World
President's re-election pitch resonates in heartland
of Ukraine's revolution
Reuters By
Natalia Zinets,Reuters 7 hours ago
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* Poroshenko trails second in polls before March 31
vote
* Leads in western Ukraine despite deaths in conflict
* Region may enable him to win second round victory
By
Natalia Zinets
LVIV, Ukraine, March 21 (Reuters) - At a cemetery in
western Ukraine, a tall, grey-haired man lights candles and kisses the
gravestone of his 35-year-old brother Taras, whose death, he said, changed his
mind about who should win this month's presidential election.
Taras, a medical volunteer, was killed in 2015
rescuing wounded soldiers near Debaltseve during the government's five-year-old
conflict in eastern Ukraine against Kremlin-backed rebels, his brother Ihor
Konchevych said.
He died for a free and independent Ukraine, something
their grandfathers could only dream of in the Soviet era, he said, and
President Petro Poroshenko is the best candidate to keep it on that path, even
though he has not ended the war as he promised.
"In 2014, I did not vote for him," said
Ihor, a dermatologist whose teenage nephew and niece are now fatherless.
"Now (I will) for one reason: he is pro-Ukraine, Russia does not support
him."
Such support could help Poroshenko, who has
consistently trailed in opinion polls, scrape into the second round and
potentially win a second term.
It suggests that at least in western Ukraine, where
Poroshenko's polling remains relatively robust, his opposition to Russia and
championing of the army, the church and closer ties with Europe and the United
States is getting through.
It also suggests some people are willing to swallow
whatever disappointment they might feel about his failure to end the war, lift
living standards or thoroughly tackle corruption, because they see him as
better than the alternatives.
At stake in the election is the leadership of a
country on the front line of the West's confrontation with Russia, five years
after the Maidan street protests ousted Poroshenko's Russia-friendly
predecessor Viktor Yanukovich and the Russian annexation of Crimea.
It is a country still fighting a conflict in the
eastern Donbass region that has killed 13,000 people despite a notional
ceasefire, a shrunken state propped up by Western aid and sanctions against
Moscow.
The election has boiled down to a three-horse race
between the confectionary magnate Poroshenko, comic actor Volodymyr Zelenskiy
and former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, with Poroshenko second and
Zelenskiy extending his lead thanks to his fresh face and strong
anti-corruption message.
HEARTLAND OF MAIDAN
It is perhaps not surprising that Poroshenko's
pro-Western messages resonate in Lviv, a picturesque city of cobblestone
streets and central European charm that was under the Austrian empire until the
First World War and is geographically closer to European Union countries than
to Kiev.
The region was a driving force behind successive
revolutions, including the 2014 protests in Maidan: according to Reuters'
calculations, around 50 of the more than 100 protesters killed during the
Maidan protests were from the west, 19 of them from the Lviv region alone.
The city is heavily Ukrainian-speaking compared to the
Russian-speaking eastern regions. A survey by pollster SOCIS suggests voters in
the west care more about the war and less about, for example, rising utility
tariffs than the average Ukrainian.
The brother of Lesya Senyk, a 51-year-old kindergarten
director, was one of those killed on Maidan, a protest sparked by Yanukovich's
decision to renege on signing a political and trade agreement with the EU after
pressure from Moscow.
Her brother's sacrifice, she said, means Ukraine has
become a proper state with a stronger army and aspirations to join the European
Union.
Senyk did not vote for Poroshenko in 2014 but she will
now. "I do not know who else could have saved the state in those difficult
times, after the Maidan and during the war," she said. "Maybe he's
not perfect. But we are not saints."
NO COUNTRY FOR CLOWNS
Poroshenko won an emphatic victory in the 2014
election but his popularity has fallen sharply.
He can boast success: he secured visa-free travel for
Ukrainians to the EU. There have been reforms and the government has stayed in
an International Monetary Fund bailout program: a reassurance to investors.
