|status=
|result=
Violent dispersal of protesters on various occasions
Violent reprisals against opposition activists, ruling politicians, and the
Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church
Implementation and subsequent cancellation of laws restricting civil liberties
Occupation of local governments
Banning of
Party of Regions by local governments under control of anti-government activists
President Yanukovych offers opposition the position of
Prime Minister of Ukraine
Resignation of Prime Minister
Mykola Azarov
Amnesty for government officials implicated in police crackdowns
Amnesty offered to detained protesters, in exchange for all surrendering occupied buildings and streets ("The Hostage Laws")
|side1=
Supporters of the European integration of Ukraine
Maidan People's Union
Student and civilian protestors
Liberals
Nationalists
Afghan War veterans
Two national churches: Orthodox (Kyivan) and Greek Catholic
Parliamentary opposition parties:
Batkivshchyna
UDAR
Svoboda
Other parties:
Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists
UNA–UNSO
Democratic Alliance
Others:
AutoMaidan
Vidsich
Road Control
Militant groups:
Right Sector
Spilna Sprava
|side2=
Government of Ukraine
Internal Troops (VV) and other special assignment units
*Road Auto Inspection (DAI)
Security Service of Ukraine
Government parties:
Party of Regions
Others:
Civil servants and pro-government civilian protestors }}|group=nb}}
Hired supporters
Political groups:
Ukrainian Front
Militant groups:
Titushky|group=nb}}
Civic Patrols (Government sanctioned vigilantes)
Red Sector
Anti-government but anti-protest
Communist Party. Nevertheless, in the current parliament its parliamentary faction usually votes similarly to the Party of Regions parliamentary faction.|group=nb}}
Russian Bloc
Groups from Russia
20px|border|Flag of the Don Cossacks Don Cossacks
'Night Wolves' bikers
|leadfigures1=Vitali KlitschkoYuriy LutsenkoPetro PoroshenkoOleksandr TurchynovOleh TyahnybokYulia TymoshenkoArseniy YatsenyukAndriy SadovyiRuslanaTetiana ChornovolAndriy Parubiy
|leadfigures2=Viktor YanukovychMykola AzarovSerhiy ArbuzovVitaliy ZakharchenkoOleksandr YefremovViktor MedvedchukAndriy KlyuyevHennadiy Kernes
|howmany1=Kiev:400,000–800,000 protesters5,000 "self-defense units"
Across Ukraine:50,000 (Lviv)20,000 (Cherkasy)10,000+ (Ternopil)other cities and towns
|howmany2=Law enforcement in Kiev:
4,000 Berkut
1,000 Internal Troops
3,000–4,000 ''titushky''
----
Pro-government/anti-EU demonstrations:20,000–60,000 (Kiev)40,000 (Kharkiv)15,000 (Donetsk)10,000 (Simferopol)
2,500 pro-Russia (Sevastopol)
|casualties1=
Died: 10–11
Injured: 1,850–1,900 (sought medical help as of 21 Jan. 2014)681 (hospitalized as of 30 Jan. 2014)
Arrested: 234
Imprisoned: 140
|casualties2=
Injured: 200-300 (sought medical help as of 21 Jan. 2014)52–75 policemen(hospitalized as of 2 Dec. 2013)
|fatalities=
|arrests=
|detentions=
|fined=
|casualties_label=
|notes=
}}
The
Euromaidan (, , literally "Eurosquare") It soon became popular in the international media. The name is composed of two parts: "Euro" is short for Europe and "maidan" refers to
Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square), the main square of Kiev, where the protests are centered.|group=nb}} is a wave of ongoing
demonstrations and
civil unrest in
Ukraine, which began on the night of 21 November 2013 with public protests demanding closer
European integration. The scope of the protests has since evolved, with many calls for the resignation of
President Viktor Yanukovych and his
government. Many protesters joined because of the
violent dispersal of protesters on 30 November and "a will to change life in Ukraine". By 25 January 2014, the protests had been fueled by the perception of widespread
government corruption, abuse of power, and violation of
human rights in Ukraine.
The demonstrations began on the night of 21 November 2013, when spontaneous protests erupted in the capital, Kiev, after the Ukrainian government suspended preparations for signing an Association Agreement and a Free Trade Agreement with the European Union, in favor of closer economic dependence on Russia. After a few days of demonstrations an increasing number of university students joined the protests.
Despite so far unmet demands to renew Ukraine-EU integration, the Euromaidan has been repeatedly characterized as an event of major political symbolism for the European Union itself, particularly as "the largest ever pro-European rally in history"
The protests are ongoing despite heavy police presence, regularly sub-freezing temperatures, and snow. Escalating violence from government forces in the early morning of 30 November caused the level of protests to rise, with 400,000–800,000 protesters demonstrating in Kiev on the weekends of 1 December and 8 December. In the weeks since, protest attendance has fluctuated from 50,000 to 200,000 during organized rallies. Violent riots took place December 1 and January 19 through 25 in response to police brutality and government repression. Since 23 January several Western Ukrainian Oblast (province) Governor buildings and regional councils have been occupied in a revolt by Euromaidan activists. In the Russophone cities of Zaporizhzhya, Sumy, and Dnipropetrovsk, protesters also tried to take over their local government building, but were met with considerable police brutality and force.
According to December 2013 polls (by three different pollsters) between 45% and more than 50% of Ukrainians supported Euromaidan, while between 42% and 50% opposed it. The biggest support for the protest can be found in Kiev (about 75%) and western Ukraine (more than 80%). In a poll taken on 7–8 December, 73% of protesters had committed to continue protesting in Kiev as long as needed until their demands are fulfilled. Polls also show that the nation is divided age-wise: while majority of young people are pro-EU, older generations (50 and above) more often prefer the Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia.
