IamA yet another Ukrainian protester

What is the best way we could help your cause? We are only observers at this point.

There's this page http://www.helpeuromaidan.info/donate that lists all means of financial help for Euromaidan.

Thank you, much of the worlds eyes are on you, stay safe!

Thank you

does joining the EU actually have anything to do with it or is it bullshit?

Bullshit

thats exactly what i thought. so, as basically as you can put it, what is it about? i've read the news on it but i want to hear it from someone a part of it

Ukraine is very corrupt. With coming of Yanukowich and his mafia, it became absolutely terrible. People generally used to see him as embodiment of corruption and all the bad shit happening in the country.

After two months of government ignoring the peaceful protest, and torturing activists, and putting them into jail, and then allowing the horrible bloodshed, people generally see him as someone they want to get killed.

Ok, I have had one question in my mind. If you(protesters), are there 24-7, then when do you sleep and where do you sleep? Do you keep watch in shifts, some on days and some on nights?

Also, thank you for the cool IamA and stay strong! Estonia is with you!

Some of protesters are 24/7, a lot of them live in Kyiv. The watch is in shifts, yes.

Thanks.

You keep bringing up Yanukovich and his mafia. Can you give us some more information about what exactly is so corrupt about him? Why is he viewed so poorly? I know politicians are scumbags, but what makes him so awful? And the government hired criminals to kill protesters, right? Are they worse than the police and are they the ones who are sniping people?

In 2010 they (illegally, as some say) changed the Constitution to the one that strengthens the powers of president. Was Parliament-presidential, became president-parliamental.

Yanukowych became very rich very quickly: http://yanukovich.info/victor-yanukovych-assets/

He built himself a huge palace: http://blogs.pravda.com.ua/authors/leschenko/4fce2d5d5aa10/view_print/

He privatized himself a nature reserve with area of 300 sq. km and built a hunting resort there: http://www.pravda.com.ua/articles/2012/05/4/6963872/

His son's funds raised 78 times in three years of Yanukowych presidency: http://yanukovich.info/oleksandr-yanukovych-assets/

Some key Party of Regions members became very rich very quickly. These ones built themselves a huge business in Austria: http://yanukovich.info/andrij-ta-serhij-klyujevy/

Yanukowych has been 1—3 times (based on different sources) in jail.

His main sponsor, Rinat Ahmetov, has gained his enormous capital during criminal mayhem era of Ukraine, the 90s, allegedly in illegal ways.

Etc.

EDIT. Fix year

Shit, dude. He got elected? Wow. Now I understand a bit more. So, what about the Tituchki? Are they all criminals hired by the government to kill protesters and are they shooting at you guys? Also, thanks so much for everything you're doing. I'm not Ukrainian, but I have been following this since November and when violence erupted in January, I was wondering why you never heard about it here. Thank you for standing up for what's right.

He was elected twice, 2004 and 2010. In 2004 there was Orange revolution and now there is revolution.

During the peaceful protests Titushki were the sportsmen or thugs paid by government to beat the protesters or make provocations.

A couple of days ago, there appeared large armed bandit groups shooting and killing innocent people in Kyiv, we can no longer call them Titushki. These are hired bandits.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcgSQUD7d2k

What do you mean by provocations?

What's the name of someone who doesn't agree with the protesters views?

And how do you tell the difference between titushkas and the last?

Beating random people on the street pretending they're protesters, for example.

Government supporters.

Titushki are hired groups of thugs, these guys: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4zWYcmNKnE

That is what the arm bands signify right?

Yes

Are you attacking the cops? Have they attacked you?

I am not. And I am lucky to be not attacked as of yet. The day before yesterday I saw two people being killed by the police during the attack.

Is there anything that isn't being represented by the news?

I don't know what news are you following. I am sure that some media have missed today's Kalashnikovs shooting at protesters armed with sticks, cobblestones and wooden shields: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBNwwKGlibA

EDIT: Wrong link

I've been following this on the news and i have deep sympathy and respect for your plight... Has anyone close to you been the victim of any sort of brutality? Stay safe and much love dude

A lot of my friends were injured by grenades or bullets. My father slightly injured a knee when we happened in a panicked crowd during police attack. None of my close friends died, fortunately. Thank you.

From what you've seen so far with how things have progressed, what do you see coming next?

An hour ago there was a beam of light. Parliament has voted a bill for interior troops to leave Kyiv. I really hope the bloodshed will end soon.

