| Telegraph.co.uk | - |
The
frail-looking Mrs Tymoshenko laid flowers at a memorial to the dead
outside the Dynamo stadium where the first casualties of the revolution
were killed in street fighting January before arriving at Independence
Square to address the crowd.
Frail but defiant, Yulia Tymoshenko joins Ukraine protesters
Yulia Tymoshenko calls for a “new Ukraine” and vowed no mercy for those responsible for the deaths of the past week
Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko addresses the crowd in Independence Square after being freed from prison Photo: GETTY IMAGES
The frail-looking Mrs Tymoshenko laid flowers at a memorial to the dead
outside the Dynamo stadium where the first casualties of the revolution were
killed in street fighting January before arriving at Independence Square to
address the crowd.
Appearing on stage at 9:30 in a wheelchair and dressed in a black overcoat,
she was greeted by scattered cries of “Yulia!” and cheers from a huge crowd
that gathered on Independence Square to greet her.
“There is a new Ukraine. The heroes of the Maidan are saviours and the
saviours of Ukraine. I wanted to come to the barricades on Grushevskogo and
I want to feel how our brave men and women were defending us and were
willing to give their lives to protect this sacred place that will always be
in our hearts,” she told the crowd in an impassioned speech.
“I was blaming myself that i wasn’t able to be here. Everytime I saw a man
fall down the bars of the prison were holding me back. They died to give us
the opportunity to change what we had before. Each politician who might
betray you should remember the faces of the dead heroes.”
“In any case you should not leave the Maidan until everything you strive for
is achieved. You should go on to the end. No one has the right to step back
from here. There is no way back.”
“It was not politicians or diplomats or world leaders who made this happen. It
is you, the people who stood on Maidan, who changed the situation,”
“It was never a fair fight. How can it be a fair fight when you have a wooden shields against sniper rifles and kalashnikovs. But the people knew it was not fair and they continued,” she said.
But she got her biggest cheer when she promised there would be no forgiveness for those who killed protesters.
“The snipers who put their bullets through the hearts of our heroes but a bullet in all our hearts. And it will never be removed until every one of them is punished,” she declared, to rapturous applause from around the square. Everyone will be punished for what they do wrong.“
“This nation will never again fall to its knees. No one will ever again do this to us because we will never let them.”
But despite hearty approval of the sentiments she expressed, she did not receive the rapturous reception she may have expected.
She ended her speech to a polite round of applause - not the roars of approval that Independence Square crowds are capable of giving those they approve of.
“It is complicated. She is one of the old generation of politicians. You can see the kind of reception they get here,” said Alexander Osapets, a 58 year old designer from Kiev who came to listen with his wife and 25 year old son.
“I’m a Russian speaking Ukrainian. We need to build a single, united people, and Yulia’s probably not the one to do that. But you can’t build a nation in three months. It is only just being born. Maybe some young politician will emerge from Maidan who we can vote for in five years.”
“She’s beautiful, she’s been in prison, she can speak well, but it’s not about her. She was part of the previous system, so she did something to make the system what it is now,” said Olga Makukhina, a former media manager also in the crowd.
end quote from:“It was never a fair fight. How can it be a fair fight when you have a wooden shields against sniper rifles and kalashnikovs. But the people knew it was not fair and they continued,” she said.
But she got her biggest cheer when she promised there would be no forgiveness for those who killed protesters.
“The snipers who put their bullets through the hearts of our heroes but a bullet in all our hearts. And it will never be removed until every one of them is punished,” she declared, to rapturous applause from around the square. Everyone will be punished for what they do wrong.“
“This nation will never again fall to its knees. No one will ever again do this to us because we will never let them.”
But despite hearty approval of the sentiments she expressed, she did not receive the rapturous reception she may have expected.
She ended her speech to a polite round of applause - not the roars of approval that Independence Square crowds are capable of giving those they approve of.
“It is complicated. She is one of the old generation of politicians. You can see the kind of reception they get here,” said Alexander Osapets, a 58 year old designer from Kiev who came to listen with his wife and 25 year old son.
“I’m a Russian speaking Ukrainian. We need to build a single, united people, and Yulia’s probably not the one to do that. But you can’t build a nation in three months. It is only just being born. Maybe some young politician will emerge from Maidan who we can vote for in five years.”
“She’s beautiful, she’s been in prison, she can speak well, but it’s not about her. She was part of the previous system, so she did something to make the system what it is now,” said Olga Makukhina, a former media manager also in the crowd.
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