Thousands March in Kyiv to Oppose East Ukraine Peace Plan

Thousands of Ukrainians took to Maidan Square in Kyiv on October 6. (Flickr)

Thousands of Ukrainians led by nationalist parties and veterans’ associations gathered in Kiev's Maidan Square on October 6. They marched through Kiev to protest President Volodymyr Zelensky’s decision to grant autonomy to the pro-Russian rebel-held Donbas region in Eastern Ukraine. This decision, made in an agreement with Moscow, marks an effort to revive peace talks and end a five-year conflict in the Donbas region.

Ukrainian police reported that around 20,000 people took part in the rally against “capitulation” which brought together liberals and supporters of further Western integration, as well as members of Ukraine’s far-right. 

Earlier this month, envoys from Ukraine and Russia agreed on an election schedule for the Donbas region and legislation granting it special status. Ukraine also agreed to call back its forces from the current contact line with separatist fighters.

The war in eastern Ukraine has killed more than 13,000 people since it began in April 2014; many Ukrainians saw Zelensky’s “capitulation” as a betrayal to those who died fighting. The president’s statements sparked anger among former fighters and have been criticized by members of the opposition, who expressed concerns that the deal would formalize Russian influence in Ukraine.

Organizers of the rallies said that Ukraine was “half a step away from capitulation in the war with Russia,” and that elections in separatist-held areas would “open the door to [their] autonomy, the legalisation of terrorists as politicians and ‘people’s militia’ and ultimately to the loss of Ukraine’s sovereignty.”

One veteran, Yevhen Pylypenko, called the plan a step towards “forgiving the people who fought against us. I think that’s unforgivable.” According to another protester, Ludmyla Linnyk, “We are for peace, but we want it to be done differently. We also want our boys not to die, but we want our land to remain our land and that there are no enemies on our land.” 

Former Ukrainian president and current leader of the European Solidarity party Petro Poroshenko also opposed Zelensky’s plan, which would amend the Minsk agreement negotiated under his presidency. “We will never agree to that,” Poroshenko explained, “We feel solidarity with the present actions and calls heard from among veterans, and we will not allow the ruin of the Ukrainian state.”