On 30 March 2012 the European Union (EU) and Ukraine initialed an Association Agreement; however, the EU leaders later stated that the agreement would not be ratified unless Ukraine addressed concerns over a "stark deterioration of democracy and the
rule of law", including the imprisonment of
Yulia Tymoshenko and
Yuriy Lutsenko in 2011 and 2012. In the months leading up to the protests
Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych urged the
parliament to adopt laws so that Ukraine would meet the EU's criteria. On 25 September 2013
Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine's parliament)
Volodymyr Rybak stated he was sure that his parliament would pass all the laws needed to fit the EU criteria for the Association Agreement since, except for the
Communist Party of Ukraine, "The Verkhovna Rada has united around these bills".
In mid-August 2013 Russia changed its customs regulations on imports from Ukraine. Ukrainian Industrial Policy Minister Mykhailo Korolenko stated on 18 December 2013 that because of this Ukraine's exports had dropped by $1.4 billion (or a 10% year-on-year decrease through the first 10 months of the year). The State Statistics Service of Ukraine reported in November 2013 that in comparison with the same months of 2012, industrial production in Ukraine in October 2013 had fallen by 4.9 percent, in September 2013 by 5.6 percent, and in August 2013 by 5.4 percent (and that the industrial production in Ukraine in 2012 total had fallen by 1.8 percent).
On 21 November 2013 a Ukrainian government decree suspended preparations for signing of the association agreement. The reason given was that the previous months Ukraine had experienced "a drop in industrial production and our relations with CIS countries". The government also assured "Ukraine will resume preparing the agreement when the drop in industrial production and our relations with CIS countries are compensated by the European market". According to Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov "the extremely harsh conditions" of an IMF loan (presented by the IMF on 20 November 2013), which included big budget cuts and a 40% increase in gas bills, had been the last argument in favor of the Ukrainian government's decision to suspend preparations for signing the Association Agreement. On 7 December 2013 the IMF clarified that it was not insisting on a single-stage increase in natural gas tariffs in Ukraine by 40%, but recommended that they be gradually raised to an economically justified level while compensating the poorest segments of the population for the losses from such an increase by strengthening targeted social assistance. The same day IMF Resident Representative in Ukraine Jerome Vacher stated that this particular IMF loan is worth US$4 billion and that it would be linked with "policy, which would remove disproportions and stimulated growth".
President Yanukovych attended the 28–29 November 2013 EU summit in Vilnius (where originally it was planned that the Association Agreement would be signed on 29 November 2013), but the Association Agreement was not signed. Both Yanukovych and high level EU officials signaled that they wanted to sign the Association Agreement at a later date.
Ukrainians have shown preference to extending economic ties with the EU. According to an August 2013 study by a
Donetsk company,
Research & Branding Group, 49% of Ukrainians supported signing the Association Agreement, while 31% opposed it and the rest had not decided yet. The strongest support (74%) was in the western
oblasts of Ukraine, following by the Central oblasts (57% supporters), while the support for the Agreement was weaker in the Southern oblasts (38% support vs 45% oppose) and Eastern oblasts (29% support vs 43% oppose). In a
GfK poll conducted October 2–15, 2013, 45% of respondents believed Ukraine should sign an Association Agreement with the EU, whereas only 14% favored joining the
Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia, and 15% preferred non-alignment. Another poll conducted in November by
IFAK Ukraine for
DW-Trend showed 58% of Ukrainians supporting the country's entry into the European Union. On the other hand a November 2013 poll by
Kyiv International Institute of Sociology showed 39% supporting the country's entry into the European Union and 37% supporting Ukraine's accession to the Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia.
The pro-European Union protests are Ukraine's largest since the
Orange Revolution of 2004, which saw Yanukovych forced to resign as prime minister over allegations of voting irregularities. Although comparing the 2013 events in the same
East-West vector as 2004, with Ukraine remaining "a key geopolitical prize in eastern Europe" for Russia and the EU, ''
The Moscow Times'' noted that Yanukovych's government was in a significantly stronger position following
his election in 2010. The ''
Financial Times'' said the 2013 protests were "largely spontaneous, sparked by social media, and have caught Ukraine's political opposition unprepared" compared to their well-organized predecessors. In an interview, opposition leader
Yuriy Lutsenko, when asked if the current opposition was weaker than it was in 2004, argued that the opposition was stronger because the stakes were higher, "I asked each [of the opposition leaders]: "Do you realize that this is not a protest? It is a revolution [...] we have two roads – we go to prison or we win."
Paul Robert Magocsi illustrated the effect of the Orange Revolution on Euromaidan, saying, "Was the Orange Revolution a genuine revolution? Yes it was. And we see the effects today. The revolution wasn't a revolution of the streets or a revolution of (political) elections; it was a revolution of the minds of people, in the sense that for the first time in a long time, Ukrainians and people living in territorial Ukraine saw the opportunity to protest and change their situation. This was a profound change in the character of the population of the former Soviet Union." Lviv-based historian Yaroslav Hrytsak also remarked on the generational shift, "This is a revolution of the generation that we call the contemporaries of Ukraine's independence (who were born around the time of 1991); it is more similar to the Occupy Wall Street protests or those in Istanbul demonstrations (of this year). It's a revolution of young people who are very educated, people who are active in social media, who are mobile and 90 percent of whom have university degrees, but who don't have futures." According to Hrytsak: "Young Ukrainians resemble young Italians, Czech, Poles, or Germans more than they resemble Ukrainians who are 50 and older. This generation has a stronger desire for European integration and fewer regional divides than their seniors". In a Kyiv International Institute of Sociology poll taken in September, joining the European Union was mostly supported by young Ukrainians (49.8% of those aged 18 to 29), higher than the national average of 43.2% support. A November 2013 poll by the same institute found the same result with 50.8% aged 18 to 29 wanting to join the European Union while 39.7% was the national average of support. An opinion poll by GfK conducted October 2–15 found that among respondents aged 16–29 with a position on integration, 73% favored signing an Association Agreement with the EU, while only 45% of those over the age of 45 favored Association. The lowest support for European integration was among people with incomplete secondary and higher education.
