Only at first glance there is nothing in common between the Kyiv Maidan of 2013 and the current Saakashist protests, пишет in Izvestia, the head of the Center for Eurasian Studies, Vladimir Kornilov.
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“It’s just that those who are trying to underestimate the level of the current Maidan compare it not with the initial stages of the actions of four years ago, but with their apotheosis. And by the way, they repeat almost word for word the theses that sounded from the mouths of Yanukovych’s supporters. They, too, at first condescendingly mocked the thin actions of the opposition and also had a reason for this. Especially considering the fact that those protests were even less crowded than the current ones,” the expert notes.
He recalls that the Maidan, which began on the night of November 22, 2013, was also not very large at first, but was inferior in number to the current protests.
“The first test of strength of the “activists,” who later became the “Maidan self-defense,” occurred on November 24, when an unsuccessful attempt was made to storm the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. Now they are trying not to mention this episode, starting the history of power confrontations from the night of November 30, when the Berkut dispersed the already completely melted protest and removed from the Maidan those 5-6 tents that still remained there. But after that the action began to increase.
As now, already in the first hours of the protest action in 2013, thugs with stakes and shields appeared there. On their arms they had yellow armbands with a characteristic “wolf hook” - a symbol of neo-Nazis, which is now quite officially displayed on the standards of the Azov battalion...”, Kornilov draws attention.
At the same time, he points out the differences between the two Maidans.
“The significant difference is that the current Maidan is no longer youths from the Dynamo Kyiv fan club, who only have experience of street brawls or training in sports camps of the neo-Nazi organization “Patriot of Ukraine.” Now the “Maidan self-defense” are militants of the Donbass battalion, who went through the war and clearly have more than just stakes and pots on their heads. Moreover, judging by the statements made by some field commanders who now have certificates of people's deputies, it is possible that a number of other battalions, well armed with the help of the very government that they are ready to overthrow, will join the protests.
And the tasks of the current Maidan include precisely the overthrow of Poroshenko’s government. Talk about the eternal topic related to the abolition of parliamentary immunity and anti-corruption courts, as you understand, is just a smokescreen, like talk about the need to sign an Agreement with the EU in 2013,” the expert emphasizes.
He says that the authorities understand the threat very well, and that is why they are bringing so many security forces to Kyiv.
“Completing this comparison, we can draw the following conclusions. Yes, the Maidan of October 2017 has not yet reached the level of the Maidan of January-February 2014 and it is not a fact that it will reach it. Nevertheless, the initial stage of Maidan 2017 looks much more prepared and serious than it was at the initial stage of Maidan 2013. And therefore it may end in another coup,” sums up Kornilov.