Letter on the elections in Ukraine

Hi Brian (Northern Voices),

Sorry I missed your call earlier.

But we have had the result of the Presidential Elections in Ukraine with a clear winner, Mr Poroshenko.

I am pleased for a number of reasons about the result and that it happened despite the best efforts of Putin to disrupt them. The fact the elections went ahead shows the determination of the temporary Government to be democratic and adhere to the will of the people. Unfortunately because of a very aggressive group in some cities in Eastern Ukraine it was deemed too dangerous for people to vote in these cities.

As the margin of victory of Poroshenko was so high the votes in the non election cities would not have changed the end result. But leading up to the Elections there has been extensive violent disruptions by the Russian Special Forces. They have been aided by a some criminals, Russians brought in after the Second World War, opportunists who were paid and small number pro Russian population. They have been extremely aggressive and violent with Western correspondents calling it Chicago in the 1920's . Unfortunately the Government armed forces and police have not been strong enough to contain and arrest the Russian infiltrators but seem to have stopped the problems spreading.

Poroshenko is a good man and oligarch who made his money legally and is not tainted by corruption. He comes across as a very level headed man, supporter of democracy and has support from a wide political base. The unification of political forces is terribly important in Ukraine at the moment especially when faced with such harsh pressures from Moscow. As an industrialist he may be able to mend the economy which will help ease tension.

Secondly I am pleased about the elections as Putin can stop saying that the Government in Kyiv is unelected and illegal as the nation has spoken loud and clear. Ukrainians from Crimea came specially to Kyiv to vote in the elections. But Putin will still use the crude argument that in Kyiv there are fascists, anti Semitic, run by the CIA and want to harm the ethnic Russians. This gives him the pretext to invade Eastern Ukraine and destabilise the new Government. One thing for sure he can not be trusted or believed anymore.

Also I wonder what the local Russians thought when they watched the Eurovision Song Contest and heard the country be booed every time they got some votes. The state run propaganda machine must have been working overtime to explain that one.

Regards

Bohdan Ratycz