A Ukrainian revolution you probably never heard of
In 1990, students organized a hunger strike against Moscow's communism. Less than a year later, Ukraine proclaimed independence.
Thirty-three years ago today, the Ukrainian parliament declared Ukraine’s independence, making Ukraine the first country to break off from the Soviet Union.
Countless strands of history brought about this declaration, but one fateful episode – the Student Revolution on Granite – remains surprisingly undiscovered by many even inside Ukraine.
Revolution on Granite, which owes its name to the large granite stones on Kyiv’s Maidan square where the events took place, was a 16-day-long student hunger strike in October of 1990.
It was a meticulously organized operation, planned in complete secrecy by the leaders of the Kyiv-based Ukrainian Student Union and the Lviv-based Student’s Brotherhood. It took six months to figure out the strike’s goals, locations, and methods. The effort laid the groundwork not only for the country’s independence but also for future revolutions in 2004 and 2013.
Around 10 in the morning on Oct. 2, the first groups of students made their way to Kyiv’s Independence Square, the Maidan, which was then named after the October Revolution.
By evening, more than a hundred students set up tents, announced a hunger strike, and proclaimed their demands:
Rejection of Russia’s New Union Treaty
Snap parliamentary elections on a multi-party basis
Resignation of the Chairman of the Council of Ministers Vitaliy Masola
Return of conscripted Ukrainians to the territory of Ukraine
Nationalization of the Communist Party property
The New Union Treaty was Mikhail Gorbachev’s attempt to salvage the USSR by giving its republics more autonomy under a new name, the Commonwealth of Independent States. Students opposed this initiative, as well as the communist control of Ukraine’s parliament, Verkhovna Rada, where the Communist Party enjoyed a majority of the seats. The students also wanted the government to make sure that conscripted Ukrainian soldiers couldn’t be sent to fight Moscow’s foreign wars without their consent.
As the number of participants grew day by day, the protest formed an impressively disciplined encampment.
Every protestor was registered and had a special pass to access the encampment, which was fenced off with sticks and ropes. Not every student who took part in the protest joined the hunger strike, so the two groups wore black or white headbands to distinguish themselves. Students were divided into groups responsible for different tasks: some were providing medical care, some guarded the premises, and others distributed food and water. The camp’s life was regulated by a Coordination council, which ruled on key issues only if there was a quorum of 12 participants.
It was a truly remarkable show of unity and organization from men and women in their 20s.
The signs read “It is better to die than to live in the Soviet Union” and “We won’t eat, we won’t drink, until we live freely”.
On Oct 6, Ukraine’s nominal head of state Leonid Kravchuk came to negotiate with the students. No agreement was reached, but the meeting was televised live, which allowed Ukrainians to see that the protestors were regular students and not some extremist troublemakers. Around 50,000 Kyivans took to the streets in solidarity the next day.
Prominent Ukrainian artists, including writers Oles Honchar and Lina Kostenko, came to Maidan as well. Ukrainian actress Nila Kryukova, who was 47 at the time, even joined the hunger strike.
Nearly 160 students from 24 cities joined the hunger strike in Kyiv by Oct. 8.
The health of protestors began to deteriorate, but the parliament wasn’t budging, so the students turned to more radical measures.
The organizers called on the youth all around Ukraine to join mass protests and demanded an hour-long TV appearance to explain their demands to the nation, which the government granted.
On Oct. 15, students took control of the main building of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. Dozens of universities in other cities, high school students, and even factory workers joined the strike. Another encampment appeared on the steps of the parliament.
The government finally agreed to compromise on Oct. 17, when 314 lawmakers voted to partially grant the revolution’s demands: Masola was forced to resign, military service was restrained to Ukraine’s territory only, and Moscow’s union treaty was rejected.
The 16-day-long revolution was over; universities canceled classes to celebrate the win.
“Our political hunger strike lasted only two weeks, but these two weeks fundamentally changed the attitude of Ukrainians towards Ukraine. Before our eyes, in conversations and discussions on the ‘perimeter’ of the encampment, in sympathy and active support, a different Ukraine was being born,” wrote Ukrainian politician Viacheslav Kyrylenko, the revolution’s participant, on its anniversary in 2020.
The Student Revolution on Granite wasn’t everything that the students hoped it would be — Verkhovna Rada didn’t hold new elections until 1994. Ukrainian historian Vakhtang Kipiani, who took part in the strike, says the Revolution can’t even be called successful because free and fair parliamentary elections was the main demand of the students.
Nevertheless, the Revolution did something equally important: it showed that Ukrainian youth and civil society can successfully mobilize and that the government can respond positively. And, it brought the idea of Ukrainian independence to the forefront of many minds.
“In Russia, they never understood that Ukraine did not just ‘receive’ its independence, but that Ukraine fought for its independence,” Oles Doniy, one of the two masterminds of the revolution, wrote in 2020.
“The ‘Student Revolution on Granite’ in October 1990 was one of the acts of our struggle.”
P.S. Check this out: Ukrainian brand Etnodim, which makes Ukrainian national clothing with traditional embroidery, used the strike’s white headband concept to make an accessory collection dedicated to the Granite Revolution.
If you are looking for a vyshyvanka (Ukrainian national shirt), check out Etnodim, which delivers worldwide.
Cheers, and Glory to Ukraine
— Yours Ukrainian
Thank you so much for this history lesson. Many political changes begin with students but too many adults dismiss student activism, or when the movements grow, forget that it was students who began the push.
A fascinating and informative history. The Granite Revolution veterans, in their 20s in 1990, would have been in their mid-30s in 2004 (Orange Revolution), their early-50s in 2014 (Revolution of Dignity), and today in about their mid-60s. The fight for freedom is a living, multigenerational heritage in independent Ukraine. The people of all democracies can learn from it.
Reading this post, I recalled the hunger strike of the Irish republican prisoners in Northern Ireland in 1981. It received extensive media attention around the world. I would be interested to know if the Granite Revolution protestors were aware of this fairly recent history.