February 10, 2014 11:16 Pravda.com.ua
Translated by Olia Knight
Edited by Isis

“We are at the point of no return. Either the government destroys us or we will destroy it.  I have made my choice.”

– Yuriy’s words to his brother Serhiy Verbytsky

Yuriy Verbytsky was a scientist, seismologist, alpinist, and a pacifist. He came to Maidan during the night, when there weren’t many people on the square.

His friends knew him as a reserved and calm person. “Yura was always an opponent of any forceful action. He thought that people could freely stand on Maidan and voice their thoughts,” said Vasyl Prokopyshyn, a friend.

Yuriy worked as a lead engineer at the seismological department of the Carpathian region at the Institute of Geophysics – National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, and recently defended his thesis. He worked 16 hours a day, designed the earthquake data-processing programs, and developed a…