There is ongoing expert discussion on whether the Euromaidan movement constitutes a revolution, and many protest leaders (such as
Oleh Tyahnybok) already use this term frequently when addressing the public. Tyahnybok called in an official 2 December press release for police officers and members of the military to defect to 'the Ukrainian revolution'.
In a Skype interview with media analyst Andrij Holovatyj, Vitaly Portnikov, Council Member of the "Maidan" National Alliance and President and Editor-in-Chief of the Ukrainian television channel TVi, stated "EuroMaidan is a revolution and revolutions can drag on for years" and that "what is happening in Ukraine goes much deeper. It is changing the national fabric of Ukraine."
Select media outlets in the region have dubbed the evolution of the movement, ''Eurorevolution'' (). On 10 December President Viktor Yanukovych stated "Calls for a revolution pose a threat to national security". Former Georgian president Mikhail Saakashvili has described the movement as "the first geopolitical revolution of the 21st century."
Political expert Anders Åslund commented on this aspect: "Revolutionary times have their own logic that is very different from the logic of ordinary politics, as writers from Alexis de Tocqueville to Crane Brinton have taught. The first thing to understand about Ukraine today is that it has entered a revolutionary stage. Like it or not, we had better deal with the new environment rationally."
On 29 November, a formal resolution by protest organizers proposed the following:
#Form a coordinating committee to communicate with the European community.
#To state that the president, parliament and the Cabinet of Ministers aren't capable of carrying out a geopolitically strategic course of development for the state and calls on Yanukovych's resignation.
#Demand the cessation of political repressions against EuroMaidan activists, students, civic activists and opposition leaders.
The resolution stated that on 1 December, on the 22nd anniversary of Ukraine's independence referendum, that the group will gather at noon on Independence Square to announce their further course of action.
After the forced police dispersal of all protesters from Maidan Nezalezhnosti on the night of 30 November, the dismissal of Minister of Internal Affairs Vitaliy Zakharchenko became one of the protesters' main demands.
A petition to the U.S. White House demanding sanctions against Viktor Yanukovych and Ukrainian government ministers gathered over 100,000 signatures in four days.
Ukrainian students nationwide have also demanding the dismissal of Minister of Education Dmytro Tabachnyk.
On 5 December Batkivshchyna faction leader Arseniy Yatsenyuk stated, "Our three demands to the Verkhovna Rada and the president remained unchanged: the resignation of the government; the release of all political prisoners, first and foremost; [the release of former Ukrainian Prime Minister] Yulia Tymoshenko; and [the release of] nine individuals [who were illegally convicted after being present at a rally on Bankova Street on December 1]; the suspension of all criminal cases; and the arrest of all Berkut officers who were involved in the illegal beating up of children on Maidan Nezalezhnosti". The opposition also demanded that the government resumed negotiations with the IMF for a loan that they saw as key to helping Ukraine "through economic troubles that have made Yanukovych lean toward Russia".
| colspan=4 | |
| !City
|
!Peak Attendees
|
!Date
|
!Ref.
|
| Kiev |
400,000–800,000| | 1 Dec |
|
| Lviv |
50,000| | 1 Dec |
|
| Cherkasy |
20,000| | 23 Jan |
|
| Ternopil |
10,000+| | 8 Dec |
|
| Lutsk |
8,000| | 1 Dec |
|
| Dnipropetrovsk |
5,000–7,000| | 8 Dec |
|
| Ivano-Frankivsk |
5,000+| | 8 Dec |
|
| Sumy |
5,000+| | 25 Jan |
|
| Kharkiv |
5,000| | 1 Dec |
|
| Poltava |
5,000| | 24 Jan |
|
| Zaporizhia |
5,000| | 8 Dec |
|
| Chernivtsi |
4,000–5,000| | 1 Dec |
|
| Rivne |
3,000–5,000| | 2 Dec |
|
| Mukacheve |
3,000| | 24 Nov |
|
| Bila Tserkva |
2,000+| | 24 Jan |
|
| Sambir |
2,000+| | 1 Dec |
|
| Khmelnytskyi |
2,000| | 8 Dec |
|
| Vinnytsia |
2,000| | 8 Dec, 22 Jan |
|
| Zhytomyr |
2,000| | 23 Jan |
|
| Kirovohrad |
1,000| | 8 Dec, 24 Jan |
|
| Kryvyi Rih |
1,000| | 1 Dec |
|
| Luhansk |
1,000| | 8 Dec |
|
| Uzhhorod |
1,000| | 24 Jan |
|
| Odessa |
500–1,000| | 8 Dec |
|
| Drohobych |
500–800| | 25 Nov |
|
| Kherson |
600+| | 8 Dec |
|
| Simferopol |
500+| | 8 Dec/28 Jan |
|
| Mykolaiv |
500| | 24 Jan |
|
| Mariupol |
400| | 26 Jan |
|
| Donetsk |
300| | 1 Dec |
|
| Chernihiv |
150–200| | 22 Nov |
|
| Vasylkiv |
70| | 4 Dec |
|
A 24 November protest in Ivano-Frankivsk saw several thousand protestors gather at the regional administration building. No classes were held in the universities of western Ukrainian cities such as Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk and Uzhhorod. Protests also took place in other large Ukrainian cities: Kharkiv, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Luhansk, Lviv, and Uzhhorod. The rally in Lviv in support of the integration of Ukraine into the EU was initiated by the students of local universities. This rally saw 25–30 thousand protesters gather on Prospect Svobody (Freedom Avenue) in Lviv. The organizers planned to continue this rally 'till the 3rd Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, on 28–29 November 2013. A rally in Simferopol, which drew around 300, saw nationalists and Crimean Tatars unite to support European integration; the protesters sang both the Ukrainian national anthem and the anthem of the Ukrainian Sich Riflemen.
