Ефект доміно | Колапс. Як українці зруйнували імперію зла | Епізод п’ятий

Summary

The episode traces how Poland’s Solidarity movement helped inspire resistance across the Soviet bloc, while emphasizing that Ukraine’s path to independence had its own pace and circumstances.

Poland’s example

The 1980 Gdańsk shipyard strike and the rise of Solidarity challenged Communist rule in the name of workers themselves. The dismissal of Ukrainian-born crane operator Anna Walentynowicz helped trigger the strike. Poland’s opposition later negotiated a peaceful transfer of power in 1989, encouraging movements elsewhere and contributing to the broader collapse of Soviet control.

Ukraine begins to stir

Interviewees describe Soviet Ukraine under Volodymyr Shcherbytsky as resistant to genuine perestroika. Yet events in Central Europe helped Ukrainians see that opposition was possible. During 1989, public discontent grew, and the previously entrenched system began to weaken.

Chernobyl breaks trust

The 1986 disaster—and the authorities’ concealment of its danger, including holding the May Day parade—undermined confidence in Moscow and the Communist Party. People’s anger and fear for their families became public, even among some longtime party members. The crisis also encouraged ecological activism, creating space for wider civic and national demands.

Culture and civic organizing

A 1988 rally brought together environmental concerns with calls for the “ecology” of language and spirit. The People’s Movement of Ukraine, or Rukh, emerged as a political alternative, advocating an independent, democratic Ukraine oriented toward Europe.

At the 1989 Chervona Ruta festival, performers sang patriotic songs, and “Shche ne vmerla Ukraina” was publicly sung and broadcast on Soviet television.

National symbols and political momentum

Rukh’s founding congress drew intense support for independence. The account follows a rapid change in public mood: blue-and-yellow symbols that had drawn suspicion in Kyiv in 1989 were widely displayed by 1990. A human chain across Ukraine demonstrated a sense of national unity, and the March 1990 elections weakened the Communist Party’s monopoly, bringing a substantial democratic opposition into parliament.

From protest to independence

The return of political prisoners strengthened the independence movement, while the October 1990 Revolution on Granite brought students and supporters into the streets. Their demands included independence, rejection of a new Union Treaty, and military service for Ukrainians in Ukraine.

The violent crackdown in Vilnius in January 1991 further reinforced the sense that the Soviet republics faced a common struggle.

Closing events

The episode ends as the Soviet centre loses authority and Ukraine’s parliament prepares for a decisive session. Levko Lukianenko and Leontiy Sandulyak are assigned to draft a document declaring independence. The parliamentary confrontation over that Act is left for the next installment.

Presenters and contributors

Maria Burmaka, Oksana Zabuzhko, Vitaliy Portnikov, Lech Wałęsa, Bohumila Berdychowska, Adam Michnik, Yuriy Shcherbak, Ivan Zayets, Oleksandr Moroz, Oleksandr Bandurka, Volodymyr Filenko, and Yaroslav Kendzior.

Other figures discussed include Anna Walentynowicz, Dmytro Pavlychko, Ivan Drach, Leonid Kravchuk, Levko Lukianenko, and Leontiy Sandulyak.