Poroshenko successfully lobbied for Ukraine to
establish a national Orthodox church, independent from Russia. While he did not
win the war, he did not lose it, and ramped up defense spending to 5 percent of
gross domestic product from 3 percent under Yanukovich. A Poroshenko win is the
worst-case scenario for Russia, which is a plus in some voters' eyes.
But he has been forced to apologize for his pledge to
win the war within weeks, and that is not enough for some.
The parents of 22-year-old Yuriy Holub, who was killed
in eastern Ukraine in 2014, will not vote for him.
"He promised, promised," said Holub's father
Hryhoriy, who is blind. "Why did you promise if you were not confident
that you can fulfill your promise? If he were an honest man he would quit of
his own accord."
His wife Hanna, who holds pictures of her son close to
her face due to her own failing sight, also said Poroshenko had let them down.
"First he said everything would be over in two weeks ... But such heavy
shelling happened and our child was killed," she said in a trembling
voice. "There is no trust now."
Their son is buried in Lviv's 18th century Lychakiv
cemetery, along with about 70 others killed in the east.
Nazar Paselsky lies buried in a grave near Holub.
Paselsky was killed by shelling, aged 21, in the Luhansk region in August 2014.
His mother Hanna and father Mykola adopted a boy after Nazar's death. Photos of
Nazar, his diploma and his bravery award are on display on top of their cabinet.
Hanna voted for Poroshenko last time "because he
promised that everything will be over in three days. I wanted my child to come
back home alive." Now she does not trust any candidate to guarantee a
future for her adopted one-year-old, but thinks she might end up voting for
Poroshenko in the second round.
Twelve years younger than Poroshenko, Zelenskiy has
tapped into disillusionment about Ukraine's progress since Maidan and the
desire for new faces in politics.
But some people, like Hryhoriy Zhalovaga, whose son
Anatoliy died on Maidan, said a strong army was what was needed, not an
entertainer with no political experience. Quoting another student during a
commemoration ceremony for Maidan victims at the school his son attended, he
said: "Those who will vote for Zelenskiy, what do they want, a country of
clowns?"
Lviv-based analyst Oleg Gryniv said such views mean
Poroshenko will probably carry a majority in the western areas like Galicia,
which contains Lviv, citing the example of Ukraine's first post-Soviet
President Leonid Kravchuk.
"When he traveled through the eastern regions,
they asked him about the price of socks, whether gas prices would be
lowered," he said. "And when he arrived in Galicia, there was only
one question - whether the state would be kept intact."
(Additional reporting Sergiy Karazy; writing by
Matthias Williams; editing by Philippa Fletcher)
Top Reactions
1 person reacting
·
Vyacheslav37
minutes ago
Acticles like these
are designed to legitimize the results of what will be a tainted election. Just
as the fake polling, paid for by Poroshenko. He was polling in a low single
digits in December/January. Has the life of average Ukrainian improved? No, but
his polling numbers have. The only way he can win is if he cheats and steals
the election. It will be a disaster for Ukraine.
"At stake in the election is the leadership of a country on the front line of the West's confrontation with Russia"
This one sentence sums it all up. Why is Ukraine confronting Russia on West's behalf?
Why are two brotherly nations fighting at all? Ukraine is not independent. It is being used. Everything Poroshenko is proposing is not pro Ukraine, it is anti Russia. It is designed to destroyedThe fact that the country is being destroyed in the process, that people are dying does not concern anyone in US, and it doesn't appear to concern the author of this article. As long as Natalia is being paid, as long as Poroshenko and people around him can keep stealing. Its all good.
"At stake in the election is the leadership of a country on the front line of the West's confrontation with Russia"
This one sentence sums it all up. Why is Ukraine confronting Russia on West's behalf?
Why are two brotherly nations fighting at all? Ukraine is not independent. It is being used. Everything Poroshenko is proposing is not pro Ukraine, it is anti Russia. It is designed to destroyedThe fact that the country is being destroyed in the process, that people are dying does not concern anyone in US, and it doesn't appear to concern the author of this article. As long as Natalia is being paid, as long as Poroshenko and people around him can keep stealing. Its all good.
