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Oorspronkelijk geplaatst door Mindset
Wie zijn RSA?
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Unrest first gripped Kharkiv city on 22 February 2014, when Euromaidan protesters occupied the Kharkiv regional state administration (RSA) building.[231][232] Later that day, several thousand protesters tripped to topple a statue of Vladimir Lenin that stood opposite to the RSA building in Freedom Square. Several taxi drivers defended the monument, injuring several of the protesters. By the next day, several thousand pro-Russian protesters had gathered in square to protect the statue.[231] They set up a perimeter fence around it. Then governor of Kharkiv Oblast Mykhailo Dobkin made a speech to the defenders of the statue, saying that the statue was "a symbol of our city... we will leave it here and we will defend it".[231] Local police kept Euromaidan and Anti-Maidan protesters apart until 1 March.[233] On that day, pro-Russian activists stormed the RSA building, assaulted the Euromaidan activists who had been occupying it, and raised the Russian flag over the building.[234]
Demonstrations by pro-Russian and pro-Ukrainian activists in Kharkiv continued throughout the month of March. These included pro-Russian gatherings of up to 5,000 people, and pro-Ukrainian gatherings of up to 10,000 people.[239] Despite this, the city remained relatively calm until 15 March, when two people were killed in a shootout between Ukrainian nationalists and pro-Russian activists.[240][241]
Pro-Russian protesters stormed and occupied the RSA building on 6 April. The next day, protesters in the occupied RSA building unilaterally declared independence from Ukraine as the "Kharkov People's Republic"
By 8 April, the RSA building had been retaken by Ukrainian special forces, and seventy protesters had been arrested.[245] 1,000 pro-Russian protesters returned to the RSA building on 13 April, and rallied around it, with some entering.[246] These protesters then holed up inside the building with Kharkiv mayor Hennadiy Kernes. Later in the day, Kernes declared his support for an autonomy referendum and amnesty for the arrested Kharkiv separatists.[247]
The mayor of Kharkiv, Hennadiy Kernes, was shot in the back while cycling on 28 April 2014.[251] He was said to be in "grave, but stable" condition.[252][253] Kernes was known as a staunch opponent of the Euromaidan. However, he had also stated that he did not support the pro-Russian insurgency, and backed a united Ukraine.[252] Mykhailo Dobkin, a former governor of Kharkiv Oblast and potential Ukrainian presidential candidate, said "You want to know my opinion, they were shooting not at Kernes, but at Kharkiv", and said that the shooting was an attempt to destabilize what was otherwise a relatively calm region.[252]
Demonstrations by "opponents of Ukrainian unity" with Russian and Soviet flags were held in front of the Russian and Polish consulates in Kharkiv city on 26 May.[185] These demonstrators initiated petitions that they said were signed by 1,500 people from Kharkiv, which called on the EU and Russia not to recognise the results of the 25 May Ukrainian presidential election. They also voiced opposition to the Ukrainian government's military operations in Donetsk Oblast.[185] Mayor Hennadiy Kernes returned to Kharkiv city on 16 June, after receiving medical treatment in Israel.[254] The city administration provided buses for around 1,000 people who came to greet him upon his return.
One of the largest gatherings of supporters of Ukrainian unity in many months took place in Kharkiv on 28 September.[270][271] At about 14:30, a diverse crowd of 2,000 people met in front of the Opera House. The demonstration was led by the Azov ultra-right paramilitary battalion.[271] The crowd then marched to Freedom Square, where there was a statue of Vladimir Lenin. The statue been a rallying point for pro-Russian protesters earlier in the year.[270]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_p...Kharkiv_Oblast
In het kort. Euromaidan activisten bezetten het gebouw van de veiligheidsdiensten, dat zich voor het Lenin standbeeld bevond. Nadat Yanukovich gevlucht was, werd het gebouw bezet door anti-Maidan activisten.
Verschillende pro- en contra-manifestaties vonden plaats rond het Lenin monument. Er vormde zich een groep die zich net als de Donbas wilde afscheiden van Oekraïne.
De burgemeester van Kharkov Kernes was een tegenstander van het nieuwe regime, en een vriend van Yanukovich. Rechtse elementen die het nieuwe regime steunden hebben hem proberen te vermoorden, maar dat mislukte. Hij verzette zich echter ook tegen de pro-Russische separatisten.
Uiterst-rechtse gewapende milities ingehuurd door het nieuwe regime wilden Kernes alsnog verwijderen, maar slaagden daar niet in. Ze slaagden er wel in de kantoren van de communistische partij, en het Lenin standbeeld te vernietigen, tegen de wil in van de lokale bevolking. Lokale tegenstanders werden ernstig mishandeld.
Sindsdien heerst er net als in de rest van Oekraïne een schrikbewind. Kritische stemmen worden het zwijgen opgelegd door rechtszaken, uiterst rechtse milities of aanslagen. Burgemeester Kernes kreeg allerlei politiek gemotiveerde rechtszaken aan z'n broek, en het regime wilde hem weg. Echter bij de lokale verkiezingen stemde meer dan 70% van de bevolking op hem, om het risico op een nieuwe opstand zoals in Donbas te bezweren werd hij toen maar gerust gelaten. Sindsdien is Kernes een van de populairste politici van het land, maar in West-Oekraïne wordt hij gezien als pro-Russisch en daar is hij niet populair. Nadien volgden er nog andere aanslagen op z'n leven. Kernes zou er persoonlijk verantwoordelijk voor zijn dat de situatie niet uit de hand liep zoals in Donetsk of Odessa.
Nazi-milities vernietigen het Lenin standbeeld in Kharkov.
Lokale inwoners die zich verzetten tegen het neerhalen van het Lenin monument worden door de milities in elkaar geslagen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Emk6...ctr=1506610068