Paramilitary units backing opposition add to the tension.

Chris Stephen in Kiev
1 December 2004
Irish Times
c) 2004, The Irish Times.

UKRAINE: As tension builds over Ukraine's disputed elections, opposition paramilitary units yesterday made their first appearance on the streets of the capital Kiev.

Outside parliament, a unit of 100 men, dressed in military uniforms but without weapons, deployed among demonstrators.

Hours earlier, a second unit, the Miner's Brigade, marched in military ranks through the snow-filled streets of the capital.

These men also had military-issue green winter coats, carried plywood shields and wore helmets in the orange colour of the opposition.

"We are miners from Donbas," one man told me as they marched past crowds of cheering student protesters.

"It is not true to say that all miners are with the government. We support the opposition; we support democracy."

A third group are nicknamed the White Hats because of the white woolly hats each man wears against the cold. They, like the others, say they are a mix of civilians, off-duty policemen and soldiers volunteering to defend democracy.

The White Hats are deployed in two close-packed ranks to prevent officials entering offices in the Council of Ministers, one of four government buildings that have been blockaded since late last week by the opposition.

"We don't want to start violence," one man told me. "We are here to prevent violence."

The White Hats are organised into three shifts, each one spending seven hours on picket duty and 14 hours off. They are housed in offices of the Kiev city council, which has declared in favour of the opposition.

All the members of these new groups were coy about saying just who they take their orders from, insisting that they are simply deployed to defend democracy.

Meanwhile, a fourth group, the American government-trained student group Pora, announced yesterday it would take unspecified "new measures" against the government unless opposition demands are met.

What these measures are, nobody is saying, nor do opposition officials seem sure exactly who commands these paramilitary units or what function they may have. For the moment, they are well received among the tens of thousands in what remain good-natured and boisterous street protests.

But their presence is a sign that the opposition is losing patience with a government that continues to refuse demands to agree to fresh presidential elections, and the potential for violence seems likely to grow.