Denis Datsyuk/Maidan
© UnknownDenis Datsyuk and 2014 Maidan, Kiev, Ukraine
Denis Datsyuk, a native of the Vinnytsia region, then a student of Kiev Polytechnic.

On Maidan Datsyuk joined the 38th group of a hundred and stood almost to the end, but he is now grateful to his wife for pulling him off Maidan on the last day of the bloody events of February. "Thanks to her, I did not join the ranks of the heavenly hundred."

In his opinion, Maidan was too idealised, and it was a long way from what it really was. When asked why he went to Maidan six years ago, Datsyuk ironically said that he has "a tiny brain".
"What do we have as a result? Minus Crimea and minus Donbass. The growth of the right-wing movement and the general radicalisation of society. Thousands of young people with post-war traumatised psyche. The economy has collapsed, and domestic and foreign politics are not even politics. Even our masters started to chuckle at us, I mean the United States. In fact, they started this Maidan - for the sake of war with Russia. We have not met US expectations. We have a very low level of managers, we couldn't even ignite the war in Donbass the way they needed it. Our eastern neighbour is not responding as expected. This is not what our Western partners hoped for. That's why we're almost a played card. Moreover, given Trump's foreign policy, we're out of the frame now. He withdraws competent personnel, including from Ukraine. And we will be left only with our fools. I don't foresee anything good."
Maidan street beating
© UnknownScene from Maidan, Kiev, Ukraine, 2014
Six years ago Denis joined "Right Sector", where he quickly became disappointed.
"I don't want anything to do with criminals. There they are more than my subjective permissible norm," acknowledges Datsyuk. "At the bottom there are normal lads, and the top is an abomination under the protection of the SBU."
Concerning the news that Zelensky wants to meet him and his former Maidan comrades, Datsyuk reacted with a grin. He doesn't think much of Zelensky.
"This is not a competent manager. I don't expect anything good from him. Although I believe he has bright intentions and he wants the best. He could have a chance if he had any team and any understanding of how complex social supersystems are managed. But unfortunately, neither is yet visible. I feel sorry for him. He'll either give up or eat. I can only imagine what a big job it is to deal with everything, when you've never been in relation with state (local, regional) affairs. It's just a tremendous job. And I do not think that he can do it, especially in the environment of disinformation that, in my opinion, is created around him."
Datsyuk says that he did not think to go abroad, although he does not see prospects in Ukraine. He also doesn't want to go into politics, like many Maidanists.
"I don't think emigration is a good option. I have a good salary. I would like to work for the benefit of the Motherland, but unfortunately, here everything goes to hell and there are no such opportunities."