Ukraine: protesters patience runs out

Maria Ieshchenko:
“We’re joined by euronews’ correspondent in Kyiv Angelina Kariakina. Angelina, within the last 24 hours the character of the Kyiv protests has become more radical as some protesters took the role of ‘aggressors’. Was Euromaidan expecting this turn?”

Angelina Kariakina:
“Nobody expected the protest to develop like this, nobody expected violent clashes with the police. And it seems that it was not planned in advance. Even though those who initiated the clashes were mostly radical protesters, later on some of those who were protesting peacefully admitted that they, if not physically then at least mentally, supported this mood shift. They said that the reason was their two month long protest without any of their demands being met.”

euronews:
“Euromaidan has been putting pressure on the Ukrainian opposition to agree on a single leader. Can we assume that Vitaliy Klychko is that person, as he was the one to pacify the clashes?”

Angelina Kariakina:
“There was an unexpected twist in the evening, when Klychko said he was going to see Yanukovych and have a discussion with him. If we talk about Euromaidan protesters’ opinions, it is difficult to say if they see Klychko as the definitive opposition leader. Some of the Automaidan protesters – those in cars – said that they recognise him as the leader, however others preferred not to name anyone.”

euronews:
“There are numerous media outlets covering events in Kyiv. Some said they were a target of police attacks. Was there any reaction from the Ministry of Internal Affairs to that accusation?”

Angelina Kariakina:
“We have contacted the press office of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. They say that nobody deliberately attacked journalists. It was an accident. They got caught in the line of fire of rubber bullets because they were too close to the centre of clashes.

“However, there are numerous videos and testimonials from journalists with different opinions on that matter. Many of them say that they were targeted, and don’t believe it was an accident.”