reaction, no one is punished, and everyone is somehow silent. So, I’m against such kinds of things, yes. … Well, there are many goals. On the one hand, changing the country, yes. On the other hand, it would be ideal, yes, to change the opinions and build a new structure much better than the previous one. Including the attitude of the state to the person, the person toward the state and society, and the society toward the person, the person to society. Everyone should be more responsible. … That’s my idea. So, I’d like, on the one hand, people who violated the law to be punished, yes. Starting from the top and ending with a simple policeman or titushki. On the one hand. It’s the minimum, yes. And the maximum is the construction of a new state, where, as a citizen, I’ll feel freer. To know that, without a bribe, yes, I can achieve much more, in any sphere, in court, in business, in private activities or scientific. … And the result is the absence of corruption, and overall, no lawlessness or the fight against lawlessness.

Male, 27 years old, recorded in Kharkiv, February 11, 2014, “Green Front” activist

I can’t say that [Euromaidan] changed me a lot. Well, I hope it didn’t influence my health because, I admit, there are problems, I hope they are curable, and I can get over them. Did it change my mind? Well, there were waves of despair, well… there were waves of aggression. Well, I can’t say I understood those people, thanks to whom… Perhaps, it’s not very nice to say so, but I will, thanks to whom we now have all these. Sometimes, when we were there, when you stay awake for a long time, and there’s news that someone was killed, like Serhiy Nigoyan, we knew him personally, and there’re waves of hatred towards those people. It happens, well, it’s just human, why? How can you not see? And more and more, the same titushki, the same people in the East, still don’t understand, they still support Yanukovych. How, how? You have the same access to the Internet, to information, and everything. I’d understand if they were locked in there. [But] it’s just convenient for them to receive such information. Those people are afraid to lose this little, this nothing, this meager that they have. Moreover, they live here [in Ukraine], and they aren’t interested in what will happen, what will happen to their children, and so on… Has it changed me globally? I know I need to work even harder. I know no matter how hard it is… Well, it’ll sound pretentious, but if not us, then I don’t know who will do it, I just don’t know. My child is growing up, I know he has to go to school, and there are textbooks with errors upon errors. And who knows, maybe, if we don’t change anything now, they will introduce Russian as the second state language. I don’t understand why my child has to learn it, I just don’t understand. On what basis? Why not Chinese, then? China holds the whole world, all products are Chinese. In this case, it’s more logical to learn Chinese, I don’t know. If there’s globalization, then we should think differently. That’s why I don’t want it. I know for sure that if I don’t do it now, then if my child walks there after 10 p.m. fifteen years later and the police beat him just because he did it, he will say to me: “Mom, have you done anything for me to have the opportunity to move freely in my country or speak Ukrainian?” Well, it’s kind of selfish, but not really, I’ll have, I’ll say that I did all I could. And I will do everything I can. … Initially, the goal was European integration, we expected it, but we knew there would be no European integration; it was obvious. We didn’t even think it would end up like this. Then they beat the students, and the goal was to show that we were against such things in our country. The independence of our country was more of a question. And now there’s a question of our country’s independence, so be it. First, there was European integration, then a protest against our people being beaten in the center of the country, and now it’s definitely about the integrity of the country, independence from a possible, I don’t know, Russian invasion. Also, they talk about federalization. Integrity, independence of the country. … Yanukovych’s resignation. Everything else is not our victory. Whatever happens: the government, resignation, the resignation of Yanukovych, and early presidential elections. … I only hope we won’t come to any violent actions, I hope the persecution will stop, I hope the people who are now political prisoners will be… That the preventive measures won’t be changed to house arrest, and the charges will be dropped. I don’t know how else to live with it. I hope there will be re-elections soon. And someone will take responsibility. Now the only goal is to remove Yanukovych. Whoever replaces him, I mean not from his team, but in general. His team is certainly out of question; that is, we will try to fight the “Party of Regions” and all of them as much as possible, although there will be many supporters. The goal is to remove the person currently in power, and not repeat what we did in 2004. We shouldn’t give him power and say: “Well, that’s it, power is yours.” … Well, I don’t know what to do. Public organizations are dealing with monitoring, educational issues, elections, and transparency. It’s very difficult to work at all levels, there’s a huge structure, so we have to work at all levels with these issues.

