Saturday, February 01, 2014

Not political

Sine the very beginning of the protests in Kiev I have been glued to the news, praying hard for Ukraine. I have tried hard not to be vocal about it online, though. Then, a little over a week ago I started following local news, too. And on January 27 something happened here in Kherson. I have honestly never read about a news event that has so many versions, so I'll just translate one of the first articles that has the official announcement:
Police Announce that Some of their Workers were Attacked with a Knife in Kherson
The condition of two of them is serious. One of them has had an operation to remove his spleen. The third policeman got knife wounds in his knee and shoulder. The police captured the people who committed the crime. All who are being held are active and radical participants in the protests. Their actions qualify as attempted premeditated murder.
On January 27 at 8:00 p.m. the Kherson police received a report that on the corner of Kulika and Mira Streets an unknown person had injured two citizens.
An investigative team quickly arrived at the scene. Members of the team found that several young people had knife wounded three of a police criminal investigation team.
Police quickly identified and arrested the perpetrators of the crime. They are all students of one of the universities of Kherson. It turned out that all are active and radical participants in protests, the so-called "Euromaidan" in Kherson....

The next day one of the policemen died of his wounds. Also, more and more different eyewitness accounts started to come out. None of them match up with the official version, which didn't contain details like: the wounded policemen were all high-ranking officers, they were in plain clothes without identification, they may have started the fight(?), one knife--that hasn't been found anywhere--did all that damage to specially trained police detectives, some shots were fired, the students were the ones who called the police, etc.

Also, I started to read about the main suspect. He is a radical Russian-imperialist Maidan activist. (Huh?) There are also photos online of him working with a Party of Regions (ruling party) deputy. And this: he's an orphan. I found a post on Facebook that tells some of his life story. He ran away from an orphanage when he was 12, lived on the streets some, then lived in a place where "Americans had given money and built a home for orphans," where "swearing wasn't allowed, they were taught a normal way of life, and they had to attend church." I found out this morning that, yes, he did live at the orphan home we know here.

I don't know how to finish writing here. I barely scratched the surface of summarizing what's online, what people are talking about, and how both sides are reacting. This has brought the turmoil in Ukraine very close to us. I am very concerned about everything related, but specifically about Andrei, the main suspect. Of course, I have no idea of how guilty or not guilty he is, but that part doesn't matter much in something like this. He doesn't have much chance at being treated fairly. So, I'm praying for him and asking that you all will pray will me.

PRAY FOR UKRAINE!

1 comment:

Baba Julie said...

Oh, Phyllis! This is scary stuff! We have been following everything in the Wall Street Journal. It had pictures and story about the man who is one of the leaders of the protesters who was kidnapped, beaten, lost part of his ear and released. He was not backing down. We are praying! We will pray especially for Andrei, too. Praying for your safety and peace of mind. Love to each of you!