In the summer of 1991, the nation of Ukraine and its new parliament established itself once again as a free and independent state. After an attempted coup to overthrow Russian leader Mikhail Gorbachev failed the recently established Ukrainian parliament adopted the Act of Independence on August 24, 1991. The newly recognized sovereign state declared its independence from the former Soviet Union on Dec. 1 of that same year with a nationwide referendum and the nation’s first presidential elections that saw 90 percent of voters call for the separation from the communist state, and the creation of a new democratic nation.
Over 20 years removed from the country’s escape from the oppressive yoke of communism, Ukraine is now facing a new battle. It is no longer a conflict simply with Russia, but a civil uprising dividing a nation in two. For those watching on television sets around the world, there is undoubtedly a detachment for most outside observers who can’t quite understand how truly detrimental the recent conflict has been on a nation that since its inception has been marred by civil disputes and political corruption. For Aroostook County resident Natasha Brewer, however, the escalating situation in the region has literally hit home for the native of Kiev, Ukraine’s capital and largest city.
Brewer is currently the career development director at Loring Job Corps, in Limestone, but has worked as a devoted teacher at the Maine School of Science and Mathmetics, as well as professor at the University of Maine at Presque Isle and Northern Maine Community College. She was born in Kiev in 1972, during the height of communism in what was then the USSR.
Brewer still currently has a number of close friends and relatives living in both Kiev and Moscow, including her mother, a brother and many cousins who in the case of her immediate family, are uncomfortably close to the heart of the conflict. She recalls growing up in the Soviet city of Kiev in the 1970s as a comfortable time for she and her family.
“My father was a veterinarian and my mother worked for the government, as what I would call a financial adviser to the leader of the Ukraine,” said Brewer. “Both of them did very well and the family was healthy. Money-wise, we did have money, but we weren’t really allowed to spend money. If you wanted to do something like buy a house you had to have permission from the government.”
Brewer describes a nation where even a family that is comfortable financially is still not awarded many of the basic freedoms we take for granted as free citizens of a democratic country. She recalls a trip her father once took to France in 1985. Instead of traveling alone, she remembers that he was forced to travel the country with a watch-dog of sorts, as he was shadowed by a member of the Soviet regime, in an attempt to prevent the possibility of her father from doing anything detrimental to the USSR. During the peak of the Cold War, Brewer’s father and the rest of the family were living behind the oppressive regime’s “Iron Curtain”during a time of widespread anti-American sentiment and propaganda, as well as hotbed for the clandestine activities that have become so synonmous with the Cold War, especially during the 1980s.
As a Ukrainian who experienced life in the Ukraine both before and after the fall of communism and the Soviet Union it was still no simple task to explain which system was, for lack of a better word, better.
“With communism, everything was supposed to be equal, and the reason I stress this, is because if you take my father for example, as a veterinarian, he was a doctor. Yet, he was treated as an equal to everyone else. It didn’t matter if you were sweeping the streets or any other career. Everyone was equal,” said Brewer. “He did make more money than some, but the idea was this equal opportunity for everybody.”
The communist society, according to Brewer, was one giant middle-class, as the redistribution of wealth was the key economic element to what well-known communists like Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin would have considered the dictatorship of the proletariat, or a state in which the working-class has control of political power. On the other hand, Ukraine has established a class system that hardly includes a middle-class, but instead only the few rich, at the top and the many poor, on bottom.
This idea of a socialist utopia was dreamt up by brilliant philosophers like Marx, or genius activists like Lenin, however, what became of the Soviet Union was not nearly as close to what Marx had likely envisioned when penning The Communist Manifesto, in 1848. For Soviet leaders like Joseph Stalin and Mikhail Gorbachev, the goal of establishing a feverish sense of widespread nationalism was never quite reached, as the nation’s recent history has been marred by oppresive rulers and human rights abuses that led to civil unrest and the eventual overthrow and abolishment of the Communist Party and its nearly seven-decade reign.
The one thing Brewer did make sure to mention as a major difference between the nation of Ukraine and the Soviet Union was the level of corruption. Many may hold the misconception that leaders like Stalin and Gorbachev must have been corrupt, therefore the Soviet Union must have been a worse situation for citizens. However, the truth that Brewer pointed out was that certain political leaders in Ukraine, such as recently ousted former president Victor Yanukovych, have established a state that is far more corrupt than the Soviet Union had ever been in its entire 69-year existence.
