Global Voices » Veronica Khokhlova

Ukraine: Homophobic Legal Initiatives in Sync with Public Attitudes

Veronica Khokhlova — Mon, 28 May 2012 01:45:04 +0000

Kyiv's first Gay Pride Parade ever, permitted by the authorities, was supposed to take place on Sunday, May 20. Fearing attacks, the event's organizers had kept the venue as secret as possible, but these precautions did not prevent some of their opponents from showing up. Shortly after Svyatoslav Sheremet, head of the Gay Forum of Ukraine, announced the cancellation of the parade, he was attacked and severely beaten by a group of masked men (a video of the attack is here).

Homophobic attitudes are widespread in Ukraine, and two counter-rallies, organized by anti-LGBT groups, did take place at other locations in Kyiv on the day of the failed attempt to hold the first Gay Pride.

In the interesniy_kiev (Interesting Kyiv) LJ community, LJ user elektraua posted a photo report [ru] from one of these events. Slogans there included “Papa mama is good, papa papa is bad,” “Homosexuality is a threat to national security,” and “Love against homosexuality.” A few brides in white wedding gowns were present, surrounded by men carrying Ukrainian national flags.

At the end of his post, LJ user elektraua asked readers to share their views on the idea of holding a Gay Pride Parade. The discussion has 357 comments, some of which are too savage to translate. Below is a small selection from this rather crowded conversation [ru, uk]:

art_e_midde:

[…] I'm very glad that the parade got cancelled. Most of all I'm glad that our people aren't buying [tolerance], which is so popular today, and that the majority still favor traditional family. […]

davert:

Is traditional family where papa and mama are divorced?

***

vana_ta11inn:

I think that the U.S. Army had the best option a while ago: the “don't ask - don't tell” approach. […]

keidere:

[…] The only problem with the ban on gay marriages is, as far as I know, the impossibility of having “legal rights” to one's partner. That is, there are people who've been together for many years […], and then something bad happens and one isn't allowed to visit the other at, say, the emergency room, or is not able to make decisions that are usually made by spouses/close relatives, when the victim cannot decide for himself… This is tragic.

***

gwinplane:

Why show off your sexuality? Heterosexuals aren't holding parades, for some reason… And if you look at [homosexuality] as a deviation, a disease, then there should be parades of oncology, TB, AIDS patients and so on down the medical encyclopedia… As for freedom - is anyone not allowing them? The [criminal code] article [banning homosexual relationships] has been removed a long time ago… The parade is harmful […], if we relax for just a second, tomorrow any of our children, having seen this dirt, may start having doubts about their own nature… […]

***

kikikmor:

What gay parades are you talking about in a country the capital of which is aiming to become the world capital of sex tourism!!!! Ukrainian girls won't allow competition!

***

askai_1:

I think it's simple: some people consider such parades propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations, others think of them as their lawful right to freedom of self-expression. It reminds me of the situation with minarets in Switzerland, where some consider the construction of minarets their lawful right to religion, and others view it as propaganda of Islam. The society is divided, conflicts […] are possible. What did they do in the democratic, European Switzerland? - they held a referendum, and the minority agreed with the decision of the majority, based on the referendum's results.

badevlad:

I don't think we need to hold a referendum here. The attitude is obvious without it. And with such an attitude of the majority, it is suicidal to hold the parades.

***

tv2015:

Today [gays] are demanding equal rights for themselves, and tomorrow zoophiles will declare themselves a healthy part of the society and demand marriages with animals… And some people, just like here, will be [vehemently] trying to prove that they are people like any other, taxpayers, it's just that they are different… [damn], and all this in a country where the rates of population decline are catastrophic!

stanislav_ab:

Population is declining mainly because people are leaving the country where conservatism rules and there are no perspectives. Also, people aren't having children because they [can't afford] to feed them. […] Judge by the deeds and not by convictions - if [gay] communities act anti-socially and aggressively, then they should be treated accordingly. But they are usually productive and creative […].

Olena Bilozerska posted a photo report [uk] from another May 20 anti-LGBT rally, the March of Healthy Youths, which also included some anti-regime, as well as racist and xenophobic slogans and chants. Bilozerska shared her view on the Gay Pride Parade:

[…] I am against any kind of persecution of people of untraditional orientation, but I'm also categorically against gay-parades, as I consider them a sign of degradation of the state in which they are taking place.