Female, 29 years old, recorded in Kyiv, February 11, 2014, Euromaidan activist

In a state where you can’t find a job according to your specialty, I don’t want, for example, my child to grow up or for her to live from paycheck to paycheck. For me, these protests, these three months of trials, they’re an investment in the future … [The main goal of Euromaidan] is to achieve justice, I think. Everything that has been happening in Ukraine for the past few years… Well, we were patient and patient, but it just broke. Conscientious citizens wanted to live normally, not paycheck to paycheck. And there was this well-known case with the Pavlichenkos; they came to buy bread, roughly speaking, and they didn’t come back. That is, if you don’t please this authority, they quickly take you and lock you up. It shouldn’t be like that, there should be an investigation, and so on, according to the law. … I think when we feel worthy and sense justice, I think everything will stop, and life will return to its course. But anyway, somebody will remain, and some public organizations will be formed, but it’s left to history, I’d say. … Of course, I’d like Yanukovych to resign. I’d like the re-elections and the authorities to lose their powers, but at the same time, it’d be sad to walk past the monument to Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko and not see the usual tents. I’ll miss it all.

Male, 18 years old, recorded in Lviv, February 12, 2014, Euromaidan activist

I came to Maidan a month ago. And I joined Maidan a month and a half after it started. … I just don’t like the current government in Ukraine, its actions, its attitude to Ukraine, to the Ukrainian people. I want it to change. I came to Maidan to defend my interests. I see the country as a European country, a civilized country, and not what our President Yanukovych is building today. … I came home for some time as I wanted to find a job, but I couldn’t do it for a month… I thought my parents had problems; I wanted to help them with work. I have many specialties, but today in Ukraine, [even] having higher education, it’s very hard to find a job and get a decent salary. I realized that I have to join Maidan so that the standard of living in Ukraine is European. Each of us must bear this responsibility and take part here, on Maidan, every citizen of Ukraine. If one wants to change, change starts with each of us. If I want to live better, I must defend my rights and interests and make much effort to change the country. … There were no doubts. I clearly understood I had to come to the Maidan. I’ve been here for more than one month. I don’t regret it. I am participating here on the Maidan and plan to stay until the end of the month. I am very happy I came. … The main goal of Euromaidan is to change Ukraine for the better. Everyone wants to live in a normal country, with a normal standard of living, with social and legal protection. Everyone wants to feel comfortable, to live in Ukraine and receive normal salaries, and be sure of one’s future. … The main goal of Euromaidan is to change the life of everyone. The main goal is to eradicate all the negative phenomena in the state: bureaucracy and corruption. Also, people protest for the president to resign and sign the association with the European Union. If the association with the European Union is signed, then soon the opposition will come to power, and I’ll be very satisfied with that and stop participating in the Euromaidan. … Today, we should get some results of the Maidan. First, we have to elect a new president who would really support the interests of Ukraine; secondly, we have to sign an association with the European Union. If it happens, these will be the most important events of the Euromaidan. … Euromaidan was similar to the Orange Revolution, but the consequences were a bit more tragic. But every event is special, it contributes something to Ukraine, to its development and improvement of our life. … I believe in the victory of Euromaidan. I know it’ll win. There will be a general change in the state, a change in political life, and new politicians will come. Every person on the Euromaidan, or people who will take part in the Euromaidan, and the Maidan itself in general, will positively affect all these positions. And these events will change our country and bring progress. … Today, to embody the values of Euromaidan, European values, every person must come to God and get acquainted with those values written in the Bible, and build Ukraine of today according to these values and these principles. I am taking part in the Maidan, I want to be an active participant in the life of our country, to be an active citizen, and to occupy a clear position. I’m ready to take part in the future political life of the country, to be a deputy, and so on… For me, Euromaidan begins in my life, in my heart and mind. If today I study these values of Europe, the standard of living; if today I embody those principles in life, if it starts with me, with my home, with my life, at work. Well, protest places unite people, they create these cells, and they are an impetus for every person all over Ukraine to start to want changes for the better. We can see it in western Ukraine, where there are Maidans in every oblast, where people take an active part in it. … For me, I get pleasure from life on the Maidan as I take part in the life of the country. It’s the driving force. I came to the Maidan to defend my position, and I’m satisfied with that. I don’t need anything… I have food and clothing. I don’t get money, but I’m glad I’m here and, overall, every person can find oneself on the Maidan, can take part in the Maidan, and can provide for oneself if one wishes.