But Yanukovych and Interior troops commanders have to face tribunal.

Wow, how were protesters mostly hearing this news? Was it word of mouth from what was on the news, or was something said where things are happening?

They broadcast espreso.tv on the big screen on the Maidan stage.

How much of a difference does it make that an outlet like Espresso Television has been livestreaming some of the protests? I would imagine it helps apply some international pressure to the situation there.

It makes a lot of difference. A lot of insight into what is happening on the frontline is thanks to them. Traditional media are too slow, clumsy, and also censored. New TV media like espreso.tv, hromadske.tv and spilno.tv, that rely on streaming, are cheap, fast-reacting, and more independent.

What have you done in the protests so far?

When it was peaceful, attendance. After the shit hit the fan, I used to do helping here and there, moving heavy things, cleaning, spreading info posters, buying medicines, organising people.

I was in Maidan mid December and got to see things first hand. Keep fighting the good fight brother. Slava Ukraini!

Heroyam Slava.

Hey, I'm from Venezuela, and we're currently having a very similar situaton to what you had until the violence escalated. We, have, like you, government armed and paid thugs shooting at unarmed students and other protesters.

What would you say could've been done by protesters to avoid violence? We are currently using very similar tactics as you, but instead of big concentration, we've split and barricaded a big chunk of the country's streets. Would you say this is smart? Should we concentrate the protests in one place lke you are doing or should we keep at it the way we're doing it?

It's not like I'm gonna have any real influence on how it develops, but I would love some insight from a fellow freedom-fighter who has endured repression and some advice on how we should endure it while minimizing casualties. Thanks for doing this.

In Ukraine only big concentration of people in one point prevented from police attacks. Also barricades proved to be too weak against special police vehicles.

Could you provide a link on some good reading about happenings in Venezuela?

Also barricades proved to be too weak against special police vehicles.

I'm afraid about that, but yesterday people from a state were saying that they had managed to topple a special police tank by lifting the sewers and putting the barricades right in front of the hole like this but with barricades or at least stop them by putting unmovable objects blocking the streets.

Could you provide a link on some good reading about happenings in Venezuela?

Unfortunately, we still the propaganda machine in full swing from both sides both in national and international media trying to put ideology and politics in the focus, when this should be about the problems that caused people to protest. We do however have a large sticky in /r/worldnews which we share with you guys where you can find enough info from both sides (of course take it as you would with info about your country, with a grain of salt) and we have our own sub /r/vzla where we've been following all the protests and events that have been happening. We have tried to be objective but when only one side is dying and is unarmed it is hard to be.

And one more question: Is there anything we can makeshift to protect against bullets that actually works? Until now only low calibre guns are being used on population, did the steel shields effectively protect against those?

Lastly, sorry for being like this, although you most likely understand where I'm coming from. I know you're going through probably the worst your country has seen, and your time is valuable. Thanks for giving valuable advice to me and my brothers.

Activists had a light tank destroyed (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgEjtFCiuJA) by putting lots of gazoline on the road and then lots of cocktails. There are Afghan veterans who know how to fight among our protesters.

I don't think there's anything that efficiently protects from the bullets except luck, armored vests, and helmets. Shields probably help but I've seen a lot with bulletholes.

Good luck and stay safe.

Hi there. I am a journalist of biggest daily newspaper in Croatia (EU). Would you like to give me a phone interview tomorrow (friday) morning? Anonimity guaranteed

OK.

Has the UN tried to help? or any other country? i feel like what Yanukowich is doing is a crime against humanity and should be punished not just by ukranian justice but from the UN

I don't think UN or EU and US can intervene. The situation is very controversial, a lot of people think of protests as of neo-Nazi coup. This position justifies the use of force.

Sometimes I think, maybe I'm the brainwashed one, and really am partaking in the neo-Nazi coup. But then I remember the tortures and arrests during the peaceful protests, the beatings of peaceful student rally, paying and arming thugs to shoot at the Kyiv residents, and remember who is fascist in this confrontation.

Although I admit there are some things that protesters did which are terrible and deserve punishment.

I think most educated ppl know that the neo-nazi, jew protestors is russian propaganda. I think most nations are on the fence because we need to take in account Russia, maybe they need to make a move on Ukraine first.

There certainly are protesters that can be qualified as neo-Nazi. But not much of them, most of Maidan nationalists deny rasism, and ethnocentrism.