She also offered this explanation of why the authorities had not banned the May 20 event in Kyiv:

[…] The reasons there are attempts to hold it are understandable - [President Viktor Yanukovych] would like to keep political prisoners, including [ex-PM Yulia Tymoshenko], in jails, by [trading them back from Europe in exchange] for gay-parades. [His goal is] to prove by these parades that Ukraine has a sufficient level of democracy :(. […]

Judging by the recent legislative activity, however, representatives of all major political forces in Ukraine do not seem to care much about what “Europe” might think of them; with just five months remaining before the October 28 parliamentary elections, they appear quite in sync with the conservative-minded segments of their electorate.

On June 20, 2011, MPs from the Party of Regions, the Communist Party, the Our Ukraine–People's Self-Defense Bloc, and the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc proposed changes to a number of laws [uk] that would ban “propaganda of homosexuality” (draft law #8711). On May 16, 2012, the parliamentary Committee on the Issues of Freedom of Speech and Information found certain inconsistencies in the submitted document and recommended further work on it in preparation for the second reading.

Volodymyr Ariev, an MP from the Our Ukraine–People's Self-Defense Bloc and, formerly, a well-known journalist, wrote this [uk] on his Facebook page on May 20:

[…] I don't want to watch how two [homosexuals] are kissing in public in front of me or in front of my child. It's unnatural, it's against God's Laws (and I'm a religious person), it offends me - and why is no one taking my voice into account or refusing me the right to [have this opinion]? Does it seem “wrong” to some people? But the voice is there, and my right to voice my opinion is the right of a free person. And also, I'm against allowing homosexuals to adopt children. If you want [to have children], have your own, if you manage to. […]

On March 30, 2012, Party of Regions MP Vadym Kolesnichenko (who is, technically, Volodymyr Ariev's political opponent) submitted a draft law [uk] on “the ban of propaganda of homosexuality aimed at children” (#10290). In the explanatory note [uk], posted both on the Ukrainian Parliament's site and, in an abridged version, on Kolesnichenko's blog on Ukrainska Pravda, the bill's author blamed Ukraine's “moral and spiritual ruin” on “open access to information from abroad and the work of certain foreign organizations […] that are imposing [an alien ideology] on the Ukrainian public”:

[…] One of such negative expressions of liberalization processes in Ukraine is the popularization of homosexuality, its open propaganda in all spheres of social life. […]

Kolesnichenko also mentioned similar anti-LGBT initiatives by legislators in Lithuania, Slovenia and Russia (a GV text on the latter is here), as well as the 2010 anti-Gay Pride riots in Belgrade, Serbia (a GV text on it is here).

On May 23, the parliamentary expert commission published its assessment [uk] of Kolesnichenko's draft law [if the file doesn't open, please change the extension from .rtf to .doc], concluding that the bill should be scrapped due to numerous “grammatical, stylistic and other drawbacks” (among which is a misspelled Ukrainian word meaning “lesbian” in the definition of homosexuality in Article 1: «лісбеянство» instead of «лесбіянство»), and because “if necessary, the issues [addressed in the bill] can be regulated by introducing changes to the existing laws, and not by passing a separate special law.”

This last remark by the expert commission apparently alludes to the aforementioned draft law #8711, a collective initiative by the Ukrainian MPs who are better known to disagree, often quite violently, on a number of other issues. (For example, on May 24, a rather spectacular fistfight occurred in the Parliament [video], starring Vadym Kolesnichenko, who had co-drafted the controversial language law [uk] that was being “discussed” by the MPs that day.)

Ukraine: Yulia Tymoshenko's Plight and Euro 2012

Veronica Khokhlova — Thu, 17 May 2012 01:12:02 +0000

There must be some corners on the web (e.g., here and here) where football fans are still having apolitical discussions of the 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, scheduled to take place in Poland and Ukraine from June 8 to July 1. For the past few weeks, however, the upcoming sporting event has featured prominently in arguments and discussions among those who seem more interested in the Ukrainian and European politics than sports.

