The Orange Revolution --
A coup is taking place
right now in the streets of several Ukrainian cities. Following the "election" of Viktor Yanukovych, an election that
everyone from the Ukrainian man-on-the-street to
EU observers and
the US and
Canada say was marred by serious and obvious fraud, Ukrainians are turning out by the
hundreds of thousands to
show their support for the opposition candidate, the pro-West reformer
Viktor Yushchenko.
Individual cities and
municipalities, not to mention heads of
Ukrainian religious groups, have even announced that they will refuse to recognize Yanukovych as the Prime Minster.
The problem is, Yanukovych is supported by the Kremlin. Russia's state-run TV stations had been broadcasting propaganda on his behalf, they
called the election on his behalf before the polls were closed, and their increasingly despotic President Putin even congratulated him on his "win", before
backtracking slightly. And now reports are
trickling out--from
former American congressmen communicating via Blackberry, no less--about
Russian soldiers being flown across the border into Ukraine,
dressed in Ukrainian militia garb, and
set among the protestors. Phones have been cut across much of the country, including at the embassies. A semi-covert Russian-backed military push against the pro-democracy protestors is feared. Will this be another peaceful
Rose Revolution, as happened in Georgia one year ago today, or more like
Hungary, 1956? Stay tuned to
the Ukrainian bloggers and
webcams; this could
get messy.
posted by Asparagirl
on Nov 23, 2004 -
147 comments
