The Odessa Anti-Maidan is putting forward new leaders - they will have to replace the politicians of the old Ukrainian “leaven”
Odessa, May 01 (Navigator, Artem Buzila) - Odessa Anti-Maidan on the Kulikovo Field continues to hold its position for the third month, despite the arrests of leaders, threats by officials to disperse the tent city and the forced departure of protest participants abroad due to the threat of new repressions.
Anti-government demonstrations are forming new leaders from among Odessa residents previously unknown to the general public.
If previously the representative politicians were businessmen - “money bags”, careerists and henchmen of financial industrial groups, now real “field commanders” are appearing on the scene. Their determination cannot be taken away, which means there is hope that they “will not give up,” unlike the leaders of the old Ukrainian “leaven” who compromised themselves.
Until March 17, the leader of the Odessa Anti-Maidan was Anton Davidchenko, the leader of the public movement “People's Alternative”, who previously worked as an assistant to Minister Dmitry Tabachnik. He was known in the city as the initiator of a number of patriotic actions and social projects.
In mid-March, Ukrainian special services arrested Davidchenko, apparently hoping to stem the wave of protest. However, as it turned out, it was not possible. Now the Odessa Anti-Maidan has many leaders. Journalist Artyom Buzila talks about some of them in a column for Navigator.
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Alexey Albu in 2010 he was elected as a deputy of the Odessa Regional Council on the lists of the Communist Party of Ukraine, but a year later he was expelled from the Communist Party of Ukraine due to disagreement with the leadership line. The young politician was not at a loss (at the time of receiving his deputy mandate he was 25 years old) and headed the regional cell of the Borotba movement. The Odessa “Borotba” more than once held actions against the signing of the Association with the EU, but it was the Anti-Maidan that became Albu’s “finest hour.”
Today Albu is in fact responsible for the left flank of the protest movement, since the Communist Party of Ukraine often prefers to distance itself from the demonstrations in South Palmyra. In addition, the deputy is trying to lobby the interests of Anti-Maidan in the Odessa Regional Council. It was Albu who put forward initiatives on the creation of the Odessa Federal Republic within Ukraine, on the resignation of the governor appointed by Kiev, Vladimir Nemirovsky, and will now participate in the mayoral elections.
Albu, in his own words, goes to the SBU as if it were a job. “I’m passing as a witness. I won’t sign anything, I’m just communicating with the SBU, almost like with voters,” the deputy said.
A housewife Maria Bilchak in her “thirties” she wanted to step away from active social activities. Previously, she headed the public organization “Dozor”, known for its loud pro-Russian actions. Bilchak came out with “Novorossiya” banners a few years ago, when this toponym was largely forgotten. At the end of 2013, as Bilchak herself claims, she “handed over leadership to men.” However, events in Kyiv forced her to return to the protest movement.
Now she is, in fact, the female face of anti-Maidan protests in Odessa.
“I go to Anti-Maidan because I am a Russian person. I'm worried about what's happening today. Today we are called separatists, whatever you want. But I was born in the 80s, it’s clear in which country. Therefore: which of us is still a separatist,” explains Maria’s position.
23-year-old Denis Yatsyuk, who over the past few months has become the leader of the “patriotic wing” of Anti-Maidan called “Odessa Squad”, is a typical representative of the creative class. An ardent advocate of a healthy lifestyle, he was engaged in entrepreneurship before the protests began. Now Denis’s organization, which declares the fight for the federalization of Ukraine as one of its main goals, unites hundreds of young Odessa residents.
34-year-old Dmitry Odinov considered the “gray cardinal” of the Odessa Anti-Maidan. In fact, he is the head of the “power bloc”: the activists entrusted to him are responsible for the security of events, the security of the tent city, and the physical training of activists. Strongly built guys in masks, military camouflage and boots with shields at the ready are his people.
Previously, Dmitry headed the public organization “Slavic Unity”, Russian nationalists close in ideology to the fighters against illegal immigration in the Russian Federation. However, the wind of change leads to an adjustment in views: today the rhetoric has smoothly flowed into pro-Slavic, right-wing patriotic, conservative.
But the “information face” of the Odessa Anti-Maidan should probably be called Yuri Tkachev, editor-in-chief of the online publication Timer. His website is one of the few media outlets that continues to adequately cover what is happening in the city and in the country, providing live broadcasts from both the Euro and Anti-Maidan. At the same time, he does not attach labels, which is the sin of his colleagues who have turned into outright propagandists.
However, Tkachev says that journalists who sympathize with different camps still shake hands when they meet. “There is still not the same level of tension in Odessa, but there are difficulties,” the editor tells Navigator.
“We’re still working. Threats were received repeatedly, from some unknown people, apparently supporters of Euromaidan and radical groups - “we will cover you.” But it has not yet reached legislative acts. But there were hacker attacks,” the journalist notes.
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