10 years after the Orange revolution, here we are again. What is needed in order to fix Ukraine?

Short term, for Yanukowych to resign. In the long term, Ukraine needs lustration, war against corruption, and real constructive reforms.

Long term solutions are hard to achieve. Is there any political preference for a kind of reform (left/center/right)?

Aren't you afraid once Yanukowuch resigns, the people will fight each other instead of the police? Considering there are a lot of different groups protesting, now side by side.

I am absolutely sure there will be no fight. There will be civilised dialog.

The reason why violent clashes happen now is that people believe that civilised dialog is impossible with Yanukowych and Party of Regions. Hiring armed thugs, kidnapping and torturing activists are the methods of current regime.

No question, I just want to thank you and everyone else there for what you are doing. There's not much we can do here, but we are putting pressure on the Canadian government to act. Слава Україні

Thank you!

What did you achieve with these protests so far?

Mostly deaths, unfortunately. Nothing did the government give up.

don't forget you also managed to bring this to light to the entire world like you said, with modern media the internet get's to see the uncensored version and make up their own minds and you thought and are fighting for the people with their support, giving them hope and a vision of a better future I say you achieved an insane amount and I wish you all the best

There's light and now we have EU and US sanctions at last, but I think it won't help at stabilizing the situation now.

Is everyone on the same boat on what they are fighting for? whats the reality of the situation/.

There are nationalists, centrists, leftists, anarchists, girls, boys, grannies, grandpas, employed, unemployed, poor guys, businessmen, programmers, clerics, but all of them are united against Yanukowich and the police mayhem. Other goals are secondary.

do you guys think the corruption stems from somewhere else in the world?

Secondly have police officers decided they didnt want a part in the corruption. Or are they all on board there?

Overthrowing the corrupt regime is a good start for overthrowing the corruption itself. Cops are obviously in.

So the whole police units were all knowingly corrupt? None joined protesters?

Ok, it's much more complicated than corrupt/non-corrupt. Actually, some police troops all over the country have switched sides.

A lot of interior soldiers taking part in cinflict are new conscripts, that don't won't to be there, but will go to jail if they refuse. A lot of policemen are frightened by the officials. Some policemen allegedly get flats for participating. Some are paid very well. Some sincerely hate the protesters, and adore Yanukowych. Some believe they fight Nazis.

Today some police from the regions have joined the Maidan in Kyiv to protect the protesters.

This is an interesting turn of events and is good news. Here is something I have been trying to figure out.. Why does Oleh Tyahnybok get so much play as a protest leader if the fascist/neo-nazi/what have you are only a minority in the overall group of protesters?

Because he's a leader of one of three opposition political parties. His party is not fascist/neo-nazi, but traditional nationalist.

What is the age range?

I see people of all ages, 18—80. I can't say any numbers with stastical significance though.

Do you think if Yanukovych steps down the violence will stop completely? Second question is I know this is not over the EU but if he did step down how long do you think it would be until you join it?

1. Yes, I think it probably will stop. But lots of people also want him to be put to justice. Jail or death.
2. Ukraine is in terrible condition. I am no expert, but I think it would take no less than 5 years.

[deleted]

The protest started on 21—22nd November, 2013 as a small pro-EU rally. Popular ukrainian journalist Mustafa Nayyem started it with his tweet (something along the lines of 'hey guys, let's gather today at Maidan to show that we want to sign the EU agreement').

The protest coordination is kind of chaos. There are a lot of centres for coordination: official Maidan hq, 'right sector', 'civil sector', student assembly, medical help, automaidan, etc. They communicate through facebook, twitter, and cell phones. A lot of actions are spontaneous.

[deleted]

I think that a lot of people on barricades are students, but I cannot state for sure. There are some kids seen on barricades, I can't imagine what kind of parents would allow that.

All of the people on barricades I know are students or working full-time.

Thank you for this AMA. EDIT: I just noticed my question has already been answered above. I somehow missed it.

I have an oddly large number of Communist friends (Americans, and I mean Marxists) who keep trying to "prove" the Opposition to Yanukovych are all National Socialists (they keep showing a picture of ONE UNSP flag as all the proof they need).

I certainly don't believe them. Being a woefully ignorant, sitting in my comfy chair American, I am trying my best to follow your nation's plight, I could use some evidence to counter this Nazi-BS my friends believe. What can you tell me about your fellow protesters' beliefs?

