Two more police stations fell in East Ukraine.
Pro-Russian activists took over a police station in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk on Saturday after a firefight. The 20 men were apparently dressed in matching uniforms, mirroring the occupation of police headquarters of Donetsk, another city in eastern Ukraine, earlier in the day.
The men who entered the police building in Donetsk were wearing the uniforms of the Berkut.
Witnesses said the men who entered the police building in Donetsk were wearing the uniforms of the Berkut, the feared riot police squad that was disbanded in February after Yanukovych's ouster. Berkut officers' violent dispersal of a demonstration in Kyiv in November set off vast protests in the capital that culminated in bloodshed in February when more than 100 people died in sniper fire; the acting government says the snipers were police.
This situation in East Ukraine can't go on like this. Any government that does not offer equal opportunities for its people is at risk for revolutions of this type. The pro-Russian protests that are taking place are similar to the ones in Eastern Europe that precipitated the collapse of Communism. Just like back then, the people do not have the standard of living necessary to keep the economy functioning. Back during the collapse of communism, the West had a much higher standard of living than Eastern Europe. Now, Russia is seen as having a much higher standard of living than East Ukraine. The reason that the Tienanmen Square protests did not topple China was that they had a much higher standard of living than Eastern Europe did.
The interested parties -- the US, EU, Russia, and Ukraine -- have an obligation to come up with a package that offers equal opportunities to all Ukrainians, regardless of whether they are ethnic Russian or Ukrainian. If all they come up with is a bandaid that stops the violence, but doesn't address the fundamentals of Ukraine's massive debt and failing economy, then all it will do is put off the problem for 5-10 years or so. Russia's offer to Ukraine for economic aid in return for certain reforms such as accepting the secession of Crimea, federalization, and protection of Russian speakers is intriguing. But the question is, what do the Russians have to offer?
We are seeing what could have played out had we not had a New Deal. The New Deal created a social contract between all people and all classes. The workers would work for a living wage. Unions were to become junior partners of management. The wealthy could keep their profits, but had an obligation to provide for charity. The government had an obligation to create a social safety net. Had it not taken place, the working classes would have radicalized and anything could have happened. This is what is happening now. The have-nots are radicalizing on both sides. The ones in West Ukraine are turning into Ukrainian nationalists; the ones in the East are turning into Russian nationalists. The Right Sector is now calling for "total mobilization." It is not difficult to see that there is a serious danger of civil war.
We do not buy the assertions of the Kyiv Post that Russian soldiers are somehow clandestinely involved in this (there may be nationalist provocateurs). All the pictures we have seen from both sides shows that these protestors are rank and file people who have been shut out and relegated to second-class citizens. As we know from our own history, no matter how much we try to dress it up, turning people into second-class citizens is a sure recipe for violence and polarization.