Earlier this month, several European politicians, including the EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, announced their plans to boycott Euro 2012 in protest against the imprisonment of ex-PM Yulia Tymoshenko. However, there is no consensus among the EU officials yet on whether “to call a political boycott of the Ukraine half of the Euro 2012 football championships.”

Tymoshenko's arrest came on August 5, 2011, a little over a month after the beginning of her first trial on June 24. She was kept at Kyiv's Lukyanivska Prison (GV texts about this facility are here and here) until December 30, when she was transferred to the Kachanivska Penal Colony in Kharkiv to serve a seven-year sentence for exceeding her powers as Prime Minister. Reports of Tymoshenko's health problems and her 20-day hunger strike have dominated the recent coverage of her case. On April 19, another trial of Tymoshenko began in Kharkiv, but she refused to attend it. The hearing of this second case, in which Tymoshenko is charged with evading taxes in the 1990s, has been postponed until late May.

While the preparation for the tournament in Ukraine was marred by a number of other controversies (e.g., the cruel treatment of stray animals; accusations of hotel price gouging; and, of all things, the threat posed by the “beautiful Ukrainian women”), this latest international scandal seems to have done the most harm to Ukraine's image so far.

On May 3, the Economist asked readers in an online poll if they supported the calls to boycott the games held in Ukraine:

The apparently brutal treatment of Yulia Tymoshenko, an imprisoned Ukrainian opposition leader, has led to calls for European leaders to stay away from Ukrainian matches in the upcoming Euro 2012 football tournament, which the country is hosting jointly with Poland.

The Economist agrees with these calls. Do you?

Of the 1,834 votes cast so far, 68 percent are in favor of the boycott and 32 percent are against it.

Odessablogger - who believes that “the football is the wrong stick to hit Ukraine with given the need for EU personalities to interact directly with the Ukrainian people” - recounted some of the examples of sports and politics “colliding” in the past, and quoted from the April 28 Der Spiegel interview [en] with boxer and politician Vitali Klitschko, who opposes the boycott of Euro 2012:

“[…] This tournament is the biggest sporting event in the history of Ukraine. It has to happen. It is even an excellent opportunity to draw the world’s attention to the maladministration in our country. […]”

Odessablogger also noted Yulia Tymoshenko's stance on the boycott:

[…] In case you are wondering, the current position taken by Ms Tymoshenko herself over the matter, is that there should not be a boycott because of her, and that the Ukrainian people should see the EU leaders in Ukraine as it will encourage them to look to the EU rather than think they have been written off. […]

Marek Siwiec, a Polish politician and Member of the European Parliament, explained on his BlogActiv.eu blog why he did not support the boycott:

[…] In Poland we need to understand (and I repeated it many times) that the football championship for Ukrainians is a national question – a source of pride, regardless of political views. Ukrainians deserve to have this tournament in their country in an atmosphere of festivity, in spite of all. […]

[…] Besides, as a whole political class, just as we act together in defence of Yulia Tymoshenko, in this case we should separate sport from politics. If there was somebody in Poland who would like to take this opportunity to rob something from Ukrainians, I warn – the political costs in the mutual relations will be long lasting and serious. […]

Jonathan Hibberd of Chicken in Kiev wrote about Germany's stance on Euro 2012 in Ukraine:

Merkel boycotts Ukraine? Business as usual.

Germany has been boycotting Ukraine's interests for some time. […]

[…] Germany should in fact, albeit indirectly, accept some responsibility for what has happened here since 2010. As one leading commentator said a couple of years back, it would have meant an awful lot if Chancellor Merkel had come to Kiev and made a speech in support of Ukraine's European ambitions. Don't forget how narrowly Tymoshenko lost the Presidential election. German endorsement of a European and Euro-Atlantic choice for Ukraine might well have been enough to swing the election for her, but instead it was held against a background of resignation, that Europe didn't want Ukraine and rapprochement with Russia was paramount. Merkel was not there for her then. […]

At OpenDemocracy.net, Valery Kalnysh, deputy editor of the Kommersant Ukraina newspaper, shared this possible explanation for the German leader's position:

