From the Calgary Herald:
LVIV, Ukraine – About 10,000 protesters formed a human chain in the Ukrainian city of Lviv on Tuesday to demonstrate against a new education minister accused of being pro-Russian.
The mostly student protesters formed a human chain around four kilometres long in central Lviv, a city in western Ukraine considered a stronghold of Ukrainian nationalism, an AFP correspondent witnessed.
“Down with Tabachnik!” protesters shouted, referring to Education Minister Dmytro Tabachnik, who was appointed earlier this month by Ukraine’s new President Viktor Yanukovych.
Protesters held signs with slogans such as “We will not dance to music from Moscow” and “Tabachnik is harmful for Ukraine.”
The rally, which temporarily blocked traffic, came after a similar demonstration in Lviv last week that drew 5,000 people.
Tabachnik, a historian with a reputation as a Russophile, has angered nationalists by saying Russian should become an official state language alongside Ukrainian.
I found “Tabachnik is harmful for Ukraine” a particularly amusing slogan because Tabachnik literally translates to ‘Tobacco seller’ in English.
Check out the video of Ukrainians protesting in New York on September 22, 2010: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRlm8Q9UlLg
Thankyou Orysia Kucher. I feel that you did a really nice job, interviewing Ukrainians at the NYC Protest. You were very articulative, and very well spoken. Ukraine needs to hear our voice, more clearly, and more often. But, I am curious. Is there a chance that you had an opportunity to interview the Recent Ukrainian WW2 Veteran in the news, who made sure that Justice stood strong, in respect to the burglar who broke into his house? He was born in 1930, and began fighting for Ukrainian Independence at the age of 14, and fought against both the NAZIs and the SOVIETS. The part that added a little humor to his interview was where he stated in responce to the burglar's excuse that: he had “heard children screaming”, before braking in the 80yrold,WW2-Ukrainian(Stephen Boyechko, wife Pauline Boyechko) Veteran's Bathroom window was “that there are no children here, just 2 seniors who have some higher blood pressure on this evening.” Lol. Gees, I gotta hand it to Mr. Boyechko for protecting his wife's safety, and his property. If only he were president of Ukraine right now, instead of these garbage dealers Yanukovitch and Tabachnik, then Russia would remove itself back to Vladivostok where it belongs, and keep its stinky nose out of Crimea, Georgia, Poland, Chechnya, Azerbaijan, Kazakstan, the Former Aral Sea,White Russia and Armenia. I would dearly love to see a video of you interviewing my new hero, Mr Boyechko, and also following up with a report on how Mr Demjanjuk is doing. Thankyou again Orysia. cia-dopobachenja.