Also, I am sickened by what happened to Olesya Zhukovskaya (a 21 year old medic shot in the neck while rendering aid to an injured person and clearly displaying the Red Cross) and my sympathies are with her, your nation and the others lost in recent events. I hope for peace and a resolution soon.

Thank you. I am trying hard at keeping the international community informed of what really is happening here. Many times I was attacked with articles about The Neo-Nazi Coup and statements that I am a terrorist and should die. I sometimes was shocked at the amount of hatred and brainwashedness.

One important thing to understand is that 95% of protesters (according to the survey) are not participating in the protests because they support political parties. The common goals for all of the protesters are fighting the police mayhem, the corruption, and Yanukowych regime. This is the cause that unites people of absolutely different backgrounds and beliefs.

Among the protesters there are people from all over Ukraine and from abroad. Crimean Tatars are active participants from the first day of resistance (they are mostly Muslims). Jewish community of Kyiv expressed its support of Euromaidan and protest against the current system. Among the protesters, who were killed in the first few days of clashes of 22.01.2014, was Serhiy Nigoyan — Armenian-Ukrainian activist (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serhiy_Nigoyan). The journalist who started the Euromaidan, Mustafa Nayyem, is from Afghanistan.

Most of the Maidan nationalists are sane and disapprove of racism and ethnocentrism. The nationalism of Right Sector, the most radical right organisation of Maidan, and Svoboda is called classical Ukrainian Nationalism. This political idea stands against racism, anti-Semitism, chauvinism, it aims at creating and developing an independent Ukrainian nation-state and protection of national identity. Nationalism requires first of all the national consciousness, the awareness of the national community group of people. Classical nationalsm cannot exist without respect to other nations.

No lies, there are guys among the protesters that can be considered Nazis, racists, and the ones who dream of annexing Eastern Poland or Russia. These are not the majority, fortunately, and don't go beyond the words.

I am no nationalist myself.

On espresso I just saw some men trying to pull down a statue. Who's statue is this and how long do you think it will take to get down?

I didn't see that. Probably Lenin statue. It's a common tendency now all over Ukraine. For lots of people Lenin embodies tragedies that Ukrainian nation has suffered during the Soviet time.

What do the people hope to achieve at this point?

At current moment, stop the deaths

Yea, but I mean the end result.

Yanukowych to resign

Who would be the likeliest replacement for the president?

The likeliest are Klitscko or Poroshenko.

Until recently the protests seemed peaceful enough, why did it escalate so quickly and who fired first? Do you believe right wing extremists have hijacked the operation or was it a reaction to the advance of the security forces?

Escalation of the last days might have been due to a planned operation by cops, which was scheduled on 19—20.2, but I believe it was due to the frighteningly ill-planned and mismanaged rally two days ago (18.2).

Maidan protesters and forces were spread on too large a territory, which allowed for successful attack by police. It was so successful that people were surrounded and had to defend themselves.

Why did today's bloodshed happened? I don't know. Reminder, snipers killed more than 100 people. Today's footage clearly shows that protesters were at all times in the morning when it began armed only with clubs and cobblestones. I can't understand what did drive the killers. Was it money? Was it hatred? Was it sadistic pleasure? I can't imagine how could someone do that.

Good luck and god bless. Prayers and warm wish from the United States.

Thank you.

How are your trust in politicians in general? Do you expect a man like Klitschko to be 100 % anti-corrupt and progress minded, or do you strive for a total restart of the political system in Ukraine?

Very low. I personally don't trust him, and don't trust most of Ukrainian high-rank politicians. Anyway, Klitschko is a European man, I am sure that he is at least better than anyone we had before. I wish for lustration to happen.

Thank you for doing this. I have two questions:

Most of what I am reading is about the situation at Maidan. I have seen a few reports about a train outside the city being stopped or the airport road being blocked. Are there other, similar protests happening in other Ukrainian cities?

Right now what I am seeing from Espresso TV is large crowds of people listening to a speaker on a stage. Have the fires and stone throwing stopped? Are the riot police still there?

Yes, a lot of them. People block army troops, titushki, deputies fleeing in the airports. On the entrances of some towns there are sentries. There are patrols in Kyiv looking for armed bandit groups. There are also regional Maidans. In western part of Ukraine government buildings and army bases were captured.

The riot police can't be seen from Maidan right now, but at least couple of hours ago there were snipers somewhere killing in average one man every 20 minutes.

