While the protest in Kyiv not unexpectedly attracted the most attention, the fact that Ukrainians came out in more than 30 cities across their country may be more important. On the one hand, and in sharp contrast to Russian protests, it shows that protests in Ukraine can “go national” very fast.
And on the other, it suggests that as Ukrainians face up to what Volodymyr Zelenskyy has agreed to in the Steinmeier plan, the share of opponents to that plan has risen from just over a quarter of the population to a far larger share (atr.ua and facebook.com/ProtectUkraine).
That doesn’t mean that Zelenskyy will reverse course or that there will be a Maidan that brings to power a government that will do so. But it does mean that he, others in Kyiv, and — even more importantly — others in the West who assumed that “Steinmeier” is the end and that they can now look away from the Ukrainian tragedy and resume “business as usual” with Russia may be disabused.
The struggle against resurgent Russian imperialism will continue. At the very least, the Ukrainian protesters are going to call out those who have fallen into the trap of assuming they can trust Moscow, actions that will also likely be denounced by those who say “give peace a chance.”
They may not win in this round: the situation and the powers arrayed against them are probably too strong. (For a frank but pessimistic assessment, see Illia Ponomarenko: Ukraine could have prevailed in Donbas, but now is doomed to unjust peace.)
But the protesters too are part of a new reality, one that points in a very different direction over the longer term, a time frame neither Zelenskyy nor most of the politicians now in office appear to be giving much thought to. They should, because their “victories” now are likely to prove as hollow and shortlived as others achieved in the same way in the past have been.
Read More:
- Zelenskyy plans total troop withdrawal in Donbas while Russia gives no guarantees
- North Caucasus expert: Moscow’s actions in Abkhazia and Chechnya justify fears about ‘Steinmeier formula’
- The real problem with “Steinmeier’s formula” and the Russo-Ukrainian war
- People living near demarcation line extremely worried about withdrawal of Ukrainian troops
- Portnikov: President Zelenskyy is deceiving himself and Ukrainian people
- Protests against “Steinmeier’s formula” gather largest crowd since Euromaidan
- Moscow commentator: Kremlin believes Ukraine is about to surrender
- The “Steinmeier Formula”: Zelenskyy’s huge mistake
- Is freedom from the Russian gas needle possible for EU & Ukraine?
- Protests against Steinmeier’s formula spread in Ukraine, “movement against capitulation” founded
- Vitaliy Portnikov: the Kremlin wants to see Ukraine’s collapse
- The tragedy of Zelenskyy, a parody genre actor challenged to produce the Ukrainian dream
- “We’re scared for our lives!” Pro-Ukrainian population near demarcation line against disengagement of Ukrainian troops in Donbas
- Portnikov: With Putin, Zelenskyy can speak freely
- Nikolai Polozov: the Kremlin can take as many hostages as it wants to use as bargaining chips with Ukraine & West