More
ReplyReplies (3)
91
·
RogerCa54
minutes ago
Poroshenko is a
fascist. This Yahoo article is pure propaganda. Of the 13,000 killed in the war
with rebels, almost all live in the rebel held Donbass region. They were killed
by artillery fire by Poroshenko's army that shelled cities and civilian areas.
The rebels have never shelled or attempted to kill people in Ukraine. They have
fought a purely defensive battle. Poroshenko owns all the media in Ukraine.
While 40% of the population speak Ukrainian, mostly in central and west
Ukraine, another 40% speak Russian (mainly southern and eastern Ukraine).
However, under Poroshenko, there is no longer any TV programming for Russian
speaking people -- all TV programs where Russian is spoken have been banned.
That's fascism at work. Moreover, Russian speaking people are no longer allowed
to speak Russian in any government building or court proceeding, thus they
can't represent themselves and are being discriminated against. Many people in
cities such as Odessa and eastern areas, have relatives in Russia and don't
feel hatred for Russia. People who live in west Ukraine, led by Stepan Bandera,
participated with Hitler in putting Jews in concentration camps and murdering
them because he hated Russia and was willing to support Hitler out of this
hatred. When Poroshenko made Stepan Bandera a hero of Ukraine, the people in
Crimea who almost all are Russian, wanted out of Ukraine and they seceded of
their own volition. They were not invaded by Russia -- that's just another lie
put out by our fake media and our neo-cons. People, you need to do some
research on your own and try to get educated because the propaganda coming out
of our left wing media is overwhelming, and nothing but lies.
More
ReplyReplies (5)
135
·
Herry23
minutes ago
Funny how after the
Ukrobronprom scandal came out pointing that Ukrainian presidents friends had
their hands in it and probably he got a cut as well from selling smuggled
Russian military hardware to Ukrainian army at a premium as it was
"Made" in Ukraine, his support is going up. Also I heard some one is
paying 20 US for a vote, so no wonder, he is pulling ahead of Yulia and that
now, again her gas deals are coming up in the spot light, but the Panama papers
are all forgotten, but then he is the only candidate that has factories in
Russia and his own TV station and the ear of the West.
Reply
3
·
Joseph1
hour ago
How Fake can news get?
This has to be close to the top. If you have other fake news that is share
worthy please answer with links, I like a good laugh over coffee in the
morning, thanks in advance
Reply
123
·
bizking6
hours ago
Of all the candidates,
Poroshenko is the one who will most likely stay on the path of
Euro-integration.
ReplyReplies (1)
87
·
Mike1
hour ago
We installed our guy
Guiado in Venezuela. Gues Moscow can then install their in Ukraine. At least it
borders Russia.
ReplyReplies (2)
77
·
Michael39
minutes ago
The Western Ukraine
has been a hotbed of fascism since WW II. They were better #$%$ than the #$%$
and relished exterminating Jews, Russians, and their fellow Ukrainians who
didn't agree with their agenda. They were used as the shock troops during the
Western instigated and backed Maidan regime change. I recall my dad who was a
U.S. Army Sergeant during WW II say that the Western Ukrainians who used to
come into his bar NYC hated everyone - including themselves! Ask the Poles what
they think of the Western Ukrainians and what they did in Galicia and Volhynia.
ReplyReplies (1)
51
·
Peter3
hours ago
Championing of the
army by who? By Poroshenko? LOL He is making profit on corrupt army supply
schemes. He is involved in recent scandal about supplying the military with
triple overpriced spare parts from RUSSIA. :) Why Natalia didn't mention that?
Why she didn't mention his offshore accounts which he uses to not pay taxes in
Ukraine? Why she didn't mention that his involvement in Church affairs is a
breach of Ukrainian constitution? Instead entire article is an ode of joy about
this corrupt politician. Seriously, hadn't expected such a biased propaganda
from Reuters.