7 people were injured after 40 ''titushky'' (thugs) attacked a tent encampment in Dnipropetrovsk, which was ordered cleared by court order on 25 November. Officials estimated the number of attackers to be 10-15, and police did not intervene in the attacks. Similarly, police in Odessa ignored calls to stop the demolition of Euromaidan camps in the city by a group of 30, and instead removed all parties from the premises. 50 police officers and men in plain clothes also drove out a Euromaidan protest in Chernihiv the same day.
On 25 November, in Odessa, 120 police raided and destroyed a tent encampment made by protesters at 5:20 in the morning. The police detained three of the protesters, including the leader of the Odessa branch of Democratic Alliance, Alexei Chorny. All three were beaten in the police vehicle and then taken to the Portofrankovsk Police Station without their arrival being recorded. The move came after the District Administrative Court hours earlier issued a ban restricting citizens' right to peaceful assembly until New Year. The court ruling places a blanket ban on all demonstrations, the use of tents, sound equipment and vehicles until the end of the year.
On 26 November, a rally of 50 was held in Donetsk.
On 28 November, a rally was held in Yalta; university faculty who attended were pressured to resign by university officials.
On 29 November, Lviv protesters numbered some 20,000. Like in Kiev, they locked hands in a human chain, symbolically linking Ukraine to the European Union (organisers claimed that some 100 people even crossed the Ukrainian-Polish border to extend the chain to the European Union).
On 1 December, the largest rally outside of Kiev took place in Lviv by the statue of Taras Shevchenko, where over 50,000 protesters attended. Mayor Andriy Sadovy, council chairman Peter Kolody, and prominent public figures and politicians were in attendance. An estimated 300 rallied in the eastern city of Donetsk demanding that President Viktor Yanukovych and the government of Prime Minister Mykola Azarov resign. Meanwhile, in Kharkiv, thousands rallied with writer Serhiy Zhadan, during a speech, calling for revolution. The protest was peaceful. Protesters claimed at least 4,000 attended, with other sources saying 2,000. In Dnipropetrovsk, 1,000 gathered to protest the EU agreement suspension, show solidarity with those in Kiev, and demand the resignation of local and metropolitan officials. They later marched, shouting "Ukraine is Europe" and "Revolution". EuroMaidan protests were also held in Simferopol (where 150-200 attended), and Odessa.
On 2 December, in an act of solidarity, Lviv Oblast declared a general strike in order to mobilize support for protests in Kiev, which was followed by the formal order of a general strike by the cities of Ternopil and Ivano-Frankivsk.
In Dnipropetrovsk on 3 December, a group of 300 protested in favor of European integration and demanded the resignation of local authorities, heads of local police units, and the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).
On 7 December it was reported that police were prohibiting those from Ternopil and Ivano-Frankivsk from driving to Kiev.
Protests on 8 December saw record turnout in many Ukrainian cities, including several in eastern Ukraine. On the evening, the fall of the monument to Lenin in Kiev took place. The statue made out of stone was completely hacked to pieces by jubilant demonstrators.
On 9 December, a statue to Vladimir Lenin was destroyed in in the town of Kotovsk in Odessa Oblast. In Ternopil, Euromaidan organizers were prosecuted by authorities.
On 14 December, Euromaidan supporters in Kharkiv voiced their disapproval of authorities fencing off Freedom Square from the public by covering the metal fence in placards. They have since 5 December been the victims of theft and arson. A Euromaidan activist in Kharkiv was attacked by two men and stabbed twelve times. The assailants were unknown but activists told the Kharkiv-based civic organization Maidan that they believe the city’s mayor, Gennady Kernes, to be behind the attack.
On 22 December, 2,000 rallied in Dnipropetrovsk.
In late December, 500 marched in Donetsk. Due to the regime's hegemony in the city, '500 marchers to assemble in Donetsk is the equivalent of 50,000 in Lviv or 500,000 in Kiev.'
On 5 January, marches in support of Euromaidan were held in Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Odessa, and Kharkiv; the latter three drawing several hundred and Donetsk only 100.
On 11 January, 150 activists met in Kharkiv for a general forum on uniting the nation-wide Euromaidan efforts. A church were some were meeting was stormed by over a dozen thugs, and others attacked meetings in a book store; smashing windows and deploying tear gas to stop the Maidan meetings from taking place.
On 22 January in Donetsk, two simultaneous rallies were held - one pro-Euromaidan and one pro-government. The pro-government rally attracted 600 attendees to about 100 from the Euromaidan side. Police reports claimed 5,000 attended to support the government, to only 60 from Euromaidan. In addition, approximately 150 titushky appeared and encircled the Euromaidan protesters with megaphones and began a conflict, burning wreaths and Svoboda Party flags, and shouted "down with fascists!", but were separated by police. Meanwhile, Donetsk City Council pleaded with the government to take tougher measures against Euromaidan protesters in Kiev. Reports indicated a media blackout took place in Donetsk.
In Lviv on 22 January, amid the police shootings of protesters in the capital, military barracks were surrounded by protesters. Many of the protesters included mothers whose sons are serving in the military, and pleaded with them not to deploy to Kiev.
In Vinnytsia on 22 January thousands protesters blocked the main street of the city and the traffic. Also, they brought "democracy in coffin" to the city hall, as a present to Yanukovych.
23 January Odessa city council member and Euromaidan activist Oleksandr Ostapenko's car was bombed.
The Mayor of Sumy threw his support behind the Euromaidan movement on 24 January, laying blame for the civil disorder in Kiev on the Party of Regions and Communists.
On 28 January about 500 Crimean Tatars attended a rally in support of Euromaidan in Simferopol.
Since 23 January several
Western Ukrainian Oblast (province) Governor buildings and regional councils (RSA's) have been occupied by Euromaidan activists. Several RSA's of the occupied oblasts then decided to ban the activities and symbols of the
Communist Party of Ukraine and
Party of Regions in their oblast. In the cities
Zaporizhzhya,
Dnipropetrovsk and
Odessa protesters also tried to take over their local RSA.
