Saakashvili leads protest in Kyiv, alleges government provocation

Mikheil Saakashvili, the head of the New Forces
Movement who was freed from arrest on Dec. 11, resumed his protest activity on
Dec. 17 by speaking to a crowd of several thousand protestors on Ukraine’s central
maidan. Afterwards, he reportedly led a few thousand of these activists to the
nearby October Palace theatre, where he claimed to have set up his coordinating
headquarters for his protest movement to impeach the president. National
Guardsmen prevented their entry, at which point the account of what happened
diverges.

Saakashvili claims he told his supporters not to force
their way into the theatre because he wanted to keep the protest peaceful. He
said those that attempted to force their way in were beyond his control and
were saboteurs working on behalf of the Presidential Administration. It had yet
to offer a response as of this morning.

On the other hand, the National Guard reported that
night that 60 of its officers were injured during the attempted storming of the
theatre, 15 of which hospitalized. Earlier that day, Kyiv police reported that
15 National Guardsmen and 17 police were hospitalized in the violent clashes.

The embassies of the U.S., Canada and Great Britain
condemned the violent attempt to capture the theatre. “Attempts to seize and
damage public buildings is an abuse of the right to peaceful protest,” tweeted
the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine.

Zenon Zawada: The
conflict between protest leader Saakashvili and Ukrainian Presiden Poroshenko
grew more bizarre with yesterday’s events. Without being present, it’s hard to
say whether Saakashvili really did intend to take control of the October Palace
theatre by force, a maneuver that is directly from the playbook of the
EuroMaidan four years ago. Despite maintaining that his protest is peaceful,
Saakashvili’s rhetoric has been very provocative throughout and implying the
need for violent action, such as taking over buildings. An intense snowstorm
hit Ukraine’s capital this morning, putting a damper on Saakashvili’s
activities.

In the meantime, we expect the Poroshenko
Administration to use the theatre’s storming, whether truly led by Saakashvili
or not, to further damage the Georgian activist’s reputation among the public.
If this was a provocation by law enforcement (against those officers guarding
the theatre), we expect more stunts like this in order to discredit
Saakashvili, a task that the Poroshenko administration views as vital for
Ukraine’s national security (and its own grip on power).