Why are people setting tires on fire? Even when there aren't police/troops around, people are always setting tires on fire. Is it just their primary burning-barricade material of choice?

This acts as a smokescreen.

Similarly I would imagine it acts as a great irritant to any approaching police, tearing up the eyes and making it harder to breathe for an approach.

Where do all the tires come from? Also are the cars being used as blockade just random cars that happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time?

Volunteers bring them all the time. About the cars, I don't know.

Is a deal with the EU or Yanukovich resigning the most important thing for you to achieve right now?

Certainly Yanukovich resigning. EU deal is far away and forgotten by now.

What do you do with captured police officers?

Tonight there was a conflict between protesters whether to release a bus with captured soldiers. Some said, 'They were killing us'. Others said, 'We're no beasts like them'. In the end they were released.

Are you scared that those same soldiers will come back and possibly kill more protesters?

Probably not, protesters mostly treat them with dignity. The protesters who try to beat unarmed policemen are often kicked away by the other protesters (but not always, unfortunately).

[deleted]

There are some. We don't mind them. There also were puppet rallies in front of the Parliament building that de facto had a function of shielding the building from Maidan protesters.

There also are hired thugs, which did beating and provocations, but recently they became armed bandit groups killing innocent people on the streets.

How old are you and what's your educational background? You seem very well informed and well spoken about this!

I am a Mathematics BS student. Thanks.

Stay safe! All of you!

Thanks

How would you and the Ukrainian people feel about the USA if Obama enforces a drone strike on Yanukovich?

I hate the idea of foreign intervention, I think most of Ukrainians hate it as well.

I have a feeling this would elicit prompt recourse from Putin.

For sure.

Why not go attack Yanukowych's mansion and burn it to the ground?

There were rallies at his mansion, but it's too far from Kyiv for sufficient amount of people to come there.

Man, I admire you all guys with the continuous protests. We here in Brazil tried to do, we really tried but like 80% of the people gave up, and it is now a thing of the past, it lasted as much as a month. I really wish Brazillians would have the strenght that you guys are having there.

My question would be: Are you guys seeing changes after all those months? Are you guys getting the feel that it is taking effect or the more you do the more Gvt is ignoring you all.

Sorry for the lack of better information, media here lacks a lot of information, and few is shown.

Ukrainian protests were becoming weak two times. But everytime the protests were almost dissolved, the government did shitty tactical decisions, that made it worse.

22 Nov — 30 Nov 2013. Pro-EU protests. Only thousand left overnight on 30th of November. But at night, Berkut police beat them all up. Next days, about a million takes to the streets.

1 Dec — 16 Jan. Protests almost dissolved, it was really cold outside, up to -30 C. Mostly paid guys stayed on Maidan. But then Parliament illegally voted a so-called 'dictatorship' law that made Maidan illegal. Then the new wave of protests began.

There was no effect on the govt up until now. After hundreds of deaths and sanctions from EU and US, govt doesn't ignore us, but still acts confidently.

What do you personally and the protesters in general think about a possible division of Ukraine along pro/anti-Russia lines (e.g. West & East Ukraine)?

I don't believe it will happen. Yanukowych supporters are not too enthusiastic about him that much. This can be seen because almost all participants of the pro-govt rallies where paid, while only a slight minority of Maidan protesters were paid, they died not for money.

Who is part of this "minority", who paid them and why did they get paid?

Some of the opposition party members were paid for participating in Maidan, but that was during the peaceful protests time. Also party members bodyguards and party guards are paid.

What is going on there?

Hell

Has there been a sizable number of police joining the protester's side? How about people with military experience?

From the looks of some of the sniper victim videos, it looks like a lot of young people who have very little experience being shot at, and some of them look like sitting ducks. How are people dealing with that escalation of the violence? Have people been deciding that things have gone too far and left the protests?

Yes, 5 buses of policemen from western Ukraine arrived today to protect Maidan. One division of Maidan self-defence consists of Afghan veterans.

People are only getting angry at this madness.

Are there people still supporting the president? Or is all of Ukraine against him? If so, why is the police/army still on the presidents side?

Yes, lots of them, but it looks like his supporters are much more passive and only willing to support him for money. Many people don't support Yanukowych, but consider Maidan protesters fascists or something like that and disapprove of the protests.

Do you predict that the conflict will become a civil war based on what's happening?