Smaller protests or ''Euromaidans'' have been held internationally, primarily among the larger Ukrainian diaspora populations in North America and Europe. The largest took place on 8 December in
New York, with over 1,000 attending. Notably, in December 2013, Warsaw's
Palace of Culture and Science,
Buffalo Electric Vehicle Company Tower in
Buffalo,
Cira Centre in
Philadelphia, the
Tbilisi City Hall in
Georgia, and
Niagara Falls on the U.S./Canada border were illuminated in blue and yellow as a symbol of solidarity with Ukraine.
A pro-
government counter protest reportedly gathered 10,000 people on 25 November. The
Party of Regions allegedly paid
UAH₴100 to its supporters to participate in a three-hour rally, with supporters calling for "building Europe in Ukraine [...] but on terms and conditions favorable for Ukraine". According to the
Kyiv Post, demonstrators held
anti-EU and
homophobic banners. Party of Regions member of parliament Vladyslav Lukianov told the crowd "I'm sure that our movement to Europe will never change. We support this choice. Let the land shatter from our steps. Together we will win". The Kyiv Post again reported incentives were given to attend and described attendants in appearance "to be homeless; still more look drunk. The crowd consists mostly of men."
Euronews spoke of many being "bussed in from the
east of the country where
pro-Russian sentiment is strong. They, too, carried national flags as well as those of the ruling Party of Regions." Many in the crowd refused to talk to Euronews.
On 30 November, several thousand protesters had been brought into Kharkiv on buses to stage a rally to support the government on Freedom Square. Some 170 buses were reported on the scene, and the number of attendees was according to organizers allegedly over 70,000; news agencies reported the size of the crowd to be 40,000. The event lasted only 1 hour. Reports indicated attendees were paid UAH₴50 to attend, and reports indicated that many were public sector workers who did not attend on their own accord. The rally was both pro-administration and pro-European Integration.
A rally in support of President Yanukovych held by the Donetsk Regional State Administration and the Party of Regions was to be held in Donetsk on 2 December, but was cancelled due to failure to organize enough people.
On 3 December, 1,000 attended a rally in Kiev put on by the Party of Regions to support the president. The same day, it was reported by journalists of Espreso.tv that a Party of Regions organized rally in Kiev was paying UAH₴200 to participants via online job postings.
On 4 December, 15,000 rallied in in Donetsk in support of the president, many of whom were bussed in. The Party of Regions denied any allegations of forcing anyone to attend.
A rally and tent camp action in support of President Viktor Yanukovych and at initiative of the
Party of Regions began on 3 December in
Mariinsky park located close by the
Verkhovna Rada building (the parliament). The Party of Regions's press service reported on Sunday 6 December that over 15,000 people were taking part in a pro-government rally there. According to city police, there were some 3,000 people in the park the day before., and the press estimated them at 2,000. Police heavily guards this event from not only anti-government protesters, but also from any journalists and on-lookers.
According Segodnya, people attending the pro-government Marinsky Park event were hired or obliged to attend, and forced to stay for a pre-determined time. In one incident on 8 December, protesters were held at the rally against their will by armed security.
Speaking on condition of anonymity to the Kyiv Post, one demonstrator said that participants of the rally are paid UAH₴300 or more in order to earn money without going to work. She also recalled cases when they were not let outside the rally for the whole day, while inside the camp there was a build up of garbage and dirty toilets on the grounds. Mark MacKinnon, senior international correspondent for ''The Globe and Mail'', attempted to interview a demonstrator at the ongoing anti-Maidan, but although was refused the demonstrator indicated to him that she actually supported the Euromaidan protests.
In parliament on 13 December Svoboda leader Oleh Tyahnybok said people on the government payroll in medical, education and other sectors were being bullied into coming to a planned pro-government rally that weekend; Speaker of parliament and Party of Regions member Volodymyr Rybak responded, saying that it is wrong to pressure people and it has to stop.
On 23 December, the pro-government rally ended.
On December 14 it was announced by the Party of Regions that they intend to hold a rally on
European Square under the banner "Let's Save Ukraine". The move to create a second rally in the city by officials was condemned by former president
Leonid Kravchuk. According to party officials, 20,000 were expected to come from
Donetsk and 10,000 from
Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. Many others were expected to arrive from
Crimea,
Odessa Oblast, and a number of other regions. In the lead up to the rally, it was reported on 12 December that "thousands" of residents from
Dnipropetrovsk (mostly government employees, students of technical schools, and athletes) were traveling to Kiev to join in the pro-government rallies. Those interviewed said they were doing so reluctantly, and only for 2 days, at a rate of
UAH₴400-500 a day. It was also reported that state employees were coerced to join the group under threat of dismissal. On the day of the rally, UDAR MP Roman Chereha accused officials of bringing in children from shelters, promising them food and shelter. On 13 December, the Donetsk regional organization of the Party of Regions said that people wishing to go to Kiev will be provided with food rations and will be transported on a specially commissioned train, paid for by the party. In Odessa, several trains carrying roughly 3,000 departed the city carrying students and teachers to participate in the pro-government rally; students, some of the Odessa Law Academy, admitted they would receive school credit for attending, others would receive financial compensation. It was similarly reported in
Luhansk that over 1,000 had departed via rail, and those attending were largely coal miners from the region. Luhansk mayor
Sergei Kravchenko in an address stated that over 1,500 residents would support the government at the rally. Meanwhile in
Zaporizhia, it was reported that a train packed with 1,600 "athletic men and workers of state enterprises and companies" was departing to Kiev. Conductors said it was a private, rented train with tickets not available to the public. In a list released by journalist Tatiana Honchenko, a total of 27 trains, each with on average 20 cars had been rented by the Party of Regions for the weekend event to transport supporters from across Ukraine to Kiev.