[…] But why, on the other hand, is Germany so active in taking up the cudgels against Ukraine? During the course of a conversation, a German journalist commented ‘It’s quite easy for Merkel to attack Ukraine and demand respect for human rights. Unlike Russia, you have no oil or gas and you’re not as strong and influential as China. It’s convenient to criticise Ukraine and it does great things for [her] popularity rating.’ […]

LEvko of Foreign Notes explained “why Ukraine's Euro 2012 [would] not be as big a success as hoped”:

[…] In previous tournaments, in my experience, many fans have made an extended holiday of their visits to countries hosting such events; days between matches being spent on the beach, sightseeing, etc. etc. In countries such as Austria/Switzerland or Portugal, where tourism is highly developed, this was an attractive proposition..but, no disrespect intended…Kharkiv? Dontesk?

Europe is currently in the deepest economic crisis since WW2. There is little cash around..not enough to pay the Ukraine's rip-off hotel prices.

Then there's the Olympic games in London later in the year - an attractive draw for sports fans.

[…] But the tsunami of bad press in Europe's mass media over the Tymoshenko affair will be the final turn-off. Fans will rather stay at home, or, at best, fly in and out for matches, just like they do for European club matches.. […]

Olga Mrinska of Regional Accents reflected [uk] on the Euro 2012 boycott scandal in the context of the general social and political situation in Ukraine:

[…] The repressive race aimed at the opposition leaders has reached its apogee in the past year, and domestic politics has become the center of attention of world leaders. […] Today's Ukraine is, above all, associated with the jailed opposition, lack of freedom of speech, kleptomaniac and lying officials. Our president must have naively (???) believed that [it's possible to endlessly mislead these “spineless” European leaders and feed them with “mañana” [empty promises] at any mention of the democratic reforms - the leaders who live in ordinary houses in the city center (Germany), ride bicycles (the Netherlands), fly regular commercial flights (Finland) and have incomparably fewer guards that he does (choose any EU country).] And when these Europeans have finally stood up […], [the Ukrainian leaders began talking] of the Cold War era and bias. In my opinion, this is a lousy excuse…

The problem isn't with the Europeans, but with the Ukrainians - the voters who have brought to power people without the intellect, without a strategic vision and without the belief in the better future for the country and its people. The problem is with the so-called elite that, just like those hotel owners, lives only in the present, without giving any thought to the future.

Despite the avalanche of negative information about Ukraine in the world media, justified in most cases, we still have a chance to [show Ukraine in a positive light] to those football fans who would attend the Euro. Out people are the last frontier and the last hope. The end result and the final assessment of the event depends on their open-mindedness, decency and hospitality. […]

Finally, a few words about the aspect of Euro 2012 that has gone largely unnoticed - [the view that the Ukrainians themselves have of the event]. Five years ago, we were promised an ocean of private investments, a new and shining infrastructure that would serve host cities for decades, an influx of tourists and billions for the economy. Instead, residents of Kyiv and other cities have experienced mainly negative consequences - destruction of parks, totally dug-up cities, closed streets, altered public transportation routes, […], growing prices, etc. […]

Russia: State TV Justifies May 6 Police Violence, Cites Spanish Bill Criminalizing Online Protest Organization as Example

Veronica Khokhlova — Wed, 16 May 2012 21:42:31 +0000

In the final segment of the report [ru] on the May 6 protest in Moscow, which ended in clashes with riot police, the Russian state-owned Channel 1 mentioned, among other things, a Spanish draft law [en] criminalizing online organization of public protests, as an example of the “much tougher” treatment of protesters by the “colleagues” of the Russian law enforcement officials “in the countries with the so-called established democracy.”

Ukraine, France: The Future of Franco-Ukrainian Relationship

Veronica Khokhlova — Sun, 13 May 2012 00:01:41 +0000

Odessablogger comments on the statements made by Ukrainian political scientists regarding the future of the Franco-Ukrainian relationship following the election of François Hollande as the President of France.

Lithuania: Alleged Child Abuse Case

Veronica Khokhlova — Sat, 12 May 2012 23:36:13 +0000

At OpenDemocracy.net, Violeta Davoliūtė draws attention to “some of the more sober realities of life in today’s Lithuania,” highlighting a highly publicised case of alleged child abuse that is “being played out against a background of mob rule, support from politicians and complicity on the part of the police.”

