Protests are taking place in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities. The slogans and placards are most often related to the war. Some are asking questions about corruption in the army, others demand leave and demobilization for relatives who have been on the front line for almost two years. It comes to calls for a change of government and parliament.

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There are again protests at the city administration in Kyiv. Sometimes the number of protesters reaches 800 people, mostly young people.

The demonstrations began in September and (to avoid state repression and arrests) have no centralized organization or clear leader. The main message of the movement: ‘Money should go to the army.’ 

Protesters are asking questions: ‘How much money is being stolen or invested in projects that are considered useless? How many of them could be sent to the front? And how many soldiers’ lives could be saved then?’

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The protests are becoming more and more radical. ‘Maidan’ began like this! ’One of them shouts. Another woman is not far behind: ‘You are traitors to the Rada (Peoples parliament), you are corrupt officials!’ It’s a shame! It was this government that brought war to Ukraine! None of us, Ukrainians, are to blame for what is happening now!’

‘Our hope is dying! – she continues. – Tell us how to survive! They will kill us as much as we allow! Let’s unite, we are few, we need to be heard!’ She told a French correspondent that she lives in the Kyiv region and there are no men left in her village: they are either dead or mobilized.

There are also calls for a change of parliament – the Rada and the local administration receive the most criticism. ‘How are we going to end the war?’ – the protesters ask. For them, the main explanation for the difficulties encountered at the front is the corruption of the elite. They can influence it – unlike Western arms supplies, which are declining.  

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Another demonstration begins in the metro subway as sirens sound throughout the city. There are about 250 women there, some brought their children. They demand the demobilization of men who have been at the front for more than a year and a half.

‘My husband is not a prisoner, but a protector! ’- read some posters. Or: ‘They showed that the state can count on them. But can they count on the state?’

Here, too, there is no single organization, women pass a megaphone to each other and talk about the trials of men at the front, the lack of recognition of Ukrainian society, but also about the fact that they have to take care of the house and bills.  

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‘My husband is a pharmacist, he is not a military man,’ says one of the protesters, clarifying that during the 22 months of the war he had only ten days of leave. She admits: ‘Some of my male friends want to go to war, but the lack of a time limit at the front puts them off.’ Another woman is outraged: ‘It’s a death sentence to keep my husband on the front line all this time.’

‘My husband did not commit indefinitely, but was convinced that one day others would take his place. I am for mobilization and for other men to leave,’ says one of the protesters.

A servicewoman with the call sign Tiffany was also at the demonstration, says the French journalist. Her son is two months old, but he has already spent seven months at the front, being in his mother’s stomach. On the stroller where the child sleeps, Tiffany wrote: ‘I want a living father for my son, not a medal!’ BEAT PRESS CENSORSHIP BY POSTING ON SOCIAL MEDIA

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