Opposition leaders Arseniy Yatseniuk and Ihor Miroshnychenko issued a warning, citing inside information, that authorities were planning to use the large pro-government rally in order to start a civil conflict and justify issuing a state of emergency, which would require the use of Berkut riot police and military to clear European Square and Maidan. Yatsenyuk specifically warned against the use of hired thugs (titushky) who will infiltrate and start to wreak havoc in the pro-European encampment cloaked in either European Union or national colors. Opposition leader Yuriy Lutsenko, however, called for calm and assured that the pro-government rally will be attended by peaceful, state-paid employees and students. Oleksandr Yefremov, head of the Party of Regions parliamentary faction reiterated "This will be an exclusively peaceful demonstration, our people are always easy to get along with...we will also rely on the police to create a safe buffer between the two rallies." However, a statement by Party of Regions MP Vadym Kolesnichenko acknowledged the creation of vigilante groups being formed in the south-east of Ukraine and across Crimea to "protect public order and the Constitution", and that one such group in Sevastopol already had already amassed 800 recruits; adding that they would be involved in the events of the weekend. In an interview by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty with an attendee on the day of the event, the subject (who taught boxing) revealed that he and a group of others were offered UAH₴1,000 by organizers to instigate a fight with protesters on Maidan.
The Interior Ministry's press service told the Kyiv Post on 13 December that the pro-government rally received permission to have up to 200,000 in attendance. According to Zerkalo Nedeli, one of the nation's most influential newspapers, the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine and government ordered the Ministry of Defense to aid in the provision of security, logistics, deployment of field kitchens, and transportation of 200,000 civilians to hold a pro-government rally in Kiev on the weekend of 14–15 December. The Ministry of Internal Affairs is said to have been requested to aid in the security for those coming to Kiev from other regions of the country. The report was covered in the media by The Insider, UNIAN, andUkrayinska Pravda. The Minister of Defense later denied these rumors, citing Article 17 and Article 37 of the Ukrainian Constitution, which prohibits the participation of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in domestic political fights. Despite this, on 13 December tents were seen being set up on property owned by the Ministry of Defense, and in a separate report by Zerkalo Nedeli it was revealed that the Ministry of Defense had been conducting training exercises over the previous two days, including taking inventory of equipment (ex. field kitchens, vehicles) for support of the pro-governmental protests. Resources were also transferred to ''Ukpromakord'', the food supplier of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Further, on the day of the event witnesses reported and photographed 40 military field kitchens serving pro-government supporters in Mariinsky Park.
Prime Minister Mykola Azarov spoke at the rally and told attendants that Ukraine did not decline its goal of integrating to the EU "We're allegedly betray Ukraine and sign [the agreement on joining] the Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia. I strongly deny these speculations". He referred to statements that Ukrainian authorities where planning to join this Customs Union as "profiteering". Azarov also urged "Don't divide Ukraine, don't build barricades". Azarov also said the EU had insisted on 'unacceptable conditions' sign the AA, including the introduction of gay marriage and laws protecting sexual minorities. "The opposition leaders are telling fables when they say that we only have to sign the [association] agreement [with the EU] to start traveling to Europe visa-free the next day. Nothing of the sort. We have yet to comply with a whole set of preconditions: we have to legalize same-sex marriages, we have to adopt legislation on equality of sexual minorities, and so on. Is our society ready for this?" Azarov said.
At the event, Party of Regions MP Hryhoriy Smitiukh called attendees to appeal to Russian president Vladimir Putin to lower the price of gas in Ukraine, and engaged the crowd in a chant of "Putin! Putin!".
Organizers claimed over 100,000 attended; police estimated 60,000 attended, which was also estimated to be the maximum capacity of the square; eyewitnesses placed the attendance as low as 20,000. At 6:00 p.m. Party of Regions head Oleksandr Efremov announced the end of the meeting, a day earlier than planned. By the end of the rally, only 3,000 remained, and by the evening European Square was deserted.
The rally on 15 December ran from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and there were various reports that attendees were not paid in full for their time. “People came to express their will. We paid them Hr 300 per day. I did not promise any money to them, I am here with my voters,” said Artur Martovytskiy, a lawmaker from the Party of Regions.
Another rally by supporters of the Party of Regions began on 13 January 2014 and continued until the adoption of the state budget for 2014 on 17 January. According to the organizers people are attending the rally because they want "stability in the country" and believe that it is unacceptable to hinder the adoption of the state budget. Protesters are planning to spend the night in the tent city in
Mariinsky park. According to the organizers participants in the rally were collecting signatures that will be sent to the
Kiev city council with the request to free the center of Kiev of demonstrators, including
Khreshchatyk and
Maidan Nezalezhnosti. The organizers stated that the protesters were in favor of a peaceful solution to this issue and were against the violent dispersal of the pro-European rally.
Interfax-Ukraine reported on 13 January that about ten tents had been set up in the park and metal shields had been installed perpendicular to
Hrushevskoho Street, with law enforcement officers standing behind them.
Prime Minister Azarov criticized Euromaidan coverage in western media, and lack of attention to the 'antimaidan', "The Western media are paying attention to one square and do not pay for another," and said that the ''antimaidan'' represents all of Ukraine, whereas Euromaidan as a whole only represents Lviv, Ternopil, and Ivano-Frankivsk. He then stated that the majority of Ukraine supports the president, the government, and no longer has interest in European integration.
Another rally by supporters of the Party of Regions (planned to bring up to 10,000 attendees) in Mariinsky park began on 21 January 2014 against an alleged attempted "coup" by the Euromaidan protesters. It is planned to continue until the end of the 2014 Hrushevskoho Street riots.
The
Communist Party of Ukraine planned to gather 2,000 supporters to a 24 November 2013 rally against signing agreements with the European Union. Communists that did attend, set up tents near the
statue of Lenin in Kyiv, intending to protect it from vandalism.