Serbia: May 6 Elections Results

Veronica Khokhlova — Sat, 12 May 2012 23:14:26 +0000

Eric Gordy of East Ethnia sums up the results of the first round of the elections in Serbia and predicts what is to come after the May 20 runoff: “Assuming that Tadić defeats Nikolić by his usual narrow margin in two weeks, a government that looks a lot like the previous one, only less stable and more corrupt, and lots of signs that there is a good number of angry people in a system that remains pretty lopsided and pretty dysfunctional. No signs that things will get much better, but happily no signs that they will get a whole lot worse.”

Ukraine: “If Prison Acquires a Voice, Everything Will Change”

Veronica Khokhlova — Wed, 02 May 2012 01:16:51 +0000

On April 2, the Ukrainian TV channel TVi aired Kostiantyn Usov's documentary [uk, ru] about Kyiv's Lukyanivska prison, highlighting the shocking treatment and living conditions of the inmates and drawing attention to the widespread corruption of the facility's staff (GV text about it is here).

The documentary, which has caused much outrage and debate in the past month, is now translated into English and available with subtitles on YouTube.

Usov has shared the link to the film's English version on various social networks and online media platforms, including his Facebook page [uk]. User Natalia Vorotchenko posted this comment [uk]:

[…] You've done a tremendous job… and the English translation allows even more people - those abroad - to see the truth! Step by step, blows are being dealt to the regime of the communists and the oligarchs, and I hope that it will soon vanish… And this will happen in large part thanks to your work, your stance and your heroism! […]

In the April 19 interview [ru] with Vecherniye Vesti newspaper, Usov talked about the steps being taken by the authorities since the film's release. According to him, the acting head of Lukyanivska has been forced to resign; the government has allotted 1.5 million hryvnias (approx. $185,000) for repairs inside the facility; the prosecutor's office is investigating all the violations mentioned in the film; the prison's authorities have confirmed that the walls of the cells are covered with harmful fungus.

Much of the footage in Usov's film comes from those Lukyanivska inmates who had agreed to take risks and help document their lives, using mobile phones smuggled inside the prison via bribe-taking prison employees, an illegal yet routine practice at this and other facilities. In the Vecherniye Vesti interview, Usov claimed that the “shadow” profits of Lukyanivska's staff involved in illegal transactions with the inmates and their contacts outside amounted to 1.5 million hryvnias a week. On Facebook, where Usov shared the link to the interview, user Juriy Prohorov wrote [ru]:

Every lawyer and anyone who's ever had to deal in some way with the Ukrainian legal system knows everything that [Usov] has told about in his film, and everyone from inmates to prison guards are fine with it… But [Usov] deserves credit for saying it all openly… […]

On April 21, Usov noted [uk] on Facebook that “for the first time in 20 years, Ukrainian prison officials have started addressing inmates [using the formal, respectful form of the ‘you' pronoun]:

[…] Yes, it may seem like no big deal to some. But in fact this is the breakthrough moment.

On his Ukrainska Pravda blog, journalist Artem Shevchenko, one of Usov's film crew members, shared his views [uk] on the film's significance:

[…] It appears that [the film is relevant now] because, due to the regime's politics, prison is gradually turning into a self-sufficient actor in [Ukraine's] social and political life. There is no doubt that prison is one of the factors of today's public politics. Prison [features in top news in the media]. Some are intimidating others with prison. Others are proud of [their prison experience]. [Inmate transportation vehicles] are the most popular cars of the 2010-2011-2012 season. […] By jailing his main political opponents, President [Victor Yanukovych] seems to be catering to the complexes of his youth, which he [acquired behind bars]. A young person's mentality, maimed by prison experience, cannot be any different. When such a person gains power, [he/she] subconsciously starts building a prison [outside the prison walls].

Blogger and activist Aleksandr Volodarskiy [ru] (aka shiitman) spent a month and a half at Lukyanivska prison in 2009. He was detained for “hooliganism” [en] after imitating a sexual intercourse outside the Ukrainian Parliament on Nov. 2, 2009, as part of a protest against censorship by the Ukrainian National Expert Commission for Protection of Public Morality [ru] (www.moral.gov.ua [uk]). In early April, he wrote two blog posts about Usov's documentary, explaining how the Ukrainian prison system works and why the film might do more harm than good to those kept in detention - and suggesting ways to improve the situation. Below are excerpts from these posts.

