It's so strange being far from Kyiv: so easy to miss something important.

So I keep reminding myself of the times last week when Gazeta.ru was reporting huge crowds at Maidan - but there were only a few dozen people left there.

No civil war in sight, really, no matter what they say. Inshaallah.

Today (yesterday), they were expecting up to 750,000 protesters (RUS) - did it really happen? And if it did, where are all these people now?

Here's what Maidan looks like just half an hour past midnight, Kyiv time (screenshot of Channel 1+1's webcam view):



All this reporting in the future tense is really annoying.

This guy, the deputy minister of internal affairs, Victor Suslov, for example: they've been quoting him all day long today (yesterday), all the paranoia (UKR) about extremists and possible confrontations. He probably does have some info that forces him to say things he does, but when you're listening from, say, Moscow, it's as if something terrible is already taking place in Kyiv, as if Kyiv is an extremely dangerous location right now - which is crap, of course.

Reporting the coalition's expectations - the number of protesters tomorrow and the day after, civil war, etc. - is, in general, so like reporting Yushchenko's (or any other politician's) promises. I'm all for freedom of speech, but sometimes I think journalists should be banned from writing about stuff that is yet to happen (or not).

And I, of course, have no way of knowing whether there'll be confrontations in the near future or not, whether Maidan will finally stay full and alive 24 hours a day beginning tomorrow (today), despite rain and cold - so I guess I should shut up as well, but the way things are going, I really feel it's realistic to believe everything will end peacefully, sooner or later. One of the signs was Yanukovych flying off to Donetsk to see a football game instead of addressing his supporters - it's unforgettable.