I don't believe this will happen. Propaganda is strong, but people now start to understand, that it's not EU vs. Russia, nor East vs. West, neither fascists vs. anitfascists conflict, but angry citizens vs. Yanukowych one. Yanukowych supporters are not as enthusiastic about him, as the opponents are. They usually are passive and don't support him beyond words. All of the popular pro-govt rallies consist of $15-paid guys and state employees who are forced to go under threat of getting fired.

Any plans on going on the offensive? Burn down targets like Police stations, courthouses, jails, and deny them safe refuge.

In people angry people have burnt almost all of the govt and police buildings. In Kyiv, protesters are busy on Maidan now. The ones who are not, guard the hospitals (police kidnaps and puts injured protesters to jail), or patrol the streets for bandits.

Is anyone providing you food or shelter? How can so many protesters hold their position 24/7? Is everyone unemployed?

Yes, hundreds of Kyiv residents give shelter. There's also plenty of it in the captured buildings on Maidan.

It is possible because of shifts and rotation. For example, some people come to Kyiv for a couple of days, then back home. A lot of Kyiv residents work at day, go to Maidan at night. And also there are lots of students.

How significant is Svoboda's (Свобода?) participation in the protest and their hostility?

Unless I'm mistaken, I believe it is to them most people point to when they condemn all of this as the work of extremists.

Svoboda is not a key strength as a party, but numerous activists of Svoboda are active participants of the protest. No, this is not Svoboda who people point on as extremists, but the other organization - Right Sector. People from Svoboda are mostly politicians. At the same time Andriy Parubiy of Svoboda, the commendante of Maidan, proved himself to be a decent and brave man. Also Svoboda is neither extremist nor neo-nazi organization. After Ukraine gains freedom, they may well fit pluralism in Parliament. Still, I personally don't like Svoboda.

What should the rest of the world know that only those on the ground can see?

It's not a neo-Nazi coup. And it's not a EU/US vs. Russia proxy war.

How do you keep your goatee so well kept in a time like this?

Thanks to the goatee I can become unrecognizable anytime simply by shaving.

Have the riots spread across the Ukraine or are they almost exclusively held within Kiev? And do you see/hope to see them spread to other European nations? Particularly other former Soviet States?

Yes, people block army troops, titushki buses, deputies fleeing in the airports. On the entrances of some towns there are sentries. There are patrols in Kyiv looking for armed bandit groups. There are also regional Maidans. In western part of Ukraine government buildings and army bases were captured.

I think, it's possible that protests might spread in Russia or Belarus, but I doubt they're be successful. Even we're still far from success.

Some media say that members of the far-right party Svoboda are heading the protests. That may lead to people thinking they might want to get into office if the revolution manages to make the government resign.

What do you think about that?

Svoboda is a political party. Politicians, surprise, pursue their political interests.

There a lot of sincere patriots in Svoboda though.

Would you say that the protests are headed by members of Svoboda then?

No

Hello, If you are still doing this... What is the situration now, after the law the Parliament passed? As an outsider, it sounds like an end, but there are still reports of supposed military intervention on the way and police snipers. Also, what was Maidan's reaction to said law?

I hope the bill will end the bloodshed for now. But only Yanukowych resigning and facing tribunal will stop the protests. Obviously, people at Maidan will be happy if the snipers go.

EDIT: Wording

Are you afraid that Ukraine can degrade into civil war the way Syria did?

I don't believe this will happen. Propaganda is strong, but people now start to understand, that it's not EU vs. Russia, nor East vs. West, neither fascists vs. anitfascists conflict, but angry citizens vs. Yanukowych one. Yanukowych supporters are not as enthusiastic about him, as the opponents are. They usually are passive and don't support him beyond words. All of the popular pro-govt rallies consist of $15-paid guys and state employees who are forced to go under threat of getting fired.

What is the scariest thing to have happened to you so far?

So yesterday I was eating sandwiches on Maidan with my friends and father. Then I left for a building called Ukrainian House to help there. My father comes to me in an hour, says he was eating a sandwich and watching the stage, when two corpses were carried next to him to the hospital. These were sniped.

I suppose that should be scary, but it's very surreal sometimes. Everyone yesterday in the evening was acting casual, then occasionally someone suddenly fell from a sniper bullet. Then everyone was acting casual again.

I'm a Ukrainian IT as well, just living in the states. Could you do another AMA, let us know when?!

I can still answer questions here.