Saakashvili's Mad Mob Starts "Revolution" by Scaring Kids at Jazz Concert in October Palace
Today, anti-government protests are taking place in Kiev. The supporters of Mikhail Saakashvili who has been recently released from jail, have made an attempt to storm Oktyabrsky Palace, an imperial building of XIX century design in the center of Kiev.
Before Bolshevik Revolution, it accommodated the Institute of Noblewomen just like Smolny Palace in St. Petersburg. I don't know whether Saakashvili considers himself Lenin, but, for some reason, his supporters chose that building to make the headquarters of their revolution. So, they broke in but ran away shortly after. The wounded are now being treated.
Olga Turchaninova has summarized the events of the week in Kiev.
Tear gas was used against the attempt to storm Oktyabrsky Palace in the center of Kiev. This is how Saakashvili's supporters tried to find a place for their headquarters. Meanwhile, hundreds of people with children were listening to a jazz concert inside, but it didn't stop the crowd.
Some policemen were injured, but the protesters had to retreat. After the failed attempt to gain control over the palace, they went to the Rada. It was the climax of the Impeachment March which gathers thousands of people weekly. Protesters march down the streets no matter if Saakashvili takes part or not. Maybe, they go out there not for Saakashvili, but against the government.
Another Maidan against the people who came to power right here, only 4 years ago, doesn't seem something unreal anymore. The column stretches back hundreds meters. The protesters are going down the Kreschatik Street from Shevchenko Park to the Maidan. It's well organized. Some people carry posters with the names of cities and regions. Judging by them, we can say that people came here from all the parts of Ukraine.
Saakashvili "Unchained" is walking in the middle of the column. After a week break from marches and 3 days in detention, he seems to have lost energy and lowered his voice.
Mikhail Saakashvili: "I don't have any aggressive intentions. We are not enemies to anyone. We have a common external enemy. Don't push me out, let's have a talk".
Did Saakashvili have a single clue that those words which he had said two days before the March would be regarded as a deal with the enemy? Maybe, he backpedaled on purpose in his own interest, for there's still a threat of deportation as well as being put back into prison. Poroshenko's associates hint on some letter from Saakashvili handed by his European partners, in which he offered peace. His supporters are at a loss.
Semyon Semenchenko, member of the Verkhovna Rada: "We don't think that Poroshenko doesn't collaborate with the enemy. He does! His role will be determined by Ukrainian investigation authorities and Ukrainian court. The only thing he could negotiate is the cooperation with the investigation".
Saakashvili seems to take the hint and denies everything: "Our struggle will become fierce like never before. I want everybody to understand that Poroshenko and his gang will never break us. We have already proven it. We will discuss only one thing. It's their voluntary resignation".
On Monday, Saakashvili is expected to come to interrogators. the Prosecutor General's Office is trying to make an appeal to the judgment and place Saakashvili under house arrest.
Meanwhile, there's one more interesting trial in Kiev. During Yanukovich's trial, Ukrainian ex-Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk has admitted that the Rada had no legitimate reason to impeach the President in 2014. Moreover, those who came to power after the Maidan were ready to start a civil war in Crimea.
Arseny Yatsenyuk, ex-Prime Minister of Ukraine "I can clearly testify that the Army, National Guard, Navy, and Air Force were legally empowered to use weapons".
Foreign mercenaries agreed to testify to the court on the starters of the Maidan massacre. The Georgians, who appeared in the Italian documentary "Ukraine. The Hidden Truths" by Jean Mikalesin, are ready to name those people under oath.
Alexander Goroshinsky, lawyer: "Mercenary groups started to fight on February 20. They were given guns and ammo and placed groups of 10 people in various spots. On command, they would shoot everyone they saw, both protesters and the police, so as to start a conflict".
The lawyer of the Berkut Squad had a meeting with them, but they refused to come to Ukraine, for they reasonably fear for their lives. Two of those who fought on the Maidan together with them are gone missing. So, the only possible way to interrogate them is over video call, but it's a big political question whether anyone wants to listen to them in Kiev or not.
Olga Turchaninova, Alexey Nazarov, Vesti of the Week, Kiev.