War, Good God. by Reyna Kohl
“my fear of getting shot outweighed my curiosity.”
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Can we talk a little bit about Russia and Ukraine? So much has happened in the past several months that it’s difficult to wrap one’s head around it all. But, the crisis in Ukraine began sprouting quite some time ago. Ukraine has been independent from Russia (what was then called the USSR) since 1991. There’s a pretty consistent thread running through the story of relations between Russians and Ukrainians. They argue like siblings. And sometimes they get physical. Ukraine is the stubborn, little southwestern sibling who fights as hard as it can against its bully of an older brother. They’ve been growing apart for some time now. Russia still wants to tell this kid what to do, and will occasionally hold it down and tickle it until it gives in, or pisses itself. Or both. It all seems to boil down to Ukrainian relations with Russia, and strong civilian opinions regarding how much to rely, or not to rely, on the big, and kind of irritating, country to the North.
I think. Because, as usual, shit is complicated. Ukraine is home to some 8 million Russians, and most of them are interested in a union with Russia.
It is abundantly clear that many people of Ukraine want nothing to do with Russia, but there are many who feel the opposite. Both sides are stubborn, and willing to go to great lengths to defend their views and influence the outcome of this crisis and the future of their country.
There are certainly some events throughout the past 13 years that are worth mentioning, when looking at this crisis. The attempted coup in Moscow that led to Ukraine declaring its initial independence from Russia. The Orange Revolution, in 2004, which was a backlash from the Ukrainian public, as a reaction to election rigging, which skewed votes to the benefit of pro-Russian candidate Viktor Yanukovych. Interestingly, in 2010, Yanukovych did become president after winning what was determined to be a fair election. Yulia Tymoshenko, Yanukovych’s blonde and braided main opponent, was arrested and put into jail a year later for alleged abuse of powers.
In November of 2013, Yanukovych’s cabinet dropped an agreement meant to create closer ties, through trade, to the European Union. Instead, they sought out a closer connection with Russia, which seriously pissed a lot of people off. Hence, truly began the current situation, which started with a 100,000 person peaceful demonstration in Kiev, the largest in the country since the Orange Revolution. Police raids and arrests began almost immediately. By early December, the number of protesters had reached up to 800,000.
In mid-January of 2014, the Ukrainian parliament passed laws meant to restrict protesting. The first two people were killed in the protests just a few days later. Violence and death continued through February, the bloodiest day Kiev had seen in 70 years, occurring on February 20th, 2014. At least 88 people were killed in a 48 hour span of time. There is video documentation of uniformed snipers firing their guns at the protesters, who are attempting to protect themselves with thin sheets of metal as makeshift shields.
Meanwhile, political and economic ties between Russia and Ukraine continued to become closer. In December 2013, Russian president Vladimir Putin agreed to relieve a good portion of Ukraine’s debt, and drastically dropped the price of gas supplied by Russia to Ukraine, an offer which is accepted by Yanukovych.
February 22nd is when Yanukovych disappears, protesters take over presidential buildings (check this shit out), parliament votes to remove the president from power, and Yulia Tymoshenko is released from prison.
The tail end of February marked the first appearance of Pro-Russian gunmen, who ended up taking over important buildings in the Crimean capital. Yanukovych, having fled to Russia, expressed his adamance about remaining president, and on the 1st of March, Russia was given the go-ahead (by parliament) to use force in Ukraine in order to protect Russian interests there.
So, Russian and Pro-Russian Ukrainian forces begin their fight, while, those who might be considered Ukrainian Nationalists attempt to defend the independence of their small country. It is a full-on war.
BriAnne Wills and Christopher Miller had been living in Kiev for a few years when the shit hit the fan.
