Ukrainian expert: Both Yanukovych and Putin have hands in blood

It was the Kremlin that inspired the Ukrainian ruler to kill people.

Volodymyr Horbach, a political analyst at the Institute for Euro-Atlantic Cooperation, discussed the latest events in Ukraine with charter97.org.

“It became possible and perhaps even inevitable, because the authorities didn't demonstrate their readiness to understand the situation and make concessions to the protesters. It repeats the events in Hrushevsky Street on January 19, but with a wider theatre of operations, more victims and attempts to storm the Maidan camp. It's most likely that the events in Hrushevsky Street and yesterday's events near the parliament building were pre-planned provocations orchestrated by the authorities to obtain grounds or carte blanche for the liquidation of the Maidan camp,” the expert thinks.

The politologist added the authorities chose to implement the scenario in full and didn't refrain from victims on both sides.

“They completely delegitimated themselves through the violence in the eyes of the protesters and those who sympathise with them. There are no ways to return to peaceful talks and a compromise. Whatever Russian politicians may say, to all appearances, it's the Kremlin that pushed the Yanukovuch regime for this decision and scenario as its critically important money lender. So, both Yanukovych and Putin have their hands in blood,” he is confident.

The analyst thinks the Ukrainian ruler chose the path of the Belarusian dictator long ago and “closed the door to other options” yesterday.

“Anyway, Lukashenka doesn't have so much blood on his hands. Ukraine sees the attempt by Yanukovych to outdo Lukashenka as Europe's last dictator. If the Maidan protests are suppressed, the rebellion will continue as a guerrilla movement. It will be a sort of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. Law-enforcement officers and government officials will be destroyed one by one. It will be targeted terror, internal boycotting, refusal to pay taxes, attempts to ruin the economy. What concerns the Western sanctions, in my opinion, they missed the time when it was possible to stop violence through sanctions. They won't influence the situation after the bloodshed. Unfortunately, the West didn't understand what was going in Ukraine from the very beginning,” Volodymyr Horbach said.

The most violent clashes between protesters and the police erupted in Kyiv on February 18. They began in the morning after opening a session of the Verkhovna Rada, which was expected to resolve the political conflict in the country. The protesters faced fire from shotguns. The riot police used stun grenades, rubber bullets and grape-shot. Activists set up new barricades near the Verkhovna Rada building, but had to leave the parliament district later. Health officials and MPs reported about five killed people. The death toll rose to 26 after a police attack on Maidan Nezalezhnosti at night. Some hundreds of protesters were injured.