Украина без Кучмы: Протесты 2000–2001 годов

2000–2001 protests in Ukraine

Ukraine without Kuchma (Україна без Кучми; Ukrayina bez Kuchmy, Russian: Украина без Кучмы, UBK) was a mass protest campaign that took place in Ukraine in 2000–2001, demanding the resignation of President Leonid Kuchma, and preceding the Orange Revolution. Unlike the Orange Revolution, Ukraine without Kuchma was effectively extinguished by the government enforcement units, and followed by numerous arrests of the opposition and the Ukrainian speaking participants. Seeking the criminal responsibility for those events was renewed with the election of Viktor Yanukovych as the President of Ukraine. "Ukraine without Kuchma" was organized by the political opposition, influenced by the infamous Cassette Scandal, presidential elections of 1999, and aimed mainly to demand the resignation of the newly re elected President Kuchma. The protests did not disappear untraced and resulted in consolidation of the democratic opposition which led to the Orange Revolution.

The first and barely noticed action of the campaign took place on 15 December 2000 on Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square), the main plaza of Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital. The protesters sought Kuchma's stepping down and proper investigations of the disappearance of journalist Georgiy Gongadze.

Soon, the initiative grew into a mass campaign widely supported by students and opposition activists. The opposition parties, having lost the 1999 Ukrainian presidential election shortly before the scandal, considered the campaign as a natural reason for unification and reinforcement. The protests were organized as a network coalition and guided by collective leadership. However, Yulia Tymoshenko (at the time leading the National Salvation Committee), Yuriy Lutsenko (at that time representing the Socialist Party of Ukraine) and independent Volodymyr Chemerys became prominent leaders of the action. More than a dozen political parties supported the campaign, among them Socialists, the influential right centrist People's Movement of Ukraine (both represented in Ukraine's parliament, Verkhovna Rada), extreme right UNA UNSO and others. The leaders put aside the political differences between such mutually antagonistic groups and concentrated on anti authoritarian protest and demands for political freedom. They also united in acceptance of broad Western support for the campaign.

Students and youth constituted the majority of participants, although the campaign gained wide public support. Protesters set up a makeshift tent encampment on the sidewalks of the plaza and neighbouring Khreschatyk Street. Active supporters were living or taking shifts in the tents, while many others occasionally visited the rallies. Discotheques and concerts of liberal oriented musicians were organized on the plaza. Student strikes took place at some universities. Lviv and some other cities joined the campaign, but to a lesser extent.

Frightened by the scale and unusual tactics of the campaign, the authorities repeatedly tried to destroy the camp using police and masked provocateurs, but avoided mass clashes. Trying to stop the protests, Kyiv's mayor Oleksandr Omelchenko ordered a major reconstruction of the plaza, fencing most of it off. This prevented the protesters from gathering large crowds, but barely affected the campaign. Authorities in some other cities adopted the tactic, announcing "construction work" on their main squares, usually with no activity behind the newly installed fences.

Lacking general unity and forming a minority in the Verkhovna Rada, opposition politicians could provide protesters with only limited support, such as initiating a mock impeachment of Kuchma and making parliamentary protest. Pro Western liberals were constrained in actions since they were backing up Kuchma's Prime Minister, highly popular reformist Viktor Yushchenko, in his efforts to oppose pro President oligarchs. The campaigners called on him to support their demands and take the lead. But Yushchenko refused, instead co signing a highly critical public address with together with Kuchma. Some influential media became biased in favor of the authorities. Leonid Kuchma received three leaders of the campaign, heard out their daring accusations and demands, but refused to satisfy any. According to Volodymyr Chemerys, the President claimed that he would sack the police Minister Kravchenko (accused in Gongadze's abduction), as protesters demanded, if only Yushchenko suggested this dismissal officially as Prime Minister which never happened.

Later that year, Prime Minister Viktor Yushchenko was sacked by President Kuchma and joined the opposition. In 2002 parliamentary election, he led the Our Ukraine (Nasha Ukraina) electoral coalition that won the vote, but failed to form a majority in the Verkhovna Rada. Many protests leaders were united in that coalition, while others participated in the Socialist Party and Yulia Tymoshenko Electoral Bloc (the successor of the National Salvation Committee

The main events and general trends of Ukraine without Kuchma campaign are studied in "The Face of Protest" TV documentary ("Обличчя протесту" – "Oblytchia Protestu") made in 2003 by Andriy Shevchenko. The film is based on the various TV footages of the protests and interviews of the participants on both sides (from campaign leaders to militsioners).