KYIV: November 2007.
“You’ll like this,” said Anya. “Shakespeare, no words. Macbeth.”
Wales 1 Ukraine 1
The Welsh women’s team wasted a wonderful chance to enhance their World Cup qualification hopes in this fitfully entertaining draw.
An equaliser in the 78th minute from the home side’s best player Natasha Harding clawed back a point after Wales showed a lack of wit and trickery.
A win would have opened up a headlong charge for the top spot, with group favourites England to be hosted in August and the result seemed like a missed opportunity.
The Yanukovych Palace and Berkut break-up
Wednesday, February 26 update from a pal
Just found out that Berkut have now been abolished – very pleased; I was giving out ‘abolish Berkut’ leaflets yesterday.
The remaining Maidan ‘Self-Defence Units’ have now taken on new roles – guarding public buildings, directing traffic and acting as tour guides in the Independence Square area.
Ukraine – what now?
Last Friday I did a sub-editing shift on a national newspaper in London.
A friend ‘subbed’ the Ukraine Kiev piece and admitted afterwards it was incredibly difficult to follow the sequence of events, get his head round what had happened, who was who and what all the trouble was about.
And why, indeed, they were fighting in the first place.
Welcome to Ukraine!
Then the guy proofing the page came over.
Aftermath of Ukraine’s bloodiest day
UPDATES FROM PAL IN KYIV
SATURDAY FEBRUARY 22,
3pm In Kyiv it is all over. Government has collapsed and top people fled. Non -extremist opposition in control everywhere and impeachment of yanu has kept more extreme elements happy.
Population out in force clearing up city and areas that were battle zones a day ago are now full of people posing for pics and collecting bullets as souvenirs.
Funerals on maidan. Focus now switched to the east but even there looks ok. Unclear where yanu is.
Just been to church where priests helped during titushki scare. For me and I think city sense of pressure has lifted.
1pm Went to Independence Square (Maidan) yesterday evening, large sections of the crowd were quite angry about the deal with Yanukovych.
Various news sources have reported an unprovoked attack on all public buildings remaining in state hands, by some radical protestors, after 10 this morning.
I was so worried that I got up early and scribbled some notes for a speech to give on Maidan – about the importance of being better than the govt and using power wisely.
Euromaidan, Kyiv, February 20
FROM A BRITISH PAL WORKING IN KYIV
Another day of drama in Kyiv – though I’d expected that the visit by EU bigwigs would mean a truce.
About 9.30 am I was still in the flat, having slept well after the previous sleepless night. I started hearing what sounded like gunshots and muffled thumps, then ambulance sirens – it was clear something was up.
Then I heard shouting outside – assuming it was protestors lining the route for the UE bunch, I quickly got dressed and left the flat – grabbing a large sheet of paper and marker pens to make some kind of sign.
Euromaidan, Kyiv – February 19
FROM MY PAL IN KYIV
5pm – Confused picture, big danger is government says it is introducing big crackdown on ‘extremist terrorists’.
On the other hand Maidan looks very hard to dislodge without an actual shooting war – today they took over a load more public buildings and more people have settled permanently on Maidan.
Deaths in Kyiv
FROM MY PAL IN KYIV
I was working until about 2.30 this afternoon; there seemed to be a lot of sirens going off so I guessed something was going on in the city centre and headed in.
Today there was supposed to be a parliamentary vote on returning to the 2004 constitution, but the parliament did not convene in the end.
There were a lot of explosions going on at Hrushevskogo St so I walked there – the fighting had restarted and injured protestors were being ferried back from the front – one looked serious.
The ‘Death Match’ stadium, Kyiv
The ‘Death Match’ inspired a film starring Sylvester Stallone and is still a cause of furious debate more than 70 years after it was played.
The stadium in Kyiv which hosted the game on August 9, 1942, still stages games but is in typically decrepit Ukrainian condition.
It inspired the Escape to Victory movie but if you read wikipedia accounts then eye-witnesses claim players were not killed as a result of inflicting defeat on German players
Euromaidan, Kyiv, protests – February 2
FROM A BRITISH CONTACT IN UKRAINE – TODAY IS THE 11TH SUNDAY IN A ROW THAT PROTESTERS HAVE BEEN OUT IN FORCE IN KYIV:
Just been for a good look around the protest area. It all seems to be kind of ‘bedding in’ like before – it’s just bigger now.
There are a lot of people staying in Ukraina House – from where they could be at Krushevskogo barricades in about a minute.
It’s all quite well-organised in there on a micro level – AutoMaidan Centre, medical centre, students centre, library, film centre, clothes donation area, food hall.
Back in the USSR! Soviet soccer at the Pele Museum
Lev Yashin and burning passion for Soviet links with Brazil feature strongly in the Pele Museum in Lugansk.
It has a host of fascinating Soviet football artefacts collected by its owner Nikolai Khudobin.
Lev Yashin, the most famous Russian footballer ever, is regarded as maybe the best goalkeeper who ever played.
Continue reading Back in the USSR! Soviet soccer at the Pele Museum
Euromaidan, Kyiv, protests – January 26
Latest from my pal who supports the Euromaidan protest in Kyiv:
The white banner in one of the pictures below says ‘cossack redoubt’.
At the moment there are groups of people trailing all over central Kyiv so difficult to assess numbers.
Was speaking to some young hardline types who were of the opinion that the whole state structure needs smashing to pieces; was trying to convince them that the whole thing is pointless unless they can behave better than existing power and put something better in its place.
Miles from Nowhere 