KIEV, Ukraine (AP) – In Ukraine, trashing a politician isn’t a metaphor. It’s literal: Find a suspected shady official, grab him and throw him into a dumpster.
Online videos of several public figures receiving the treatment from gangs of rowdy activists have provoked both glee and revulsion.
The fad is part of a broader coarsening of the political climate in Ukraine as anger simmers over the snail’s pace of reforms and persisting corruption since the overthrow in February of former President Viktor Yanukovych.
“People are seeing no real changes … people see no fairness,” said Maxim Latsyba, head of the social development program at the Ukrainian Center for Independent Political Research. “You look on social media and you will see all kinds of illustrations, photos and jokes about this. This means that people are supporting the trend.”
With parliamentary elections coming Oct. 26, the mood seems best suited to favor the chances of nationalist rabble-rousers.