Male, 35 years old, recorded in Kyiv, February 13, 2014, Euromaidan activist

For me, it [participating in Euromaidan] means constantly participating in it because… But not only that. It’s also about spreading information and trying to support this idea. Efforts to support the movement, so that it doesn’t fade away and is represented in Kharkiv as much as possible. It’s about monitoring all the news related to the actions and connected to the topic of the Maidan in Kyiv and other regions. It’s about constant direct contact with people and organizers in Kharkiv and attempts to help physically, morally, and materially in all possible ways. I mean all kinds of participation possible at some particular moment. That is, sometimes I can be there, and sometimes I can give some money to print some postcards. Sometimes I can organize something and support the demonstration. That is, in different ways. … I was angry with the lies I felt towards myself. Absolutely unexpected. The manipulation was carried out with my consciousness and the consciousness of my state, which forever promised me that everything would be good and European, and then decided to suspend cooperation. I got enraged. That is, the first motivation was that I was deceived again, my expectations weren’t met, and now they’re trying to turn our country into some completely different trajectory. … Well, I think everything will finish…That is, I hope we’ll achieve the president’s resignation, then – the election of a new one as soon as possible. And I really hope the European community will support us economically so that we at least don’t die of hunger. Given our promise to do some economic miracles in our country in the next five years. Instead, I understand that I will have to work and work.

Female, 35 years old, recorded in Kharkiv, February 14, 2014, active Orange Revolution and Euromaidan participant

For me, being a participant in Euromaidan means being a small cog in a huge mechanism that can destroy those dams, that injustice, lawlessness, and banditry. I believe we’ll definitely achieve this. Since the beginning of Euromaidan, my life has gained more meaning and become much brighter. I’ve met many like-minded people, many people who support my point of view and the point of view of millions of our Ukrainians, our compatriots. I also began to follow news and politics. Before, I was not too concerned about it, but now I believe every conscientious citizen must know about it to really assess the situation. I heard about Euromaidan for the first time, maybe, from television or social networks. I don’t remember exactly, but it happened on November 22, when our honorable president decided to suddenly change his mind about the international association, to turn it in the opposite direction. Then I saw on social networks that people were grouping. I saw a lot of shock. I saw that people were ready to express their point of view, their defiance of such injustice, and go to the square, so I decided to join them. From the start, I considered my presence on the Maidan my duty because it depends on each person. If we say that “oh, nothing depends on me alone,” if everyone thinks so, then no one will come. I believe everyone should come to express their point of view. I did it myself. I came to the Maidan. Unfortunately, I didn’t volunteer, I didn’t work at the “Euromaidan” kitchen because I have a kid, and I had to spend a lot of time with her. But I supported Euromaidan with my presence as much as I could.

Female, 20 years old, recorded in Lviv, February 15, 2014, Euromaidan participant

I wrote the revolution would happen throughout the whole of 2013. They called me a dreamer, a storyteller. And I was so sure, just read my texts in Ukrainian publications. I say: “Well, where does such optimism come from, such confidence, haven’t we predicted anything?” Here in Euromaidan, people are disappointed. And just two days before the Maidan, I wrote an article about the intelligentsia, why they are silent, why they don’t come out, why they don’t speak up, and why the phrase “if not me, then who?” doesn’t work here. And it’s one thing to write about it beautifully, but then suddenly it breaks out, and when I rushed on the first day looking for [leaders]… Well, come on, I’m not a leader by nature, and then I started asking: “Well, where are our leaders?” I’m ready to protest, join, stand, and express my solidarity, but there was no one. And there was no one at all, and I had to turn to this phrase I wrote so beautifully: “If not me, then who?” [I had to] to implement it to life, raise this flag and carry it, which is absolutely not my cup of tea. So, I am grateful to my family for supporting me and my friends for showing they are friends. And generally, our Revolution of Dignity, I call it the Revolution of Dignity, it shows, and all the previous revolutions [too], who is who. In these extreme moments, you begin to appreciate people, to understand who they really are. All the husks are gone when the situation is critical. And it is critical, and maybe, there will be more. So, in general, you asses the idea according to the Hamburg account. … It’s just that Euromaidan went through several stages, including Kharkiv one. First, it was about European integration. That’s what all people came for. Today it has become very political; that is, the main goal of the Maidan is to eliminate Yanukovych and this government. Not everyone wants to change the country as such. Many see evil in the tyrant himself and his team. We need to change the system. …[Euromaidan] must win, both morally and politically. At a minimum, early presidential elections. Authorities and the president will leave, and they will lose the elections; it’s obvious. He must call new presidential elections. However, I think the Maidan will go on until Yanukovych resigns, that is, for me, it’s a key moment. Everything is decided not at the level of government or constitutional reform but by the people who make decisions. There should not be such a person as Yanukovych, but it’s certainly not enough. I won’t leave [Euromaidan] without it.

