Translated material
Strength without morality
The Kharkov musician talks about the situation in the city, a year after the bloody clashes
In mid -March, writer Sergei Zhadan, musician Oleg Skripka, writer Irena Carp and other figures of Ukrainian art turned to Minister of the Interior Arsen Avakov with a request to investigate the brutal beating of the Kharkov musician, the leader of the Pope Carlo and coordinator of the Kharkov Euromaidan Vasily Ryabko. Ryabko, who, with his feet in the face, beat four young people, received a fragmentation fracture of the left skull and arc with a displacement, and recently was discharged from the hospital and is now on the treatment of the house.
The beating of one of the Maidan activists occurred on the same day that the terrorist attack during the unity of the Kharkov pro -Ukrainian activists, dedicated to the anniversary of the executions on Institutskaya Street in Kiev. On February 22 of this year, an explosive device worked in the center of Kharkov, 4 people died and 15 were injured. At the same time, at the head of the column, which was most affected by the explosion, in a car with loudspeakers, it was Vasily Ryabko in a car, but he was late, and as a result of the explosion, his friend Igor Tolmachev was killed. The investigation of these events has not yet been completed.
Among the four attackers on the Kharkov activist was a man who had suffered a past during the attack of pro -Russian activists on supporters of Euromaidan. In an interview with Radio, Vasily Ryabko talks about the situation in Kharkov a year after the bloody clashes of supporters of separatism and federalization with those who wish to preserve the unity of Ukraine and its integration in the EU, as well as the impending elections of the mayor, which again inflated the situation in the Kharkov region.
The Kharkov musician talks about the situation in the city, a year after the bloody clashes
- How did it happen that you were beaten, including your recent associates?
- It happened in the lobby of the Kharkov anti -crisis center. The press conference was devoted to the events of February 22, that is, the attack in Kharkov, and when it ended, the adviser to our governor during the performance tried to shift responsibility for security measures during the march for some reason to civilians. That is, we notified in advance of the procession, and if we talk about security measures, we had to go through some kind of official check, we had to remove the cars in the direction of the column, because they could also be mined, but anything could be. And when he tried to shift the responsibility, they say, we ourselves must check something there, to look for something, to create a staff of dog handlers or explosives there, I asked him a question: doesn’t it seem strange to him that the explosion occurred precisely on our campaign, and not on the pro-government action on which they drove the state employees and which was scheduled for the same day as our march? And this did not like this in the Hall of Inna The Theological , who immediately approached me verbally and began to blame my comrades of death. I replied to her that people like her, for 10 years, led the country to the "heavenly hundred" and she would better become silent about this. After that, the comrades, whose names I will not call, but I knew one of them as a peaceful person, offered to simply go out to talk. I did not take this as a threat, I went out, and immediately they attacked me, right in the hall of the hall, where the press conference was held.
- You mentioned Inna Theological, she was a member of the Party of Regions in the past, but one of the first to leave her.
- Yes, that is so. But her name became a synonym for cornation and unprincipled not only in the Party of Regions, but in general in Ukrainian politics. She changed party affiliation several times. This is a politician who hung calls in Sevastopol so that this city was not exclusively Ukrainian, but also governed by the Russians. That is, a few years ago she called for the separation of Ukraine. In addition, she was an assistant to the prosecutor of Victor Pshonka, was engaged in the case of Yulia Tymoshenko and was an ardent supporter of the process, as a result of which Tymoshenko was in prison. This is a person who is now wrapped in the Ukrainian flag and shouts that he is for a single Ukraine and exposes himself to a patriot. But I perceive this so that just under the flag of the struggle with the odious Gennady Kernes, power in the person of our governor, and possibly above, is trying to slip his candidate. Instead of choosing a normal democratic, they give us a person about whom they say: he is a little better than Kernes - vote for him.
A bet on people who personify some kind of power is made
- The people who beat you are related to the Anti -Maidan movement in Kharkov, or is it a new wave of activists who oppose the ideas that were proclaimed during the Maidan?
- I think they are not related to Antimaydan. I think they just played and support the theological. I don’t know if they have a commercial interest, or they really believe that it is so correct ... in the absence of reforms in the country, instead of really carrying out some kind of purification of power-from power structures to officials, the rate is, unfortunately, not on Maidan people who have proven their honesty and fundamentality, but a bet on people who personify some kind of power that allegedly restore order. In my opinion, this is a big mistake, because power cannot be involved without morality.
- Gennady Kernes is going in the same way as the theologian, to run in local elections, which should take place in the fall of this year. During one of the recent interviews, he stated that, according to the second -request he ordered, the majority of votes were gaining. As a resident of Kharkov, how do you assess the popularity of Kernes?
- Kernes is, of course, an evil that has long been Kharkov. And here it is necessary to figure out why this evil rules almost a year after the "revolution of dignity" took place. And I think that Kernes has no chance to win the election. Moreover, he would have even less chances if our prosecutor's office and the police would take at least some step. The role of Kernes is to rock the boat and overshadow the situation. But now he knows very well that he walks along the razor blade. Certain pro -Russian sentiments in Kharkov are present, but they are ridiculous. 10-15 percent is the maximum. Because we have so many immigrants from Donetsk that the inhabitants of Kharkov know the truth, and no one wants to be in Kharkov like in Donetsk. No one wants to walk the streets and dodge mines. I think that the percentage of pro -Russian Kharkiv people at the beginning of current events was higher, but now it is negligible, because everything understands everything.
-Yes , but, on the other hand, at the end of February a terrorist act occurred on a peaceful action, people died, and this means that the city is still strong pro-Russian sentiments and there are people who are very radical.
If there are sabotage groups in a small number, then this does not mean that they are behind some support in Kharkov. Behind them is the support of Russian terrorism
- It is quite obvious that this was done with the participation of Russian special services - just like all major shares on the beating of the Maidanites. Last spring, such shares took place during a large transportation of aggressive people from Rostov, Belgorod and other Russian cities. I was among the affected on April 6 last year, when we held a festival in Kharkov, to which groups from Eastern Ukraine gathered. Everything went peacefully, and when it ended, and we began to load the equipment, we were beaten. It was the musicians who were beaten. Moreover, at first, Russian television channels showed that the “right -wing sector” allegedly did that they threw explosives, but in the “corridor of shame” that they created, I went first, and many recognized me, said: what kind of “right -wing sector” is it, if these are famous musicians? All this happened near the Shevchenko Theater, and the people who surrounded us from all sides threw stones and coins at us. So, besides Ukrainian coins, more than half there were Russian rubles. In addition, there were active groups that tried to storm the Shevchenko Theater and shout: "Kernes, come out!" They thought it was the city hall. It was clearly not local. Now nothing of the kind is happening, because there is simply no way to give up two thousand people for such shock groups. Since that time, there has not been a single large pro -Russian action in Kharkov, which gathered at least 100 people. Therefore, if there are sabotage groups in a small number, then this does not mean that they are behind some support in Kharkov. Behind them is the support of Russian terrorism.