By: Elena Donatone
I have always loved documentary of any kind, from nature to historic ones. I find them very interesting and highly educational most of the time.
But I have never reflected on, and I have never been as emotionally involved as I have while watching the Netflix documentary Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom. (2015)
The documentary was directed by Evgeny Afineevsky and produced by Ukraine, the U.S. and the U.K.
It focuses on the Euromaidan protests and dramatic events that happened in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev in the winter of 2013 and the start of 2014.
Ukraine, as it is explained at the start of the documentary, has always been influenced by Russia even if it has been an independent country for years.
In 2013, while under the corrupted government of Russian supporter President Viktor F. Yanukovich, Ukrainians were promised an agreement with the European Union to finally be part of Europe.
Although Ukrainian citizens always wanted to be European and have a European passport in order to have a better future away from the Russian influence, Yanukovich and the government refused the agreement.
That caused the start of various protests in the capital of Kiev, where young people and students in particular took their disappointment to the streets with peaceful protests.
Unfortunately, the Ukrainian police reacted harshly and silenced the peaceful protests with force, harming even university students.
The harm and violence caused the start of a revolution in Ukrainians’ hearts and the love they felt for their country led to the start of Euromaidan, a pro-Europe movement involving mainly students and young people.
All the citizens protesting lived in Maidan square for over 90 days, building a community with people of different creeds and paths of life, but with the same love for Ukraine and its right to be part of the European Union.
Thankfully the protests ended after three months and Ukraine is now part of Europe because of them.
But the documentary rightly shows the pain and struggles of all the citizens fighting for freedom and ever more sadly the people that lost their lives for it.
125 people were killed by the Ukrainian police, like the documentary tells us, and at least 65 went missing.
The documentary is an homage to Ukrainian citizens and their fight for independence.
The way people fought and protested was so inspiring to me and it made me understand how much they sacrificed for freedom.
Unfortunately, not many people know about what happened in Ukraine and I feel like this documentary should be watched by every single person to educate themselves and understand how lucky they are to live in a democratic society.
Ukraine is now free, but the scars the protests left will last forever in their hearts.
It was painful to watch people being harmed by the corrupted police, especially when they just wanted to be heard and guarantee a better future for themselves and their children.
They were only fighting for freedom and against corruption and they were met with violence and dictatorship by the government.
The documentary let me understand so much about the revolution and even if I knew some facts about it, I feel like I learnt much more and I have so much respect for Ukrainian people and their bravery as they fought for their country.
I must warn you, it is not an easy documentary to watch.
In more than one instance I had to stop to reflect on what I just saw and hold back the tears, especially when I saw harmed women and medics and when I saw the police raiding the protesters’ hospital to shoot everybody in sight.
The police was very brutal and many scenes are shocking and violent, but I feel like it is worth watching to know what goes on in the modern world.
Not as many people know about what is going on in developing countries and it is our duty to understand and educate ourselves about it as much as we can.
I highly recommend this documentary and `I hope it will impact you as much as it did with me.
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