Euromaidan A-Z

Photo: durdom.in.ua

AZIRIVKA
language named after and spoken by Mykola Azarov who served as a Prime Minister (March 2010 to January 2014). Russian is his mother tongue while Ukrainian is the state language. Azarov had troubles speaking Ukrainian, so it was a funny language mix of Belarusian, Russian and Ukrainian. The pseudo Ukrainian he spoke could barely be understood adequately, so it resulted in dozens of jokes.

Photo: focus.ua

AUTOMAIDAN
group of Euromaidan protestors who used their cars to patrol the city and organized car processions to residences of Viktor Yanukovych and other officials.

Photo: publizyst.blogspot.com

BARRELS
empty cans from fuel and lubricants, equipped as "heaters". The protesters burnt wood inside to warm up as it was one of the cold winters and the temperature dropped below -20◦C most of the days.

Photo: Novaya Gazeta/Новая Газета

BERKUT

English - 'golden eagle'
Special police force officially responsible for security of the general public. Although de facto it threatened, attacked, tortured and shot at Ukrainian protesters during Euromaidan. Later this unit was disbanded.

Photo: Radio Liberty/Радіо Свобода

DICTATORSHIP LAWS

A package of laws adopted by the Parliament of Ukraine on January 16, 2014. The voting procedure was completely violated; the ruling Party of Regions voted for the laws after the party chairman had raised his hand, which meant "we will vote." These laws restricted the rights of citizens, provided authorities with more leeway in punishing protesters and aimed to criminalize the actions of opposition and civil society. This way the authorities reacted to the mass protests and car processions of Automaidan to the mansions of Ukrainian officials. Despite that the "laws of January 16" rather than intimidate people, caused a new wave of discontent and further inflamed the protest movement.

Photo: censor.net

DRUSHLIAK

English - 'colander'
One of the newly introduced restrictive measures of "dictatorship laws" was the ban to wear hard hat in public spaces. Protestors used hard hats to protect themselves during clashes with fully equipped police. So once the ban was imposed, the protestors switched hard hats to colanders so as satirize the restriction.

Фото: modagoda.com

FIELD KITCHEN

operated on the territory of the Maidan, the biggest ones worked in municipal buildings, which protesters seized: the House of Trade Unions, the Ukrainian House and Kyiv City Administration. Field kitchens also worked in the open air, for example, nearby the Independence Monument. The dishes ranged from sandwiches with cheese or sausage, to - soups. Hot tea and sandwiches were often carried around the Maidan.

ФОТО:Ipress.ua oleksandr.aronets/facebook.com

GOLDEN LOAF

One of the symbols of the Yanukovych regime. Unlike the "golden toilet" the golden loaf appeared to be a true artifact. It was found in the mansion of the former President, after he fled from the country and left most of his belongings behind.

ФОТО: vilingstore.net

GOLDEN TOILET

Another symbol of Yanukovych's morbid thirst for luxury. He embezzled so much that even his toilet was golden, claimed Maidan participants. However, the legendary toilet was not found in Mezhyhirya residence after Yanukovych's escape.

Photo: censor.net

LENIN

the one that fell. The country started dismantling symbols of the Soviet past, the process later named as "decommunization". First "victim" of decommunization was the toppled monument to Lenin in center of Kyiv. Later numerous Lenins started falling across Ukraine in both big and small cities.

Photo: Reuters

MOLOTOV COCKTAIL

Or petrol bomb. Protesters used this explosive substance during clashes to stop the attacks of 'Berkut' police unit. Recipe of the cocktail: bottle, 02 L of flammable substance (petrol etc),01 L oil (optional), piece of cloth, 0,1L of alcohol. Instructions: put the flammable substance inside the bottle, soak the piece of cloth in alcohol, put part of it inside the glass bottle, lit up the part outside of the bottle. Voilà – Molotov cocktail ready, serve it while on a not-any-more-peaceful protest with extra passion.

Photo: korrespondent.net

ORCS

Nickname for people who supported of regime of Viktor Yanukovych and the actions of the police special force "Berkut".

Photo: Radio Liberty/Радіо Свобода

RIGHT SECTOR

is a social movement that appeared during the early Euromaidan. This movement emerged because there was a vision of Euromaidan goals that differed from the vision of opposition leaders. Right Sector united activists of Ukrainian radical organizations, mostly nationalist and far-right. Right Sector was founded on the basis of right-wing organizations "Tryzub" and "White Hammer."

Photo: censor.net

STELLA

or "Oksana" is the short name the protestors gave to the monument to Independence of Ukraine located on the main square.

Photo: jankoy.org.ua

SOTNIA

English – 'hundred'
Form of self-organization at Maidan. The word originated from the name of the Cossack military unit. The first hundreds were formed for the purpose of self-defense. Several hundreds were formed on the territorial principle - uniting people from one region and were often called by a number. Others united people by occupation, for example, a medical or information hundred. Hundreds formed the general Maidan Self-Defense that patrolled the city to for security reasons.

Photo: espresso.tv

TITUSHKY

Athletic young men who were paid for defending someone's interests, for participating in Anti-Maidan and political actions, for driving off and provoking the Maidan participants. They were also called "Knights for 200 UAH". These young men were often semi-criminal elements. The word originates from the last name of 'Vadym Titushko' who became "famous" after he attacked journalists Olha Snitsarchuk and Vladyslav Sodel in the summer of 2013. Some of the titushky were armed with bats, traumatic weapons and knives.

Photo:evreiskiy.kiev.ua

ZHYDOBANDERA

Engilsh – 'Jew-Bandera'
People with Jewish roots who supported the Euromaidan. Short comment: "Bandera" - a word that became popular due to Russian propaganda that glorified Stepan Bandera, a Ukrainian politician and nationalist in the beginning of 20th century. Fake news spread information that allegedly Maidan was mostly attended by people who were intolerant towards people of other nationalities. To highlight the absurdity the Ukrainians of Jewish origin mockingly called themselves 'Zhydobandera', where 'zhyd' – is derogatory word for 'Jew'. The Maidan protestors came from different backgrounds.