Christopher had been stationed in Ukraine during his time in the Peace Corps and had eventually decided to stay and accept a job as a reporter for the English language publication, The Kyiv Post. BriAnne had moved to Ukraine to be with Christopher. Of course, when the situation in Kiev began, Christopher was covering it for the Post. He became more and more involved in the coverage as things heated up, and at some point, when things began to get dangerous, BriAnne decided to move back to the states.
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I asked BriAnne some questions about her experience in Ukraine and how she feels now:
NAILED MAGAZINE: How did you first hear of this trouble in Ukraine stirring?
BRIANNE WILLS: I think Chris received a phone call in the middle of the night from his editor saying the police just moved in on the peaceful protesters. Chris ended up going out there so he could post live updates.
NAILED: Where were you guys living in relation to the epicenter of the initial unrest?
WILLS: We lived in the center, maybe an 8 minute walk to where the original protests were.
NAILED: Do you have many friends over there who were/are involved?
WILLS: Most of the people I know over there are sick about the whole thing. They avoid the protests, but maybe voice their opinion on Facebook.
NAILED: Did you participate in any of the protests when you were over there? If so, what was that like?
WILLS: No, I didn’t see anything in person. I stayed away from the protests for a few reasons. Mostly because I hate crowds and also because things escalated pretty fast and my fear of getting shot outweighed my curiosity.
NAILED: Is there a moment that really stands out to you in your memory.
WILLS: When I saw Chris’s videos of protesters setting cars on fire, throwing Molotov cocktails at police officers, and men lying in the streets, I realized this wasn’t just pepper spray and idle threats and for the first time it really sunk in.
NAILED: Talk about Chris' role in the whole thing at the beginning and how that changed throughout the course of the situation.
WILLS: His role has evolved into a whole different beast. From the start he was very fascinated by what was going on and reported on the peaceful protests regularly. As soon as the protests turned violent the world took notice and Chris seemed to be the only journalist who was writing about the events. Which meant he was getting more and more attention from other media outlets wanting him to write stories for them or to do radio and TV interviews. Now it’s consumed his life. He’s made several trips back and forth to Eastern Ukraine and continues to cover the events and even put himself in dangerous situations. Now he not only writes for KyivPost, but he also writes for several other online news sites on a daily basis. I really don’t know when he sleeps.
NAILED: How do you feel about having your husband so involved (right in the middle) of all of this death and violence?
WILLS: I hate it. I worry all the time and am sickened by some of the things he’s seen. I am able to compartmentalize which has been helpful. The violence itself is horrible but for most of us it seems abstract. To have someone you love in the middle of it makes it all so much more real and terrifying.
But if you had asked me how I feel about him doing this work I would have answered differently. I think it’s amazing that he is doing what he loves and what he’s passionate about. It’s so cool to watch him grow as a journalist and to see how hard he works to get the story out there because he knows it’s important. As hard as it is right now for us, I couldn’t be more proud of him and what he’s accomplished.
NAILED: How often do you talk to him?
WILLS: he checks in with me morning and night with Facebook messages. But we rarely get to talk. Our schedules are pretty out of synch, especially with the time difference. And when we do talk he’s usually around other people so it’s not as gratifying as it should be. Luckily, neither of us is needy and we know the situation is not forever so we deal. But it gets lonely at times.
NAILED: How does he feel about being over there? Does he enjoy it? Is it exciting? Frightening?
WILLS: I know he enjoys it and finds it exciting. I’m sure there have been times that he’s felt frightened, but I don’t hear about them often. Probably for my sake. In general he feels good about being there. Like he’s really doing something.
NAILED: At which point did you decide to leave (come back to the states)?
WILLS: We came back to the States for Christmas and even though we both had return tickets, I decided I didn’t want to go back. Partly for safety reasons, partly because Chris would be working all the time anyway and I didn’t have a job to keep me busy, but also because Ukraine just wasn’t a good fit for me.
NAILED: What is your opinion on the current situation in the Ukraine?
WILLS: I’m not one to share my political opinions online. So I’ll just say I hope this crisis is resolved soon.
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