“The corruption in Ukraine right now is much worse than it’s ever been in the past, especially before 1991. We did not have the same freedoms that most people are used to now, but as far as corruption goes it was not really an issue,” said Brewer. “People were more concerned with the well-being of their communities and the state, as a whole. Right now, the only concern is with who can make more money or control more land. It’s become a nation filled with legal monopolies that have come to own nearly everything in the country.”
The area is rich in natural resources making it of vital importance for industrial and ecomonmic superpowers like Russia and the United States. Ukraine has an especially abundant supply of iron ore, leading to its prosperous iron and steel industry. As of 2011, it was the world’s third-largest grain exporter and is ranked as one of the 10 most attractive argicultural land acquistion regions. Additionally, Ukraine has a well-developed manufacturing sector, particularly in the areas of aerospace and industrial equipment.
“The biggest problem recently has been the corruption,” said Brewer. “The problem became the fact that the people with money and power – like the politicians – were able to re-write the country’s constitution numerous times, in order to solely benefit themselves. The vast majority of wealth was then controlled by such a small number, it left the lower class with next to nothing, and the middle class no longer existed.”
Accusations of corruption during the 2004 presidential elections, assumed to be heavily rigged and manipulated by the intitial winner Yanukovych, led to a series of peaceful examples of activism, ousting Yanukovych from power.
Yanukovych, however, would not find himself displaced from power for long, as he was once again elected as president of the country, in 2010. After nearly four years under the oppresive rule of Yanukovych the country’s largely impovershed population began to rise up in protest once again. By last November, the nation was in outrage at Yanukovych’s decision not to sign the association agreement with the European Union (EU) was what initially sparked the recent conflict, being dubbed Euromaidan.
“It’s really very sad because Russians and Ukrainians used to be like brothers and sisters. For years, they were mixed together, but what I see now is a country basically divided down the center,” said Brewer.
The division Brewer mentioned is more evident today than ever. The eastern side of the country is predominantly pro-Russian, and they want to be connected more to Russia, while the western half of the nation hopes for a more immediate economic, as well as social connection with the western world, from Eurupe to the United States.
The inaction by Yanukovych in regard to the EU agreement outraged much of the Ukrainian population, leading to weeks of civil unrest that would eventually turn violent. From Feb. 18-20 alone, 98 people were killed, while thousands more were injured due to rioting that took place throughout the capital city, mainly in the well-known area of Independence Square. The tragic irony was not lost on those watching news footage around the world, as by Feb. 20, the once bustling metropolitan area appeared more like the epicenter of a fiery battleground in what is ultimately the nation’s second fight for independence since the fall of the USSR.
Since those horrific days in February, Yanukovych has since fled to Russia, but is wanted in Ukraine for the killing of protesters, as footage from the bloody conflict shows Ukrainian police force snipers, perched on buildings and rooftops, as they gunned down protesters under the orders of the former president. The day after the bloody three-day battle in Kiev, on Feb. 21 Yanukovych fled the city, not long before the Verkhovna Rada (Parliament of Ukraine) subsequently and unanimously voted to impeach Yanukovych. However, the Russian Prime Minister has since claimed that Yanukovych was illegally impeached and Moscow still recognizes him as the legitimate president of Ukraine, calling the recent actions by the interim government nothing more than a “coup d’etat.”
Since then Russia has managed to covertly and quietly invade the Ukrainian region of Crimea, which has since declared independence from Ukraine and joined the Russian Federation. This has many around the world extremely nervous as Putin is often being portrayed as a ruthless conqueror, who is ultimately hoping to expand Russia’s borders, while reestablishing the former glory of the Soviet Union.
When asked her opinion on Putin and his current actions in the region of Crimea, Brewer has no doubt about her feelings, yet there is no sense of anger or hate that some Ukrainian natives might harbor toward a ruler who may someday look to invade their homeland. There is, however, a palpable sense of dislike that could only be expected.
“Vladimir Putin knows he has the power right now, and he’s one of the richest men in the world. He was a former KGB agent and is currently a chauvinist, who doesn’t believe in women having power.” said Brewer. “He’s gained power by claiming to be there to help the Russian people, but he’s actually hurting the people with his policies from civil rights to foreign affairs.”
Despite the current social and economic issues plaguing Brewer’s native nation there is certainly no lack of passion for her country. She still goes to visit Ukraine at least once a year, and is adamant when it comes to maintaining the country’s rich heritage and traditions, especially when it comes to her children. Brewer has a 16-year-old daughter and a 14-year-old son, both of whom have learned to speak Brewer’s native language and have visited the nation to experience the many beautiful aspects remaining in the country.
Assuming the conflict in Ukraine doesn’t escalate any more in the upcoming months the annual trip will be a tradition Brewer and her family look to keep now and for many years to come.
