Ukraine’s ‘cardboard revolution’: Civil liberties monitors note Dialogue Police outnumbered security forces at rallies

Most of the police officers deployed during a peaceful protest near Kyiv’s Ivan Franko National Academic Drama Theater were members of Ukraine’s Dialogue Police, with almost no other security forces on site, according to the Center for Civil Liberties’ OZON Public Monitoring Group.

Ivanna Malchevska, manager of the Kyiv Human Rights Hub and coordinator of OZON, shared the findings during a briefing at Media Center Ukraine.

“On the first day of the peaceful rally near the Franko Theater, on July 22, we counted 5,814 participants, with a margin of error of 500 people. For this number, nearly 6,000, there were 11 police officers, seven of them from the Dialogue Police. Only three were stationed near the Presidential Office to prevent provocations,” Malchevska said. “The next day, the crowd grew to 9,500 people, give or take a thousand, and for that number there were 17 police officers, with 10 from the Dialogue Police and seven equipped with special means.”

Rally organizers praised the Dialogue Police for their coordinated approach and understanding toward participants.

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