Male, 39 years old, recorded in Kharkiv, February 16, 2014, one of the Euromaidan organizers, Orange Revolution participant

Well, first, we fought for Ukraine to join the European Union. Well, for Ukraine to reach success in all spheres, because we’ve been independent for 22 years, and we’re stuck in one place and are not going anywhere. … Euromaidan changed my vision because I could never think that different strangers from different regions – from the East, from the West, from other regions – will be as equals on Euromaidan. And everyone was friends, and everyone did some work together. I decided to join the protest after the Maidan, Euromaidan, was violently dispersed. Then, it was called “Euromaidan,” when the security forces came to Kyiv and dispersed the students who were just peacefully protesting. First, I’m a Ukrainian, and Ukrainians were standing there. So, I had to join the protest and be with the whole country and all Ukrainians. I had no doubts; it happened spontaneously. Everything played the best way. Friends and acquaintances called to join. We went there for the weekend, on Friday. We literally decided to depart on Thursday, and on Friday night we went to Kyiv. … Well, the demands are the same for all Ukrainians: for a better life in Ukraine, for there to be no corruption and no crimes. We shouldn’t face it. There should be no crimes we’ve seen recently. For a better life for the whole people of Ukraine. I would include myself in the “Self-defense” group. Well, I’m already enrolled in this group. I’m fulfilling my role as a citizen of Ukraine and a defender of my country. … Well, the main goal of Euromaidan is to improve life for all Ukrainians in all regions of the country. As you see, our prices are always rising, our salaries are not increasing. And in Europe, you see there’s a limit, and life is much better in Europe, and that’s why Euromaidan was called that because it’s for the European movement of Ukraine, for the movement towards Europe. Well, I think people won’t leave the Maidan until all their demands are heard and fulfilled.

Male, 21 years old, recorded in Lviv, February 17, 2014, Euromaidan participant in Lviv and Kyiv

First, like the greater half of Ukrainians, I want to join the European Union. That’s why this revolution started. The demonstration started with this. It was the main question. So, when I went to Euromaidan for the first time, the reason was the dispersal of the demonstrators… There were doubts about the further actions, the plan, how to act, if everything will be fine if it’ll help something, if the peaceful demonstration will somehow be successful, or if people will just leave. You know, when you come to a university, some people say “I was on the Maidan” or “I wasn’t on the Maidan.” Some have a sort of national position and inspiration; other people just want to skip classes. Then some doubts arise. … Goal? First, it was about the defense of one’s rights, protection of the population, and protection of the people as well. It was the first goal, the organization of the Euromaidan, it was, of course, joining the European Union, given all its advantages over the Customs Union. And in general, the goal is only one – to protect the people, even after the upheavals in Kyiv, after people died. Still, there is a goal to protect the people. … Now, in my opinion, the main goal is to overthrow the current government, to overthrow the president, so that the president resigns. To protect our rights, to overthrow the authorities. You know, the modern political power in our country is still holding on. I believe, yes, it hasn’t moved from the totalitarian system of the Soviet Union. So, it’s still holding on to those foundations, and the Ukrainian government is not yet ready, or rather ready, but unable to overcome it and unable to support the people. … Honestly, I can’t predict anything. Maidan has been protesting for quite a long time, and nothing happens. On the contrary, we see that the authorities… Kyiv is on fire, everything is on fire, so I can’t say what happens next. Maybe other states can intervene, and perhaps eastern Ukraine will also rise and support Euromaidan. … Of course, we want our president to resign, change the power, change the government, the entire state apparatus, and the system. And maybe at least the next [year] Ukraine joins the European Union and all our hopes for a good future come true. … Fight, fight, fight for our destiny, for our life, it’s our future, and we’re the only ones who build it. … If our political system changes, if it changes, if the Maidan wins, then it will probably be good, people will be grateful, my children will say: “Mom, thank you for being there, for defending our future, fighting for our lives.” … I’m ready to go to the Maidan, to fight there now, and I’ve already bought a ticket, and I’ll be there tomorrow, and I am calling on everyone to help. I’m a girl, of course, I won’t fight or shoot. And yet, we only benefit if there’re more people on the Maidan.

