Ukrainian Maidan protesters held a protest near the Chinese Embassy in Kyiv as a sign of solidarity with the rioters in Hong Kong. About a hundred protesters gathered under the walls of the diplomatic institution, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
They chanted slogans: “Free Hong Kong!” and “Stop the repression!” The audience was addressed by 18-year-old Irina Didych, the daughter of the “Svoboda” member who died on the Maidan, “Hero of the Heavenly Hundred” Sergei Didych, who was run over in a truck by a fellow Maidan activist who was trying to break through the police cordon.
“When our revolution began on November 21, I was 12 years old, and our whole family was at this revolution. My father died in this revolution. And I know and understand the demands of the current protesters in Hong Kong.
Because our revolutions began in a very similar way. The authorities did not fulfill the wishes of the youth, then the authorities violated the rights of the people, they encroached on the dignity of these people. Beatings, persecution. I understand it.
Now I'm 18 and I'm a student. When I see what is happening in Hong Kong, I understand it too. Because I live in a country in which, I hope, the police will not be able to beat me, thanks to the Maidan, thanks to the revolution. But they don't have it yet. They are just fighting for it.
We appeal to the authorities of Hong Kong, to the authorities of China, to the authorities of Ukraine for support, for the fulfillment of the demands that the protesters now have. Because they are similar to Ukrainian ones - they are rejection of laws that violate people’s rights, these are investigations that, like in Ukraine, are now ongoing. I feel this connection every time I watch news about Hong Kong,” said Irina Didych.
Another representative of the protesters, Andrei Savchuk, said that he came to the rally to express solidarity with the Hong Kong Maidan protesters, who, like the Ukrainians, are “fighting communism.”
“The events in Hong Kong are very close to my heart. Here you need to understand that we, as a country, as a movement not only in Europe, but also in the world, have become fashionable because we have become a country of democracy, a country of freedom. And Hong Kongers went to protest rallies with Ukrainian flags, so we must support them.
We understand that our country has been fighting against communism for more than a hundred years. Communism is more than an ideology, because it is death. This needs to be understood, so we came out to support the Hong Kong people,” Savchuk said.
The protesters brought an electronic piano to the embassy, which was played by the same musician who incited the putsch participants on the Maidan in 2013-14.