Empowerment and Protection - Stories of Human Security Oct. 2014 | Page 32

Ukraine

Perspectives
on security
The reflections shared in the following sections were collected
through interviews carried out in late 2013 in Kyiv in the
initial, nonviolent stages of the Euromaidan protests, and in the
Crimean capital of Simferopol before it was annexed by Russia.
As such, they cast light on some of the domestic conditions
that provide the backdrop for the eventual political crisis. The
perspectives highlight citizens’ perceptions of and experiences
with security in their own words, grouped here into the most
frequent categories of threats highlighted by those interviewed.

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Sources of insecurity
Crimea and identity politics

Interviews in Crimea, taken before the peninsula’s
annexation by Russia, demonstrated that politics or
politically motivated prejudices play a role in the
=10.000.000
way residents define their security, as the region has
been a hot spot for Ukrainian identity politics. It is
a majority Russian region with a strong influence
of both Russian nationalist groups and communists,
and also hosts the Crimea Tatars. In contrast to
local Russians, the Crimea Tatars vote consistently
for Ukrainian liberal nationalist parties and continue
to fight for recognition as an indigenous people
and for compensation for the losses incurred in the
aftermath of their collective deportation in 1944.
In contrast to Kyiv, the perception of political
others as a source of insecurity was characteristic
of interviewees in Simferopol. These included
people of different political beliefs and often of
different ethnic and cultural backgrounds. The
Crimea Tatars or Western Ukrainians were held
in contrast to the ethnic Russians, referred to as
‘pro-Russian separatists’ by local Ukrainians. One
NGO activist’s sense of insecurity was related to
the feeling of being a political ‘other’ when openly
expressing his pro-European views. Conversely, an
b Cossacks historically have been associated with the rise of both
Ukrainian and Russian identity and nationalism. The Cossack revivalist
movement received strong official support in post-Soviet Russia. Most
neo-Cossack groups in modern Ukraine, particularly in Crimea and eastern
regions, are offshoots of this pan-Russian revivalist movement, whereas
others have local Ukrainian roots and are based mainly in Western and
Central Ukraine. Cossack revivalists have formed paramilitary groups,
wearing uniforms with whips and maintaining horses. In Crimea, proRussian neo-Cossacks have been involved in conflicts with the local Tatar
population.
32 stories of Human Security | Ukraine

” ou won’t be able to call
Y
either the police or the
hospital – they are all tied
up together.”
elderly Simferopol respondent speaks on nationalist
and generational tensions between the communist
legacy of Russia and Ukrainian identity.

Police impunity

Political violence was perceived as a threat in both
Kyiv and Simferopol. Kyiv respondents noted police
violence against protestors in the early days of
the Euromaidan protests. Anatoliy, a journalist in
his fourties noted, “Among the new things is that
the cops appear to have started assaulting people
who go to the Maidan wearing EU arm bands – I
haven't got it confirmed yet, but I read it in social
networks.d I have friends and acquaintances, who
saw that they had been followed at night or in the
morning when leaving Maidan by two or three
people. When walking on the Maidan there is
always a danger that the riot police will capture you
and throw you in jail.”