“We all were heroes at the Maidan”

Oleksii Honcharenko from Kyiv was not expecting that the picture portraying him as a participant of the Euromaidan would win the Grand Prix at Den’s Photo Contest. He learned about it from a TV broadcast.

“This image was shot by a good photographer who chose the right moment. My family’s response was a calm one. My wife, for example, did not even know that I was in such a trouble, despite me telling her every day that I was going to the Maidan. It was like a regular job for me, as I set out for it every morning,” 69-year-old Honcharenko admitted.

He worked as a builder and a driver in the past. However, even now, it is hard to see him as a retiree, as he has graduated from the massage therapy course and works part-time in the field.

He visited Den’s Photo Exhibition on October 19 to thank this paper’s photographer Mykola Tymchenko for creating a memorable picture.

“The photo shows the moment of a clash in Hrushevskoho Street. It was where we burned buses and armored personnel carriers, and they attacked us with water cannon. I spent three days in Hrushevskoho Street,” Honcharenko recalled, looking at the photo.

It depicts him with a stick “which we used to push forward the tires that were thrown into the fire. When the smoke went in their direction [towards riot police. – Ed.], they could not bear it anymore and began shooting and throwing grenades. A moment later, three grenades went out in my direction. A splinter from one hit me in the leg. It hurt me and burned my jeans. However, I had to run somewhere, because I could not stay in the hell that started there,” says the Euromaidan activist.

As soon as the riot police began to drive the protesters off Hrushevskoho Street, Honcharenko met a medical team near the National Parliamentary Library. They led him inside, to a field hospital where he got bandaged.

Honcharenko was at the Euromaidan since the first day. “I came there when they beat up the students, and was actually to the last day,” he said. “My first helmet, however, was different from this one, it was made in Germany. A lawyer approached me at the protest and said: ‘You are wearing 6 to 8 years of prison on your head.’ It was just as Viktor Yanukovych prohibited wearing masks and helmets. I then wore a horror mask, which I inscribed with “the Party of Regions.” Once Vitali Klitschko approached me at a people’s assembly and asked me to loan my helmet to him for a while. It took me five days to get it back then...”

Honcharenko has kept all the clothing and paraphernalia which he had on when photographed by Den’s cameraman. “I have not even washed the flag, it has remained the same it was at the Euromaidan. I got an offer to sell this helmet, but I refused. I have remade it, and recently wore it when protesting at the walls of the Verkhovna Rada building,” the activist added.

He never parted with his helmet, and it repeatedly saved him. “When there were clashes near the House of Officers, I wore a similar helmet but inscribed with the words ‘Constitution-2004.’ Remember the time when we demanded to get it reinstalled? So, I was hit hard on the head then, and the helmet saved me. We were then surrounded, with hired thugs throwing stones while police launched grenades. I thought I would not get out of there alive, but I was lucky,” Honcharenko told us.

He also recalled how the Euromaidan saw some Russians coming to the protesters, “in spite of what was already happening,” shook their hands and complained about the Kremlin’s anti-Ukrainian propaganda. The retiree stood once in the cordon “with other old men” and would not let young people to beat the riot police. “They asked us to move away, but I said, ‘Boys, go to Donetsk, they have a real fight there!’” Honcharenko said.

Welcome to Den’s Photo Exhibition at Kyiv’s Lavra Art Gallery until October 26  / Photo by Ruslan KANIUKA, The Day

“Although I am a Kyivite, many people thought for some reason during the Euromaidan that I had come from western Ukraine. It was a common belief that all the protesters were western Ukrainians... How do these stereotypes originate? The knowledge of history prevents them from taking root. My father-in-law also talked about stereotypes. As a Red Army serviceman, he was in western Ukraine in 1939. He was welcomed and well-fed there. He admitted that he was ashamed to see the local Ukrainians mistreated then,” Honcharenko said.

The activist is convinced that the Euromaidan was not in vain, but sadly adds: “those who say that nothing has changed are right as well.”

After the revolution, Honcharenko wanted to join the anti-terrorist operation! “I heard from someone that a recruitment bureau was active in Independence Square. However, I was 69 years old! Thus, they rejected me: ‘We would like to take you, but should you fall in the enemy hands, they will say that we are drafting old people even...’ But I am not too old – I am a master of sports in wrestling after all! I can raise the bar and play with weights... I wanted to join the ATO as a driver, but was rejected again,” he complained.

The helmet in which Honcharenko is depicted in the photo was painted by him with help of an artist. “He called himself Borys, it was a pseudonym because he feared arrest. He is a famous artist and designer. I wanted to get my helmet convey some message, and he helped me do this. However, the paraphernalia itself must show that its wearer came there not to show off, but to defend the rights of their people, their children, and grandchildren,” Honcharenko stated.

He also told Den that a lot of photographers had approached him and told him that the picture “was distributed around the world.” One of them even said that some French people wanted to contact me and write a book about me! I am not too excited about it. I am an ordinary retiree, and live now as I lived before my hour of fame,” he added, smiling.

When our conversation was coming to the end, I asked Honcharenko whether he was proud of getting a place in history? “I did what everyone was doing there – threw Molotov cocktails, carried tires... I do not feel like a hero. We all were heroes at the Maidan. I am happy to look at this picture now, but there were thousands of equally brave people there...” Honcharenko said.