1. "The will of the Ukrainian people." Which "Ukrainian people"? Even the phrase sounds nationalistic and chauvinistic in the former Soviet Union. Ukraine is a multiethnic society. "Ukrainian" and "citizen of Ukraine" are NOT synonynms.
Ukraine is a deeply divided country, and the vote reflects this. Eastern and Southern Ukraine voted en masse for Yanukovich, except for the Crimean Tatars. Western Ukraine voted en masse for Yushchenko. Why is that? Because the Eastern and Southern "Ukrainians" are _Russians_. They are not a tiny minority. Half of "Ukrainians" speak Russian as their first language. Of course vote fraud occurred -- on both sides, so it is impossible to determine exactly who won. I do not however doubt that Yushchenko won the election. BUT not even he says he won by more than a couple of percentage points. This is not "the voice of the 'Ukrainian' people." It is the vote of the ethnic Ukrainian marginal majority and of Kiev. Democracy is not about just tallying up the numbers. Democracy is about dialogue and compromise.
2. "Ukrainian" industrial workers DO hate Yushchenko -- but not because they are industrial workers. It is because they are Eastern "Ukrainians." Eastern Ukraine is Russian, and it is where the industry, mines, and high technology is. 80% of Ukraine's GDP is in the East. Western Ukraine is rural. Among the Russian population, Yushchenko is viewed as a dangerous ultranationalist. His party, after all, tried to ban Russian-language newspapers a couple of years ago (that would be over half the newspapers in Ukraine, by the way).
3. I don't remember which piece said that Yushch. isn't linked to oligarchs, but that is absurd. Yulia "Gas Princess" Timoshenko IS AN OLIGARCH. She controls something like 20% of the industry of the entire country, and has in fact spent time in jail for embezzlement charges -- until she was sprung by one Viktor Yushchenko.
4. The majority of Yushchenko supporters are NOT ultranationalists or Nazis -- but a lot of them ARE. They support Yushchenko because they see him as a nationalist candidate -- the same reason the Russian population hates him.
5. Yushchenko is not a stooge of the US, and the US did not arrange a "coup." (Actually Russia spent a lot more backing Yan. than the West did Yush. -- I suspect this is because of business tied between a certain powerful Russian mayor and the Kuchma clan, but I don't know). Ukrainians are perfectly capable of doing this kind of thing themselves. Kuchma's government is fabulously corrupt. He's horrible. You don't need US money to get people to take to the streets over that. In fact Timoshenko could have payed for the whole thing herself -- $16 million is nothing to her. She is fabulously wealthy.
6. What this is, at bottom, is a struggle for power and access to Ukrainian financial flows between the Timoshenko clan and the Kuchma clan. That's it. The geopolitical stuff and the nationalism issues are sideshows, smokescreens. That's not what this is about.
===== Nu, zayats, pogodi!
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