London's Ukrainian Ex-Pats Tried to Ambush an Oligarch

Yesterday, after it was reported that an estimated 77 people had been killed in the Euromaidan protests, Ukrainians and non-Ukrainians alike gathered to demonstrate in London’s Parliament Square. Their request was less than simple. They wanted sanctions imposed against president Yanukovych, his discredited government and his band of oligarch cronies who protesters hold responsible for the human rights abuses that have taken place during the most recent wave of protests.

After a few hours this wish was granted, as news came in that the European Parliament would impose tax freezes and visa bans on the president's key allies as a matter of urgency. However, the 300 or so demonstrators were also demanding "true independence from Russia", to have a government that respects international law and a parliament that is above corruption. Things which, in their own words, would take several generations to achieve.

Candles were lit in remembrance of those who had passed away during the demonstrations, as those gathered sung the country’s melancholy national anthem. “UK Support Ukraine!” they chanted between rounds of the song, as well as: “Actions Not Words!” “Yanukovych is a murderer!” and, perhaps most tellingly, “Putin, hands off Ukraine!” As reports have stated, Yanukovych’s own corruption is itself indebted to the country’s attachment to Russia – indeed, its dependence on Russia for natural gas, which protesters feel prevents Ukraine from becoming a fully functioning, globally significant economy.

Most of all, however, demonstrators were out to show solidarity against the brutality inflicted by Kiev police in recent days. As one girl, Maria, told me: “The people are scared. The man who delivered petrol for the heaters that were keeping the protesters warm has been killed. He was a close family friend.” Stories like this were shared between Ukrainian ex-pats who had gathered in the square despite the heavy clouds overhead and intermittent lashings of rain. Several held posters brandishing images of the bloodshed at its very worse: bodies stacked up along the streets, elderly couples splattered with blood, bullets deeply imbedded in young flesh. Children as young as five, wrapped in the country’s yellow and blue flag, punched the air and echoed the chants of their parents.

At 6.30PM, the crowd was informed by police that they would have to disband. So they moved their demonstration onto the steps of the home belonging to one of Ukraine’s richest men, Rinat Akhmetov. In January 2014, Forbes reported that Akhmetov had been behind 31 percent of business tenders in Ukraine – a fact not made any more palatable to the country's short-changed masses by his purchase in 2007 of the most expensive flat at One Hyde Park. On the basement level there stands a Rolex and Ferrari outlet, outside of which, the anti-Yanukovych demonstrators amassed. Security guards paced the building’s forecourt, flimsily distinguished from the main pedestrian street by a thin, metal line running along the ground, which demonstrators were asked to stand behind.

From time to time, excitement would mount as rumours spread that Akhmetov had arrived in the country and was a matter of minutes away from his London address. Earlier in the day, it had been reported on Twitter that he had left Ukraine via private jet. The crowd moved en masse to the side of the building, where tens of valets stood. At one point, someone started shouting, “Your neighbour, he is a criminal!” Which caught on fast, before morphing into: “Your neighbour, he is a murderer!”

An hour or so later, I made my way back to One Hyde Park where I tried to take a photo of the crowd. A security guard whose hat had been pulled down and his scarf pulled up as if to resemble a balaclava, told me that I was on private property, I pointed out that lots of pedestrians were on the same piece of land as me and he launched himself at my camera. As I tried to protect it, he flung his fist at my hand, knocking the camera into my face. The photos were saved, but the camera lay in several pieces on the floor.

At this point, something rather bizarre happened. Nick Candy, one of the owners and a resident of One Hyde Park, as well as the husband of Holly Valance, came down to check up on what the fuss was all about. He made a grab for the camera but wasn't quick enough and quickly disappeared again behind the rows of security. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian protesters continued with their chants of solidarity, glaring at the building. Peace talks seem to be progressing in Ukraine today, but whatever happens you get the feeling that the ex-pats' rage isn't going anywhere – just like their compatriots on the streets of Kiev.

For the background on the unrest in Kiev, watch our new film, UKRAINE BURNING