Victory in Ukraine....but not completely....

Former boxer Vitali Klitschko (L), head of the Udar (Punch) party, speaks to the media, center is the head of the Batkivshchyna party Arseniy Yatsenyuk (C) and German Minister for Foreign Affairs Frank-Walter Steinmeier

So much has transpired over the last 24 hours in Ukraine.  But PTL many victories have been won for Ukraine.  Yesterday, "Opposition leaders (Klitschko and Yatsenyuk) signed an agreement with President Viktor F. Yanukovych on Friday to try to defuse a deepening political crisis that has left scores of protesters and security officers dead and hundreds wounded in Kiev." ~ New York Post.  100 dead and over 1500 wounded men, women, and children.  Both sides want peace, but this did not satisfy the protesters...they had a list of demands and they were not going to leave until they were all met.  One of them was that the parliament start impeachment proceedings against President Yanukovych and one other was that ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko be released from prison (in Kharkov), where she has been for the last 2 1/2 years.  Also that the 2004 constitution be reinstated.  All of these things and more have been meet.  The parliament voted 328-0 to impeach Yanukovych.  Funny thing was, Yanukovych was no where to be found.  It was rumored that he was fled to Russia, but it was confirmed today that he flew to Donetsk.  He tried to fly to Russia, but the boarder guards would not let his plane leave on Saturday due to lack of required documents.

Thank You Steven O'Brien for the picture!

Mean while, late Saturday night, Yulia Tymoshenko was released from prison and flown to Kiev to speak to all those waiting at Independence Square.  Here is what she said to them below....

 

Editor’s Note: More than 100,000 people packed Kyiv’s Independence Square to celebrate the impeachment of President Viktor Yanukovych and the freedom of ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who got released from a prison hospital in Kharkiv and spoke to the crowd. People chanted “Yulia!” and “Heroes do not die!” Most listened attentively, but a few of her detractors smirked. The speech was interrupted briefly when the crowd thought they had spoted “titushki,” government-hired thugs, creating disturbances. Ex-Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko, also a former political prisoner like Tymoshenko spoke, and so did member of parliament and multimillionaire businessman Petro Poroshenko.

 

Freed ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko:

 

“My dears, when I came to Kyiv I could not recognize Kyiv - burnt cars, barricades, but this is free country that you have given us as a gift. When I came to Kyiv, the first thing I wanted to do is to go to Hrushevskoho Street and touch the barricades where Ukrainian boys and girls were first ready to give their lives for Ukraine.

“People who have been on Maidan and died here are heroes. Heroes will never die. They will always be with us. They will be our inspiration. Every official and every politician who will at least think of betraying you should see these boys in front of his eyes. 

“When snipers were shooting in the hearts of our guys, those are the bullets that will always wound us. If we do not take those (snipers) to court, we should be ashamed.

“We could put an end to this dictatorship once and for all. Remember that you are the guarantor of victory. You cannot leave Maidan before we do what we came here to do. You are the force that can guarantee that. You have earned this with your patriotism and courage.

“If somebody says that now you can leave, do not believe those people. You can't leave before everything is done."

 

 

“No one but you could have done that. When our guys were covering themselves with wooden shields, this is the nation and the people that cannot be put on their knees. No one will be building Mezhyhiryas again while you have to gather kopecks for sick children. You will not let that happen.

I was praying to be part of you. We have to do a few things: We have to take Yanukovych and all his goons to Maidan. If you could have changed Ukraine, you can do anything. You were not happy about the agreement with Yanukovych and it is not working now."

“When I saw AutoMaidan, I saw that we cannot be defeated. Many people are afraid to come to Maidan, they are looking for your protection. Not everyone has the strength to come to Maidan and sacrifice their lives. They are scared and you are their hope."

“We now have an open way to build Ukraine the way we want it. We know politicians are not trusted. Therefore we have to stand here till the end. You have deserved to run your own country. If government and parliament is composed without your participation, it will not be just."

“From this time on there will be a different Ukraine. I will be a guarantor that you are not betrayed. Politics is sometimes a big theater. I will be the guarantor that it is not that way. I am asking you to forgive me for all politicians regardless of political parties, positions. Politicians of today did not deserve you."
“My dear, I feel what situation that you have lived in all this time and I’m proud of you. The liberation of Ukraine will be followed by the democratization in other post-Soviet countries. We are on the right path. We will always be with you. We are one team. This revolution will be the beginning of changes in other post-Soviet countries. Now I will be doing everything so you would feel happy in your country. Glory to Ukraine!”

 

From Kyiv Post

 



 

Many more things I could mention, but all this information and more can be found on

 

http://www.kyivpost.com/hot/euromaidan

 

Please, please, continue to pray for Ukraine.  The new elections for President are set for May 25, 2014....but between now and then, we pray that Russia does not get involved with Ukrainian affairs. There is a large Russian population in eastern and southern Ukraine.  The Olympics in Sochi are not over till tomorrow, so if Russia does make a move, it will not be until the Olympics are over.  I will try to keep updates as I get them as comments on this blog post.