Reply
137
·
Mark1
hour ago
Ukraine will be
integrated with the European Union and Russians will be totally defeated in the
Geo-political sense. Poland will provide the route to the Ukrainian
integration. Poland is already a bilingual country (Ukrainian and Polish), with
Ukrainian/Polish signs in place of business, Ukrainian language ATMs and so on.
Record numbers of Ukrainians are taking a Polish citizenship and they have jobs
in Poland so they can support remaining family members back in Ukraine. Under
Russian dominance, Ukraine was a very isolated society and Ukrainian people
were not allowed to travel, certainly not to European countries. It was in
Russian interest to keep Ukrainian isolated and ignorant, to prevent them from
seeing the world.
More
ReplyReplies (2)
511
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C.1
hour ago
There needs to be an
international tribunal that hands out severe sanctions for Russian meddling in
foreign affairs and for Russian interference in other countries’ elections.
ReplyReplies (2)
69
·
Alex3
hours ago
Poroshenk’s approval
rating 10%. The poll for presidency gives him 15%. department of state’s dream
of having this puppet for the second term is an illusion.
ReplyReplies (1)
127
·
Lester1
hour ago
Hey Reuters and Ms.
Zinets: This isn't a news story. It's bald-faced Poroshenko campaign
propaganda. Are you kidding?
Reply
74
·
putinsky43
minutes ago
reading these posts
seems like putin is the only viable leader, he knows how to win elections
........the point is who is soros supporting .....
Reply
11
·
Alexandru58
minutes ago
Countries always end
with the leaders they deserve.
Reply
3
·
Paul1
hour ago
Ukraine is simply too
corrupt to be of interest to Trump.
ReplyReplies (2)
85
·
George W5
minutes ago
Poroshitenko is scam
beg on USA payroll responsible for lost of Ukraine territory and death of
innocent people who did not want democracy riding on USA rifles and tanks.
Reply
1
·
art1
hour ago
Failure yo end war????
Who's fault it is??? Win or loose against country at least 3 time bigger.
Reply
13
·
lou20
minutes ago
It’s not easy to be
neighbor of Russia, but Ukraine, Russia is not your enemy. You have to elect
somebody who can work with Putin. If you don’t, future is gloomy.
Reply
·
John59
minutes ago
LMAO! Alcoholic
corrupt Natzi thief called Poroshenko campaign?
Reply
5
·
lou17
minutes ago
I can bet that
poroshenko didn’t send his son or daughter to fight in the east. Ukraine can
have EU and Russia as friends at the same time. They shouldn’t get Vlad mad.
Just look at what happens to people or countries who get Vlad mad.
Reply
·
Stay Calm And Blame
Russia6 hours ago
Poroshenko is a
corrupt and hated politician for a reason. The war was started by the USA with
a coup d'etat. This UkroTroll write Natalia Zinets, is a shill for the west.
ReplyReplies (1)
168
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Truth Beaver29
minutes ago
Putin does hate
Poroshenko, and Ukrainians hate Putin above all else. The enemy of my enemy is
my friend.
Reply
1
·
Sds32
minutes ago
What a BS, who is
behind this story/
Reply
2
·
Ray Angel Harris27
minutes ago
A country of clowns.
Lol
Reply
2
·
anthony41
minutes ago
Nice propaganda piece
our corrupt government here is putting out. They want their puppet re-elected.
Reply
11
·
Bruce B1
hour ago
Beware of comments made
by Putin's lackeys.
Reply
17
·
Skeptical One1
hour ago
Is this garbage
written by Poroshenko's re-election manager? Disgusting!
Reply
52
·
Danny2
hours ago
heheh WdaF an IQ 36
vomit from reuters heheheheeh sad and pathetic midget brains hehehehe
ReplyReplies (1)
73
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