At five minutes to midnight, the crowd sang Ukraine’s national anthem, hoping to set a new world record for group singing. People lit torches, creating a beautiful light show on the square. Dozens of paper lanterns were launched into the night sky. A spectacular fireworks-and-laser show signaled the start of the New Year, amid a joyous and peaceful atmosphere with no police in sight.
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Ukrainians sing the national anthem to close out 2013 and usher in 2014.
New Year’s Eve ended with dueling messages to the nation, one from President Viktor Yanukovych and another from his imprisoned rival, ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.
Despite the uplifting start, 2014 promises to be one of the most contentious years in Ukraine’s 23rd year as an independent nation.
Yanukovych secured temporary financial stability with a $15 billion bailout and reduced gas prices from Russia. But the Dec. 17 deal came at a huge political cost to him, fueling the EuroMaidan demonstrations that began on Nov. 21 in protest of his decision to scrap a far-reaching trade and political agreement with the European Union.
The two sides — and the nation — enter 2014 divided, with Yanukovych digging in and resisting calls for his resignation and early presidential and parliamentary elections this year, instead of waiting until 2015. Opposition political leaders plan to stage a series of national strikes after the holidays, which end on Jan. 13.
A chilly wintery fog hung over Independence Square on New Year’s Eve day. In the afternoon of Dec. 31, musicians were tuning their instruments for the New Year’s concert, while several thousand people were making last-minute preparations for the giant outdoor party.
“For 52 years of my life, I have never met the New Year the way I am going to today,” said Maria Feduk, who was sitting near a tent with her sister and drinking coffee from a plastic glass. Feduk came this morning from Truskavets in Lviv Oblast to celebrate the holiday on Maidan, which she finds “very beautiful.”
According to organizers, a New Year’s concert is going to start at 9 p.m. and it will last for nearly two hours. It will include a special Vertep, a traditional Ukrainian theatre drama.
At 11:40 p.m., the leaders of the political opposition parties are set to deliver their speeches.
At 11:55 p.m, the participants of the rally will be sing the national anthem, where organizers are hoping to gather some 200,000 people and reach the new Guinness World Record record for the number of people who sing.
The New Year fireworks will start at midnight, after which a concert by Ruslana, the 2004 Eurovision winner and spiritual guide of EuroMaidan, will take place. She will be joined by many other popular Ukrainian rock and pop singers, including TNMK, Tartak, Skai, Lama and Mandry.
Stepan Kubiv, a lawmaker with the opposition Batkivshchyna Party and one of three commanders of EuroMaidan, told the Kyiv Post that the organizers are expecting hundreds of thousands of people. “We bought 2,000 bottles of alcohol-free champagne,” he said. He added that the protesters will also get to taste a huge 100-kilogram cake, presented to EuroMaidan by members of the Ukrainian diaspora.
The organizers are not banning alcohol drinks, expecting that “highly aware people” will behave well. “The people are highly self-organized, where some 75-80 percent consists of our strong supporters, and the rest will be Kyiv residents who will join the event,” he added.
Mykola Tutechak, 40, from a village near Drohobych in Lviv Oblast, came to the rally on Nov. 28 and was among those hit by a police batons during the violent breakup on Nov. 30. He is now is one of the most devoted supporters of the protest. Tutechak also participated in the 2004 Orange Revolution that stopped Viktor Yanukovych from taking power in a fraudulent election.
Tutechak said that, after a month spent on the streets, he doesn’t suffer from the cold and has big expectations for 2014. “Hopefully God gives mind to Yanukovych to resign himself without waiting until we oust him,” he said.
Kyiv Post staff writer Oksana Grytsenko can be reached at [email protected]
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