UKRAINE: Family members of a protester who was killed during mass demonstrations in Kiev cast their votes for president in western city of Lviv
Record ID:
695381
UKRAINE: Family members of a protester who was killed during mass demonstrations in Kiev cast their votes for president in western city of Lviv
- Title: UKRAINE: Family members of a protester who was killed during mass demonstrations in Kiev cast their votes for president in western city of Lviv
- Date: 25th May 2014
- Summary: LVIV, UKRAINE (MAY 25, 2014) (REUTERS) LVIV STREETS MONUMENT PHOTOGRAPHS OF YURIY VERBYTSKY TELEVISION SCREEN SOUNDBITE (Ukrainian) SERGIY VERBYTSKY, BROTHER OF YURIY VERBYTSKY WHO DIED DURING MAIDAN, SAYING: "He (Yuriy Verbytsky) understood one thing: that the situation (in Ukraine) was critical. If it had been allowed to continue until the next presidential elections as Yanukovich was planning then Ukraine would not exist on the map of Europe" PHOTOGRAPH OF MAIDAN ON TELEVISION EXTERIOR POLLING STATION / VERBYTSKY AND WIFE OLGA VERBYTSKA, WALKING TO ENTRANCE INTERIOR POLLING STATION/ PEOPLE REGISTERING ELECTORAL WORKERS/ UKRAINIAN FLAG SERGIY VERBYTSKY AND OLGA VERBYTSKA LOOKING AT ELECTORAL LISTS SERGIY VERBYTSKY ENTERING VOTING BOOTH SERGIY VERBYTSKY COMING OUT OF VOTING BOOTH VARIOUS OF SERGIY VERBYTSKY CASTING BALLOT EXTERIOR GREEK CATHOLIC CHURCH VARIOUS OF MEMORIAL WALL DEDICATED TO THE "HEAVENLY HUNDRED" WHO WERE KILLED ON MAIDAN SERGIY VERBYTSKY AND OLGA VERBYTSKA CROSSING THEMSELVES IN FRONT OF MEMORIAL WALL CANDLES
- Embargoed: 9th June 2014 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Ukraine
- Country: Ukraine
- Topics: General,Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA7MHLTOP3DJYMN3G8NP58TX2DR
- Story Text: Family members of a Maidan protester abducted and killed by Ukrainian secret police before before President Viktor Yanukovich was removed from office, cast their ballots on Sunday (May 25) in a presidential election they hope will save their country from bankruptcy and civil war.
Those lost during the protests in Kiev's central square, known as Maidan, in January and February are still on the minds of Lviv residents, many who traveled to Ukraine's capital to join the demonstrations.
Yuriy Verbytsky, a Maidan protester, was kidnapped on January 21, 2014 with activist Ihor Lutsenko. They were tortured and Verbytsky's body was found in Boryspil, two days later. Lutsenko was released.
"He (Yuriy Verbytsky) understood one thing: that the situation (in Ukraine) was critical," said Sergiy Verbytsky, Yuriy Verbytsky's brother. "If it had been allowed to continue until the next presidential elections as Yanukovich was planning then Ukraine would not exist on the map of Europe."
Dozens more were killed in February defending the barricades and fortified tent camp in Maidan, some of them shot by snipers in bloody clashes. They became known as the "Heavenly Hundred".
Their main goal was achieved when President Viktor Yanukovich fell, but for many this is only the first step to achieving stability.
Verbytsky said the movement changed people's attitudes towards the authorities.
"I think the situation has changed the way people now know how to put pressure on the authorities," he said. "All those protests, rallies near the parliament, even if sometimes they are not happening for important reasons, still it shows that the new authorities will never be the same as the previous ones."
After voting Verbytsky and his wife Olga went to a memorial wall dedicated to the Heavenly Hundred, constructed outside the local Greek catholic church, where his brother's funeral was held. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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