April 5, 2012 [ru]:

[…] The prison is indeed like this, only worse.

They didn't show the “boxes” where people who are being transferred to courts/police stations and back are kept for hours. Tiny boxes with no air to breathe and often no place to sit, at times packed with dozens of people. Also not reflected is, to my mind, the key issue: IMPOSSIBILITY of communicating legally. You can't call a lawyer unless you use a banned mobile phone. The lawyer has to take initiative and come to the inmate [him/herself]. A question arises: how will the lawyer learn about violation of the client's rights if the client has no right to get in touch with [the lawyer]? Similarly, inmates cannot get in touch with family in order to ask them to send some specific food or medicines. If a person gets sick, he should wait for his lawyer's visit, to share his complaints with him, and the lawyer would then share them with family members. One can die of pneumonia a few times during this period. If you want to survive, you'll have to use the phone - local doctors can at best offer aspirin. That is, this system initially includes corruption. […]

I'm afraid that the first result of Usov's investigation will be (or is already) a mass [search] and confiscation of phones from all cells. The cops' first reaction to any information leak is an attempt to deal with the source of this leak. They won't be solving problems by themselves - because they themselves are the problem. […]

April 7, 2012 [ru]:

[…] Many influential [inmates] don't really need things to be “in accordance with the law.” […] They need personal comfort. [Drugs and alcohol]. Things that no one will ever legalize in prison.

For that they are quite ready to tolerate beatings, anti-sanitary conditions, diseases, and the necessity to be humiliated by the cops and to pay them. […] The same type of logic works in the society as a whole. People don't want a revolution and radical changes, they are genuinely afraid of them. Because revolution inevitably causes the government's reaction that may affect not just the revolutionaries. And in general - who knows what happens after this revolution - while even though there's evil all around now, this evil is familiar. […]

Usov's mistake is that he decided to entertain the ordinary [viewers] with exotica. […] He has dealt a tremendous blow to the prison corruption infrastructure, which is not only feeding the cops, but is helping people to survive here and now. […] It's not right to sacrifice the people, not right to throw noncombatants into the line of fire.

[…]

The only way to make sure these people haven't suffered in vain is to raise two important questions:

1. Lifting the limitations on meetings, packages and correspondence for the inmates. These limitations don't contribute to finding the truth, they should be seen as a type of torture.
2. Legalization of phone connection (technically, it can be easily done by providing each cell with a couple of cell phones […])

This is something that has to be discussed at all levels now. Not the “corruption” and not even the “fungus.”

Having a legal connection with the outside world, the inmates will get a chance to talk about what's going on in prison.

If prison acquires a voice, everything will change.

Ukraine: Netizens Discuss Dnipropetrovsk Bombings

Veronica Khokhlova — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 23:53:37 +0000

On Friday April 27, 2012, at least 27 people were injured in the four midday explosions in public spaces in the center of Dnipropetrovsk. The blasts were qualified as terror attacks by the Ukrainian authorities, who said six possible scenarios [uk] were being investigated, but provided few details.

Online, there has been a great deal of speculation about the bombings. The timing of the tragedy is key to most of the popular theories, as Ukraine is going through a very eventful period right now. Below are the highlights:

The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, which Ukraine is hosting together with Poland, is just six weeks away (Dnipropetrovsk is not one of the host cities, however);
Ex-PM Yulia Tymoshenko, a native of Dnipropetrovsk, is serving a disputed jail sentence, and reports of her mistreatment - as well as photos of her bruises - have been drawing much attention and negative response both at home and abroad;
The economic and social situation in the country is precarious, and the growing tensions aren't likely to be diffused anytime soon, as various political forces are busy preparing for the October 28 parliamentary elections;
Just two weeks ago, on April 14 [uk], Dnipropetrovsk was in the spotlight domestically, when a well-known local businessman, Gennadiy Akselrod, was shot to death. The previous attempt on his life, in September 2010 [uk], was unsuccessful - back then, a bomb went off at a local restaurant, injuring Akselrod's business partner, Gennadiy Korban. (On a related note, in October 2009 [ru], another Dnipropetrovsk explosion took the life of one of Korban's business partners, Vyacheslav Braginskiy.)

