Kharkiv pro-Russian protesters still wary of Kiev | Ukraine News

Kharkiv, Ukraine – There has long been a sense of separation in Ukraine, closer to Russia and more affinity with Europe.

In Kharkiv, this split worsened five years ago.

As Kiev celebrated the ousting of pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych in 2014, a large part of the population of Kharkiv – only 30 km from the Russian border – has felt threatened.

The pro-European protests that took place in Kiev's Independence Square in 2013 – known as the Maidan protests – were copied to the country's second largest city, but the crowds were not more than 300 people about.

On the other hand, a large pro-Russian protest camp took center stage in 2014 with exposed Russian flags.

"Many Kharkiv residents took it [the ouster of Yanukovich] as a blow because more than 60 percent of the population [of Kharkiv] traditionally supported its party of regions, "said Andrii Borodovka, journalist and resident of Kharkiv, who participated in the anti-Maidan protests in the city in 2014.

"When there was a change of government in Kiev, many people [in Kharkiv] seen as a threat. It was feared that restrictions would be introduced, the Russian language would be banned and fascism would begin, "he told Al Jazeera.

Pro-Russian feelings

In 2016, Borodovka, who had written critical articles about the Maidan protests, was arrested for violating the territorial unit of Ukraine. He was sentenced to three years in prison, two of which were suspended.

The pro-Russian sentiments that drove people like Borodovka to the streets also contributed to the annexation of the Crimean peninsula by Russia and the seizure of much of eastern Donetsk and Luhansk by separatists supported by Moscow in March 2014.

Ivanna Skyba-Yakubova, a Maidan supporter and co-founder of the Help Army volunteer group who provided material badistance to Ukrainian soldiers when the war broke out in the east, told Al Jazeera that Moscow also had a plan for the secession of Kharkiv.

"There was a plan to create four" People's Republics "in Donetsk, Luhansk, Odessa and Kharkiv, in two regions it worked and in the other two, it failed," she said. "In some places, security services have played a role in preventing this from happening, in others, civil activists [did] or the context was different. "

"Colossal level of distrust"

The worst scenario was avoided in Kharkiv, but the scar remained, according to Skyba-Yakubova.

Looking at Maidan's supporters and their detractors in Kharkiv, she said: "I felt that my city was kidnapped.There was a crack in the society." There was a level of mistrust colossal, "she said.

"Even well-dressed local women were kicking 17-year-olds, yelling at them and verbally abusing them, even three years later, I saw a woman on the subway and thought it could be -being you who kicked children. "

The differences that led to the split of society in many parts of Ukraine do not seem to have been addressed.

Many Ukrainians, especially those who live closer to the Russian border, believe that the Kiev government does not understand how the conflict with Moscow hurts his population, to strengthen ties with the European Union and NATO.

Elena Olenchenko, a retiree who took part in the anti-Maidan protests in 2014, told Al Jazeera: "I do not think our government has our best interests at heart, they cared about us, they would have listened and there was no war in Donbbad ".

Donbbad is the Ukrainian region which includes Donetsk and Luhansk.

Olenchenko considers that the current government of Ukraine is illegal, which leads him to consider not participating in the elections in the next presidential election.

"Pbading my vote would seem to support the illegitimate government.I think it's actually an illegitimate government because Yanukovych has not left his office appropriately."

On the other hand, Serhii Maliutin, 21, an internally displaced person who fled Yenakiieve, a Luhansk-controlled town in late 2014, plans to vote for the first vote of this candidate who will be lending attention to the needs of young people.

Work is rare

"The new generation needs the support of the new president, and today more and more students are going abroad to study and never come back," he told Al Jazeera.

Maliutin is a International Relations student at Karazin University of Kharkiv, where he stated that his degree did not guarantee a job.

"Students are not motivated to stay in Ukraine.When you graduate from a university, you have to find a job that is rare here.In addition, our education is built so that it is difficult to realize your potential.There is a lack of practical education and an abundance of theories that sometimes take ten years late. "

According to the US Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine, about five million Ukrainians, or about 25% of the economically active population of the country, work abroad.

But the main problem of the voters is the paralyzing corruption of the country.

President Petro Poroshenko and his post-Maidan government have not done enough to crack down on the system that allowed corruption to flourish.

The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) was created without the establishment of an anti-corruption court that would allow it to carry out its investigations.

Subsequently, money stolen from the state coffers during the Yanukovych government was not recovered. And the corrupt officials of his day have not yet been judged.

"No revolution is bringing healthy change very quickly, we did not think we would live well in the very first year," Skyba-Yakubova said.

"But there was a huge disappointment with the fact that the key things we were fighting for did not change – all those crazy markets between government and business, and criminal matters. [remain a norm]. "

The presidential election in Ukraine is scheduled for March 31 with a record number of candidates vying to become the sixth president of the war-torn country.

According to polls, Poroshenko is in third place behind opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko and the leader, comedian Volodymyr Zelensky.

Follow Tamila Varshalomidze from Al Jazeera on Twitter @ tamila87v