On 25 November in Sevastopol the Russian Bloc and the Communist Party of Ukraine organized an "Anti-Maidan". The meeting was conducted in support of joining the Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia. Previous rallies by the Russian Bloc in the weeks prior included EU flag burning and anti-government, and anti-Ukrainian rhetoric,}}|group=nb}} On 26 November, another anti-Maidan protest was organized in Donetsk, attracting only 30 student protesters. Organizers stated that the European Union had ruined the economies of new members, and that joining would bring corruption and gay marriage. The protest was counter to the pro-EU EuroMaidan protest 200 meters away, which attracted no more than 50 protesters. The next day, a small anti-Maidan rally was held by the Russian Bloc and Communists in Mykolaiv. At a November 25 rally in Luhansk, protesters were met with resistance from a group of Don Cossacks, who were against EU membership and referred to pro-EU protesters as fascists.
A 1 December Communist rally in Donetsk gathered about 200 mostly elderly supporters who chanted: "The union of Ukraine, Russia and Belarus is inevitable". The following day, Communist Party of Ukraine MP Antonina Khromova made statements at the Donetsk regional council, approving the use of force to remove protesters in Kiev, which was met with applause. She continued by saying that Ukraine does not need ''European values'', namely, "same-sex marriage" and "African pan handlers".
The Sevastopol city council, on the initiative of the Russian Bloc, opted to appeal to the President and the Government of Ukraine to reorient foreign policy towards Russia and its Customs Union. The Russian Bloc has also demanded the resignation of Minister of Education Dmytro Tabachnyk, for not preventing students from taking part in the Euromaidan protests. On 8 December, the "Russian Community of Sevastopol" organization held a rally in support of Berkut anti-riot troops who made headlines for assaulting students and journalists in Kiev the week prior. Leader of the group, Tatiana Ermakova, expressed outrage at the fact that, according to her, protesters provoked and attacked Berkut troops. "No country in the world would allow such lawlessness which, the for the 17th day occurs on the Maidan," she said. The official statement from Russian Community specifically thanked the anti-riot troops for 'protecting us from the fascists', and called the Euromaidan demonstrators "Nazis" and "Banderites".
On 14 December the leaders of the Russian Bloc and Russian Unity met with the Consul General of Russia in Crimea, Vyacheslav Svitlychny, and declared the preparation of an ''anti-maidan'' to demand the secession of Crimea from Ukraine.
On 25 January, a pro-government antimaidan was held in Mykolayiv, with attendees largely descried as mostly young men, athletic, and appearing to be ''titushky''. The crowd of 400 spoke out against "fascism" and held signs promoting the unity of Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia.
On 26 January, an rally was held against the Maidan movement in Simferopol, with 200 attending. Protesters accused journalists of killing people in Kiev. 1,000 gathered in Donetsk, supported by local Regions supporters, communists, and neo-cossacks; there were some injuries in clashes.
On 1 February in Dnipropetrovsk, Communists held a rally in support of merging Ukraine with Russia and Belarus, and called for the imposition of curfews, closing of banks, and the expulsion of foreigners.
As of 1 February 2014, there are 6 identified persons who were killed while participating in protests, and 4-5 additional reported deaths which are still being investigated, bringing the total as high as 11.
The first of major casualties occurred on the Day of Unity of Ukraine, 21 January 2014. Four people permanently lost their vision, and one man died by falling from a colonnade. The circumstances of his death are unclear. At least five more people were confirmed dead during the clashes on 22 January, four people perished from gunshot wounds. Medics confirmed bullet wounds to be from firearms such as a Degtyaryov sniper rifle (7.62 mm) and possibly a Makarov handgun (9mm) in the deaths of Nihoyan and Zhyznevskyi. There are photos of Berkut utilizing shotguns (such as the RPC Fort), and reporters verified the presence of shotgun casings littering the ground. Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office confirmed two deaths from gunshot wounds in Kyiv protests."It was established that the weapons and cartridges that were used to commit these killings are hunting cartridges. Such is the conclusion of forensic experts. Most likely, it was a smoothbore firearm. I want to stress that the cartridges which used to commit the murder were not used by, and are not in use of, the police. They have no such cartridges," said first deputy chief of the Ukrainian Interior Ministry's Main Investigative Directorate. The MVS is pursuing has not ruled out that Berkut officers committed the killings.
On 31 January it was discovered that 26 unidentified, unclaimed bodies remained in the Kiev central morgue; 14 of which were from January alone. Journalists revealed that a mass burial is planned on 4 February 2014. The Kiev city administration followed on the announcement with its own statement informing that there are 14 such bodies; 5 from January.
A number of incidents of attacks of law enforcement agents on members of the media and medical personnel were reported. Some 40 journalists were injured during the staged assault at Bankova street on December 1, 2013. At least 42 more journalists were victims of police attacks at vulytsia Hrushevskoho on January 22, 2014. On January 22, 2014 Television News Service (TSN) reported that journalist start to take down their identifying uniform (vests and helmets) as their being targeted sometimes on purpose, sometimes accidentally.
On January 21, 26 journalists in total were injured, with at least two badly injured by police stun grenades; a further 2 were arrested by police.
On January 22 a correspondent of Reuters Vasiliy Fedosenko was intentionally shot in head by a marksman with rubber ammunition during clashes at vulytsia Hrushevskoho. Later, a journalist of Espresso TV Dmytro Dvoychenkov was kidnapped, beaten up and taken to unknown location, but later one of parliamentarians informed that he was finally released.
On January 31, 2014 was published a video for January 22, 2014 where policemen in the Berkut uniform are intentionally firing at medic who raised his hands.
On January 24 President Yanukovych ordered the release of all journalists from custody.
Some known impacts to date include the following:
According to an 4 to 9 December 2013 study by
Research & Branding Group 49% of all Ukrainians supported Euromaidan and 45% had the opposite opinion. It was mostly supported in West (84%) and
Central Ukraine (66%). A third (33%) of residents of South Ukraine and 13% of residents of Eastern Ukraine supported Euromaidan as well. The percentage of people who do not support the protesters was in
East Ukraine 81%, in
South Ukraine 60%, in
Central Ukraine 27% and in
Western Ukraine 11%. Polls have shown that two-thirds of
Kievans support the ongoing protests.
