Since Yulia Tymoshenko’s criminal trial began in June, supporters of the former prime minister, who is in court on multiple abuse of power charges, have been flooding the street outside of her court room.
On Friday, Tymoshenko supporters faced off with President Viktor Yanokovich’s demonstrators. Using giant stacks of amplifiers, the two groups blasted anthems and slogans at eachother.
Tymoshenko’s supporters, mostly older Ukrainians passionately defended their beloved leader with flags, photographs and homemade posters. On the other side of the road, men in suits roamed through a neat grid of flag bearers, occasionally yanking a teenager back in place, or looking suspiciously across the barricades they had erected around them.
It is suspected, and from what I saw it seems to be true, that Yanokovych’s party has paid these “protestors” for their time.