Female, 20 years old, recorded in Lviv, February 18, 2014, Euromaidan participant in Kyiv

From the start, I took part in these demonstrations, these revolutions, and, of course, the Euromaidan itself. It began with the fact that Ukraine had approached European integration. And now the Euromaidan reminds us of the struggle for freedom, and for national consciousness, and national idea as such. Well, I had no doubts at all. The government we have now just doesn’t leave any doubts or excuses for understanding we have to participate in the Euromaidan. … I can’t convey, what you feel when you’re on the Maidan. [You feel] you do it for yourself, for your future, and the future of your descendants, so to speak. Well, this experience, I think, will help many people because, as they say, “you learn from mistakes.” And Euromaidan, it’ll show our successors how it all happened and what should be done in such situations. … As I said, the first goal was European integration, but everything came to the point that we just want to free ourselves from this power. Because what the government is doing now, it’s just unacceptable. People are dying, no one is responsible for their deaths, and no one is even following the law anymore. Nobody even wants to obey the law; I am not talking about enforcing it. And I think that, of course, people protest so that the current government, our president, and his supporters just leave their posts. And there must be a certain reset of the authorities for people to give up on Euromaidan. So I think after the end of these Euromaidan events, we hope it’ll soon be over, and the people will finally get what they want. I think that soon we need to single out certain heroes of the Euromaidan and build monuments in their honor because they are suffering there, as none of us. … Of course, the Ukrainian people are suffering. I don’t know how long they have been struggling. They are struggling, and they can’t win the freedom they need, they deserve. Let’s bring up the 1920s when the West Ukrainian People’s Republic [ZUNR] and Ukrainian People’s Republic [UNR] were united. There were big revolutions and large strikes, similar to what is happening now on the Euromaidan: the East, and the West united, the same way as in the 1920s when the ZUNR and the UNR united. Well, these are very, very similar events. … I think and hope our president will understand how wrong he is and how many mistakes he has made and will finally resign. And so is the government, its supporters and even non-supporters, will also retreat. I think it’ll be the best idea for them. So that completely new people will come and get to be presidents, prime ministers, and so on. Only then will Ukraine begin to flourish again. … We have to do everything so that it doesn’t happen again, so that Euromaidan doesn’t happen. The government has to play its role because everything depends on the government. The people obey the authorities up to a certain limit, up to certain criteria. Then, when the people aren’t heard, it starts to explode. So, I believe if this power reset takes place, if these changes take place in our country, then everything will be fine in Ukraine. And it’s the government that must determine, must have a decisive role. Euromaidan and European integration begin with each of us. Each of us must start small. That is, even these bribes, even behavior in public places, and so on. Everything starts small. So, everyone must first look after themselves for the whole nation to begin to flourish. … Because every city supports Euromaidan, supports Euromaidan as a moral choice. And where does Euromaidan begin? Euromaidan begins with each of us, as I’ve already said.

Female, 19 years old, recorded in Lviv, February 18, 2014, Euromaidan activist

I decided to join the protest as soon as it started. Our classes were canceled, and we could visit Euromaidan. And what prompted me to do this? My civic consciousness, my principles, and my desire to achieve something. Defend my opinion. … Of course, I had my doubts. First, when Euromaidan began, I didn’t think it’d be so long and transform into a revolution. I thought people just rebelled and wanted to express their thoughts and desires. They wanted to stand up for something. But I didn’t think everything would be so serious. I thought that people would just give up, as always. And they would stop what they started. But now I’m glad it goes on, that events are developing. People didn’t back down but decided to stand up for their destiny, one might say. … My role was small. But maybe it was big. The more people came, the better the support was. They came to support [the Eromaidan]. And I had to go and defend my rights when I had an opportunity. Not to lose it. … For me, we’re all the same; we’re one, we’re a people, and we defend our rights here. … The common goal is to overthrow the government, to join the European Union, as we initially wanted. We desire to join the European Union that started this chaos. … Well, everyone has the same aspirations. There’s a common goal, and people proceed to it. They want to achieve some results. … The main goal of Euromaidan, at first glance, was to make Yanukovych sign the Agreement with the European Union so that we would join when we had such a chance. I think he did wrong. And the second goal is, after those Berkuts started killing people, everything started happening in the country. It began then, after those troubles. Well, the second goal is clearly to overthrow that president, to change the power. Now people want to change the Constitution to the one of 2004. …Only victory. I’ll stop coming when it happens. No wonder people stood for so long. So many people lost their lives for this purpose. … Well, I hope that people are here for a reason and that there will be an appropriate result. And I’d like the people standing there to go peacefully. So that there’re no losses or injuries. … Well, for me, Euromaidan starts in Lviv since I study there, I spend more time there. And since I only had the opportunity to protest there, well, only there.

Female, 18 years old, recorded in Lviv, February 19, 2014, Euromaidan participant