ANNE-MARIE PROVOST – Wednesday, October 16th

Ukraine: the street is sending a warning to President Zelensky

Thousands of Ukrainians have gathered Monday in the capital Kyiv in another protest against
President Volodymyr Zelensky’s peace plan to end the five-year conflict in the eastern part of
the country.

“No capitulation”, was the slogan often heard during the protest. The yellow-and-blue
Ukrainian flags were waved as army volunteers walked side-by-side with nationalist political
activists and far right groups. “People don’t trust Russia and the Zelensky plan”, says Andriy
Dubchak, a Ukrainian journalist who covered the march for Radio Svoboda.

Nationalist groups have been protesting since the beginning of October against the
agreement signed between Ukraine and Russia. The plan, known as the Steinmeier
Formula, aims to end the conflict with the Russian-backed separatists in the Donbas region,
which has killed 13 000 people since 2014. It involves troop withdrawal from both side and
the holding of a local election in East Ukraine, to give the region a special status.

Many fears that Ukraine will lose out to Russia over the deal and Andriy Dubchak predicts
that violent protests will take place if President Zelensky withdraws troops from the conflict
zone.

But if there is anger against Zelensky, the march on Monday was civil, noted Chris Brown,
who covered the protest for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). “I found this
protest quite tame. They weren’t too harsh on Zelensky. They were saying ‘We are watching
you, be very, very careful’. It hasn’t approached the point where they are saying ‘We are
going to throw you out if you do this’. But that may be the next step”, says the veteran
reporter.

The country is facing very long-term problems and more protests will take place, says John
Lough, an expert on Russia and Ukraine at Chatham House. “I expect the level of resistance
to continue. And this could divide President Zelensky’s party grouping”.