A poll conducted by the Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Fund and Razumkov Center, between 20 December and 24 December, showed more than 50% of Ukrainians supporting the Euromaidan protests, while 42% opposing it.
Another Research & Branding Group survey (conducted from 23 December to 27 December) showed that 50% of Ukrainians don't support Euromaidan, while 45% did support it. 43% of those polled thought that Euromaidan's consequences "sooner could be negative", while 31% of the respondents thought the opposite; 17% believed that Euromaidan would bring no negative consequences.
An Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation survey of protesters conducted 7 and 8 December 2013 found that 92% of those who came to Kiev from across Ukraine came on their own initiative, 6.3% was organized by a public movement, and 1.8% were organized by a party. 70% said they came to protest the police brutality of November 30, and 54% to protest in support of the European Union Association Agreement signing. Among their demands, 82% wanted detained protesters freed, 80% wanted the government to resign, and 75% want president Yanukovych to resign and for snap elections. The poll showed that 49.8% of the protesters are residents of Kiev and 50.2% came from across Ukraine. Thirty-eight percent of the protesters are aged between 15 and 29, 49% are aged between 30 and 54, and 13% are 55 or older. A total of 57.2% of the protesters are men.
In the eastern regions of Donetsk, Luhansk and Kharkiv, 29% of the population believe "In certain circumstances, an authoritarian regime may be preferable to a democratic one".
According to an 4 to 9 December 2013 study by
Research & Branding Group 46% of Ukrainians supported the integration of the country into EU, and 36% into the
Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia. Most support for EU integration could be found in West (81%) and in Central (56%) Ukraine; 30% of residents of South Ukraine and 18% of residents of Eastern Ukraine supported the integration with EU as well. Integration with the Customs Union was supported by 61% of East Ukraine and 54% of South Ukraine and also by 22% of Central and 7% of Western Ukraine.
According to a 7 to 17 of December 2013 poll by the Sociological group "RATING", 49.1% of respondents would vote for Ukraine's accession to the European Union in a referendum, and would 29.6% would vote against the motion. Meanwhile, 32.5% of respondents would vote for Ukraine's accession to the Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia, and 41.9% would vote against.
During the annual
World Economic Forum meeting at the end of January 2014 in
Davos (
Switzerland)
Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov received no invitations to the main events; according to the
Financial Times's
Gideon Rachman because the Ukrainian government was blamed for the violence of the
2014 Hrushevskoho Street riots.
Moody's Investors Service reported on 4 December 2013 "As a consequence of the severity of the protests, demand for
foreign currency is likely to rise" and noted that this was another blow to Ukraine's already poor
solvency. First deputy Prime Minister
Serhiy Arbuzov stated on 7 December Ukraine risked a
default if failed to raise $10 billion "I asked for a loan to support us, and Europe [the EU] agreed, but a mistake was made - we failed to put it on paper".
On 3 December Azarov had warned Ukraine might not be able to fulfill its natural gas contracts with Russia. And he blamed the deal on restoring gas supplies of 18 January 2009 for this.
On 5 December Prime Minister Mykola Azarov stated that "money to finance the payment of pensions, wages, social payments, support of the operation of the housing and utility sector and medical institutions do not appear due to unrest in the streets" and he added that authorities were doing everything possible to ensure the timely financing of them. Minister of Social Policy of Ukraine Natalia Korolevska stated on 2 January 2014 that these January 2014 payments would begin according to schedule.
On 11 December the second Azarov Government moved the date of social payments due to "the temporarily blocking of the government". The same day Reuters commented (when talking about Euromaidan) "The crisis has added to the financial hardship of a country on the brink of bankruptcy" and added that (at the time) investors thought it more likely than not that Ukraine would default over the next five years (since it then cost Ukraine over US$1 million a year to insure $10 million in state debt).
Fitch Ratings reported on 16 December that the (political) "standoff" had lead to "greater the risk that political uncertainty will raise demand for foreign currency, causing additional reserve losses and increasing the risk of disorderly currency movement". It also added "Interest rates rose sharply as the National Bank sought to tighten hryvnia liquidity".
First Deputy Finance Minister Anatoliy Miarkovsky stated on 17 December the Ukrainian government budget deficit in 2014 could amount to about 3% with a "plus or minus" deviation of 0.5%.
On 18 December, the day after an economical agreement with Russia was signed, Prime Minister Mykola Azarov stated "Nothing is threatening stability of the financial-economic situation in Ukraine now. Not a single economic factor". However, BBC News reported that the deal "will not fix Ukraine's deeper economic problems" in an article called ''Russian bailout masks Ukraine's economic mess''.
On 21 January 2014 the Kiev City State Administration claimed that protests in Kiev had so far caused the city more than 2 million U.S. dollars worth of damage. It intended to claim compensation for damage caused by all demonstrators, regardless of their political affiliation.
In Kiev, life continued "as normal" outside the "protest zone" (namely
Maidan Nezalezhnosti)
"Euromaidan" has been named as word of the year for 2013 by modern Ukrainian language and slang dictionary Myslovo, and the most popular neologism in Russia by web analytics company Public.ru.
On 29 January 2014 a number of agents from some formations of special assignment in the
Ministry of Internal Affairs submitted their resignation. At the same time six soldiers of the
SBU "Alpha" team from
Ivano-Frankivsk and another agent of the "Hryfon" formation officially submitted their resignation.
Ukraine without Kuchma
Orange Revolution
Tax Maidan
Rise up, Ukraine!
Domestic responses to the Euromaidan
International reactions to the Euromaidan
Euromaidan Overview
Babylon13 Euromaidan Documentaries
Defense of the peaceful Euromaidan from the Berkut forces
(Facebook)
3D panorama of the Euromaidan protests in Lviv, 02 December 2013
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