November 22, 2004 marks the twentieth anniversary of the Orange Revolution, which began as a protest against the falsification of Ukraine's 2004 presidential election. The event got its name from the color used by supporters of presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko and the opposition party “Our Ukraine”. Instead, supporters of Viktor Yanukovych were associated with the white and blue colors of their symbolism.
The Ukrainian Association of Professional Photographers publishes photos of Andriy Lomakin, who filmed the development of the events of the Orange Revolution in Kyiv.
Votes and results
The Orange Revolution is a campaign of rallies and protests organized by supporters of the main opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko in the presidential elections in late 2004 after the announcement of preliminary results by the Central Election Commission.
On November 21, 2004, the second round of voting took place, in which the opponents were Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych and the opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko. In the western and central regions of Ukraine, the advantage was on the side of Viktor Yushchenko, in the southern and eastern regions - Viktor Yanukovych. Before the second round, Yushchenko led a coalition that included candidates from the first round — Yulia Tymoshenko, Oleksandr Moroz and Anatoly Kinakh. Viktor Yanukovych bet on the maximum turnout of his potential electorate in the eastern regions of Ukraine. Incumbent President Leonid Kuchma did not support the candidacy for prime minister, and two days before the second round declared the election campaign dishonest. He assured that the authorities would do everything to prevent the situation from turning into a revolution.
After the announcement of the preliminary official results, Viktor Yanukovych won with a small margin of 3%. The declared election results differed significantly from the exit polling data. Supporters of the opposition candidate and most foreign observers believed that Viktor Yanukovych's team rigged the election.
The day after the vote, on November 22, Ukrainians took to the streets of Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities to protest against the massive election fraud. Thousands of people from all over Ukraine came to Kyiv to protect their rights. People united on Maidan and demanded fair elections of the president of Ukraine. Supporters of Viktor Yushchenko and the party “Our Ukraine” began to equip a tent city on Kiev's Independence Maidan. Initially, the number of protesters in Kiev was about thirty thousand, and the next day this figure increased to one hundred thousand. On November 23, 2004, four hundred tents were already erected on Khreshchatyk. People shouted slogans, sang songs and demanded new elections. Instead, on November 24, the Central Election Commission approved the official minutes of the second round of elections. The then Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Volodymyr Lytvyn announced that no state body has the authority to cancel the election results. Incumbent President Leonid Kuchma urged not to use force against protesters and seek a way out of the situation.
On November 27, at an extraordinary meeting of the Verkhovna Rada, deputies expressed no confidence in the Central Election Commission. A week later, on December 3, the Supreme Court of Ukraine announced its verdict: “Given the impossibility of publishing the official results of the second round of elections, hold a second vote on December 26, 2004.”
After almost two weeks of rallies and demonstrations, a second round of elections was scheduled and amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine were adopted. On December 8, as a result of the voting of the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine became a parliamentary-presidential republic. On December 26, Viktor Yushchenko won the second round of elections. According to unofficial data, in total, three to seven million Ukrainians took part in the protests.
Snow and oranges
“If we compare the Orange Revolution with the events of the following years, it was even festive. Perhaps because of the constant snow, or because of the orange color - so bright, so warm, with which absolutely everything was filled, - recalls photographer Andriy Lomakin. - There were no clashes, shootings and a sense of aggression, but on the contrary, there was confidence that everything would end very well. The overall atmosphere was pleasant, even a little theatrical.”
Andrei Lomakin began photography a few years before the Orange Revolution. Says that then there were not enough skills to film demonstrations and events of this scale. Lomakin worked in a sports magazine and filmed mainly football and basketball matches, various competitions, etc. “When the Orange Revolution started, I immediately realized that you need to take pictures. Let the pictures be bad, albeit not very successful, but it is necessary to shoot. There was a feeling that these are important events for the history of Ukraine, - the photographer says. “I shot mainly in the evening after work, but there they behaved with understanding - they let go earlier.”
Andriy Lomakin photographed Maidan Nezalezhnosti in Kyiv, the Dnieper embankment, shot near the railway station and the circus, as well as polling stations. “We were then joined by five photographers, and we wanted to put together a big project about the presidential elections. Filming on the Maidan in Kyiv was to be one of the components of the project. We wanted to make a cut of the event - to remove the life of protesters, protests, voting, etc., - explains Andriy Lomakin. “I ran wherever I could. However, the project remained “raw”, we could not select photos from the footage for the story. None of us have had the experience of shooting such photo projects yet. We were all on the drive, but did not really understand what exactly to photograph and how.” The famous Kyiv photographer Viktor Suvorov, who was the ideological inspirer of the project, was killed in a car accident and his fellow photographers finally abandoned the idea of creating a big project about the Orange Revolution.
For Andrei Lomakin, filming the Orange Revolution was the first experience of working with protesters. He recalls that he had to communicate a lot with people, rather than just walking and clicking the camera. “Despite the warm and favorable atmosphere, it was still psychologically difficult to photograph such a large number of people. Before that, he shot amateur black and white street photography, then there was sports,” Andriy shares.
“I had an interesting moment during the filming of Maidan. I photographed a basketball game, after which I immediately ran to document the revolution,” Lomakin says. “We were given a badge with a wide blue ribbon on basketball. Let me remind you that the blue color was a symbol of the election campaign of Viktor Yanukovych. Badge put it in his pocket, and the tape, as it turned out later, peeked out. In this form, I entered the tents of Yushchenko's supporters. I was surprised that, despite the blue ribbon, everyone was very kind and kind.”
The photographer recalls that he communicated with people a lot, but he did not keep any contacts or names. The Orange Revolution took place twenty years ago, then there was the Revolution of Dignity, and memories of those events were mixed. Only photos now help to remember the chronology. “Many memories were replaced by the second Maidan, which was already much tougher,” says Andriy Lomakin. Clashes also occurred during the Orange Revolution, but they were rather the exception. Lomakin recalls the shooting of supporters of Yanukovych, who almost threw his colleague Ivan Chernichkin from the parapet. However, in general, the atmosphere was calm, people were tuned for positive changes.
Andrei Lomakin even came to the shooting with his son, who was then two years old. “My son sat on my shoulders, I walked with him everywhere, showing the Maidan,” says the photographer. “The Orange Revolution was even like a holiday. It was very bright and I don't even know what event it can be compared to. The Orange Revolution was full of kindness and filled with hope. Hope for the future.”
The material was worked on:
Researcher of the topic, author of the text: Katya Moskalyuk
Bildeditor: Vyacheslav Ratynskyi
Literary Editor: Julia Futei
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