Horrible news from Kharkiv that are heartbreaking to me.
There was a concert in my native city yesterday (the second biggest city in Ukraine whose greatest misfortune is being located right on the border with the worst country in history). The concert was in support of Ukraine’s unity, and was attended by many people, some of whom were holding Ukrainian flags.
When the concert ended, people started walking home down the Sumskaya street. They were detained by a very aggressive crowd of people holding Russian flags. This angry mob separated a group of concert-goers and attacked them, forcing them to get on their knees and crawl. Those who refused were viciously beaten. Those who didn’t refuse were also viciously beaten.
What is curious is that the angry mob exhibited no familiarity with the city’s geography. For instance, the pro-Russian attackers mistook the Schevchenko Theater for the Mayor’s office. I’m from Kharkiv and I can assure you that it is not possible to be from Kharkiv and not know the Schevchenko Theater. It takes about 30 minutes to reach Kharkiv from Russia by bus. These pro-Russian bullies did, in fact, come in buses.
The goal of the attackers is obviously to provoke Kharkivites into striking back. The moment a single provocateur gets a scratch or a bruise, the Russian troops stationed at the border will cross into Ukraine.
People are asking why Ukraine is not considering a military response to Russia’s aggression. They seem to forget that just a few years ago the people of Georgia did fight back, after which their country was carpet-bombed and devastated by the Russians.
It’s frustrating when people’s only reaction to bullying is to tell the victims to be more aggressive and strike back. Bullying doesn’t happen because the bullied people are doing something wrong. It happens because bullies are nasty, vicious aggressors.
Clarissa's Blog 
// People are asking why Ukraine is not considering a military response to Russia’s aggression.
They are weirdly ignorant. Wasn’t Cold War recent enough not to underestimate Russian power? How can they think Ukraine is as strong as USA and can protect itself?
// It’s frustrating when people’s only reaction to bullying is to tell the victims to be more aggressive and strike back.
Of course, smart attackers attack exactly those who can’t successfully fight back.
— el
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“They are weirdly ignorant. Wasn’t Cold War recent enough not to underestimate Russian power? How can they think Ukraine is as strong as USA and can protect itself?”
– Exactly. To win a war against Russia, you need to be a) Afghanistan and B) heavily armed by Americans. Ukraine is neither.
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Forgot to ask, what about the border between Russia and Ukraine? Wasn’t some Ukrainian military person(s) supposed to check before allowing those buses to pass? In my childhood, when we went to visit relatives in Russia, somebody did enter the bus and looked at passports. In today’s situation, how aren’t Ukrainians standing at the border and protecting it?
– el
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That border is such a sore point. It was always pretty porous, people travel there and back all the time. Many people in Kharkov have their dachas in the Belgorod region and you can’t prevent them from accessing their dachas because you know how our people are about their dachas. The only people in Kharkov I know who voted against independence back in 1990 were these dacha owners. If the border gets closed down, this will be seen as further provocation and the Ukrainian side is doing everything to avoid “provoking” anybody.
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I heartily endorse your comments about the “bullies” on this earth, especially those acting in the guise of government orders.
I have taken the liberty of re-posting through my third-party blog, with link, here: http://rupertbuukraine.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/provocateurs-in-kharkiv-clarissas-blog.html and subsequently across to my G+, which will feed on to my twitter.
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Thank you for the link!
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