Time will tell whether any of it has anything to do with the Dnipropetrovsk blasts, but right now it is proving hard to discuss the bombings without taking into account the points mentioned above, one way or another.

Journalist Vakhtang Kipiani wrote this [uk] on Facebook:

Tymoshenko's bruises and the blasts in Dnipropetrovsk are good enough arguments for those Europeans who haven't made up their minds yet on whether to come to Ukraine or not.

On his Ukrainska Pravda blog, Yevhen Ikhelzon wrote this [ru]:

[…] Ukraine has been living [in “terror”] for approximately a year now - there's no place for justice here, politics has drowned in lies and corruption […].

The bruises on Tymoshenko's body and the blasts in Dnipropetrovsk are just an external manifestation of this “terror” […]. For the first time we've found ourselves in a situation when the blasts were directed at random people - and this is terrorism. Regardless of whether the motives were political or criminal.

We are against terror, we want a peaceful life […]. Since we do have the elected authorities, our demands to them are simple - DO NOT TERRORIZE US. If they are unable to deliver, they should leave their posts of their own accord, before people with pitchforks [force them out].

I'm far from accusing the president or the government of being behind the terror attacks - there's no evidence to prove it whatsoever. But since everyone has been thinking in this direction all at once, there's only one answer - [the regime] has done a lot for this to happen.

[…]

If I were in Ukraine right now, I'd start organizing a rally “against terror.” And I'd recommend that the opposition took part in organizing it, instead of blaming the regime. [A rally] against the bruises and the blasts.

LJ user urobor posted his ideas [ru] on how the situation in Dnipropetrovsk could have been useful to the Ukrainian regime:

[…] It's all coming together too smoothly. As soon as [ex-ombudsperson Nina Karpachova] has [made public the photos] confirming the beating of Tymoshenko (around 11 am), as soon as the protesters visited [the Presidential Administration in Kyiv] (11 am-noon) - suddenly there are the explosions, the injured, the announcement of a “terrorist threat,” mobile connection is shut off, [armored personnel vehicles and snipers are in]…

[…]

All this seems like a good practice [rehearsal].

Let's assume that the situation for the regime has become really bad and mass protests start in Kyiv… Suddenly, a few garbage bins explode on Khreshchatyk [Kyiv's main street], one after another. The city's center is immediately blocked, mobile connection and internet are turned off, armed troops enter the city […]. Even if [the Parliament] is blocked [by the opposition] at his moment, an extraordinary session is summoned and state of emergency is declared… […]

LJ user nogitsunee commented on LJ user urobor's conspiracy theory:

In Belarus, a similar story took place in April last year [the Minsk metro bombing of April 11, 2011]

LJ user urobor replied:

Yes, I do remember it. It was at that very time that the sudden economic decline began, causing discontent. And suddenly - boom! - maybe it was also a coincidence…

On Facebook, Alex Zakletsky posted this assessment [uk] of potential “suspects”:

[…] 1. Separatists. We have a few of them in the Crimea and Transcarpathia. In my opinion, neither group is capable of anything like this.
2. Religious fanatics. Unlikely.
3. Business-related criminal confrontation. Doesn't look like it. During such confrontations, specific cars with specific persons get blown up, not everyone around. […]
4. A lonely maniac like Breivik. Unlikely - even the authorities admit that this was done by a group of people.
5. The opposition did it to ruin the regime's image. Absolutely illogical. The opposition doesn't have to do anything, the regime is very professional at discrediting itself.
6. A “proxy” oppositional organization's job aimed at tarnishing the image of the national opposition movement.
7. A foreign connection. The work of special services of the northern neighbor [Russia] in order to destabilize [President Victor Yanukovych's regime] even more. A possibility. […]
8. A xenophobic terrorist group's job. Unreal, I think. People of absolutely different ethnicities have been hurt.
9. A special group did this on the orders from the regime. […] a distraction manoeuvre that has allowed to appoint a new ombudsperson. Et cetera. […]

Dnipropetrovsk was trending worldwide on Twitter shortly after the explosions. Serhiy Pishkovtsiy (@blogoreader) of Watcher.com.ua posted a screenshot [uk] of Twitter's Worldwide Trends page - and tweeted this thought [uk]:

The bombs weren't big, looks like they didn't want to kill anyone, but [the goal was] to distract the people and to intimidate them […]

Dnipropetrovsk-based LJ user anchiktigra shared her thoughts and excerpts from the media and local discussion forums in this blog post [ru], both emotional and informative:

[…] Mama called from work today and said, “Anya, there were some explosions in Dnipropetrovsk, [my clients] are running late for [their appointments], check what happened on the internet. Mobile phones aren't working, streets are blocked, the police aren't allowing people to go outside.” I went online and was shocked […]. […] Ten blasts in a row. All of a sudden… […]

How are we supposed to get home from work? Everyone is sitting in their offices, inside, afraid to venture into the street. No one knows what will happen and what to expect. Everything is happening very quickly. That is, it was happening quickly, and now there's just silence and tension…

What's happening is absurd. They killed Akselrod recently, and now this. All in broad daylight. They used to assassinate only the chosen ones, and now they are hitting the masses. The bombs went off as people were getting out of the trams. Horrible.

The total of four explosions, even though they're writing about ten everywhere.

[…]

[End-of-the-day summary]

[…] 2. The exact number of blasts - more than four. This information comes from the Mechnikov Hospital staff, based on the number of patients that they are receiving.

[…]

5. If there were more than four explosions, then it is an emergency situation - what Euro-2012 are you talking about then. No, this won't do. [Let's make it look humble.] And who cares that people have been hurt…

[…]

7. I am shocked, of course. So much happened, we've been through so much during this day… And… nothing? No one needs us. Neither in this city, nor in this country. The big guys are solving their problems, playing. And we are the little mice. We've been told there were four blasts, so this is what it was, four. We've been told that this happened because of this and that… Ok, good. But how can one live peacefully if you get out of the tram - and BOOM. Just because… For no reason. […]

Odessablogger wrote this [en]:

[…] Let’s see if anyone is caught for these crimes and what they have to say – although would you believe what they have to say having been in SBU [Security Service of Ukraine] custody?

Yet another unnamed victim in all this will be trust. Trust gets a kicking in Ukraine on a daily basis. It simply no longer exists in any meaningful way between the political class (of any party) and society. It may be that the EU policy of engagement with Ukrainian civil society and not the political classes will prove to be a very smart policy move indeed.

Russia: Dombrovsky and Molotov

Veronica Khokhlova — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 01:04:25 +0000

The Faculty of Useless Knowledge tells a story of writer Yuri Dombrovsky's brief encounter with Vyacheslav Molotov, and shares a link to a documentary [ru] about Dombrovsky's life.

Estonia: Places to Eat Out in Tallinn

Veronica Khokhlova — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 00:08:41 +0000

Nami-Nami recommends places to eat out in Tallinn in Spring 2012.

Ukraine: Update on Yulia Tymoshenko's Case

Veronica Khokhlova — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 00:06:51 +0000

Foreign Notes comments on “the latest twists and turns” in ex-PM Yulia Tymoshenko's case.

Russia: Julian Assange's Debut on RT

Veronica Khokhlova — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 23:42:37 +0000

Mark Adomanis criticizes the critics of Julian Assange's debut on RT (Russia Today) last week.

Russia: Writer Yuri Dombrovsky's Biography

Veronica Khokhlova — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 01:53:18 +0000

The Faculty Of Useless Knowledge writes about Yuri Dombrovsky, “one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century.”

Macedonia: Ethnic Tensions Rise Following Murders at Smiljkovci

Veronica Khokhlova — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 01:49:16 +0000

At TOL's East of Center, Barbara Frye writes about the situation in Macedonia, following the recent murder of five men outside the capital Skopje.

Serbia: May 6 Parliamentary Vote Roundup

Veronica Khokhlova — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 00:49:40 +0000

Bill Kralovec posts a short roundup on the upcoming parliamentary elections in Serbia, scheduled for May 6, and shares his “political platform,” asking Serbian readers to help him “match which party most resonates with [his] opinions.”