Ukraine Faces Daunting Future
February 24, 2014
Ukraine’s parliament issued an arrest warrant today for Viktor F. Yanukovych, Ukraine’s ousted president, who is believed to be in hiding somewhere in Crimea. He is charged with mass murder for the killing last week of more than 80 antigovernment protesters in Kiev, the capital. On February 21, Yanukovych and leaders of the antigovernment opposition reached a compromise agreement designed to end the political crisis that had turned Kiev into a battleground. However, the protesters in the streets would have none of it and demanded his immediate resignation. Abandoned by his political party, by the army and police, and even by his own body guards, Yanukovych fled Kiev late on February 22. According to one source, he flew by helicopter to eastern Ukraine, the Russian-speaking half of the country that was once his base of public support.
The Ukrainian parliament, moving quickly to assert control of the government, yesterday stripped Yanukovych of all power and granted its new parliamentary speaker, Oleksandr V. Turchynov, the authority to carry out the duties of the president. In a recorded address to the nation, Turchynov assured the public that all police and security services were now on the side of the new government. “The law enforcement structures are no longer threatening the life, health and security of the citizens of Ukraine,” he declared, noting that the army has also vowed its support. “Our first task today,” he stated, “is to stop confrontation, renew governance, management and legal order in the country.”
The parliament also restored to the state ownership of the presidential palace, which Yanukovych had privatized. The presidential compound was subsequently thrown open to the public, which streamed through the opulent, gilded rooms, gawking at the conspicuous display of wealth: the collections of expensive cars, antique and modern; a zoo; and a private restaurant in the shape of a floating pirate ship. In the face of such profligacy, the leaders of Yanukovych’s own party, the Party of Regions, issued a scathing statement denouncing him as a crook, a criminal, and a coward. Experts on Ukraine’s financial situation noted that the nation faces an economy in shambles, disastrous national debts, and a treasury and national pension system on the brink of bankruptcy.
Former President Viktor Yanukovych, who is wanted for mass murder, is believed to be in hiding somewhere in Crimea, the southernmost region of Ukraine. Border guards claim to have blocked Yanukovych from leaving the country by air sometime over the weekend. (World Book maps)
The unrest in Ukraine began in November when Yanukovych rejected a trade deal with the European Union in favor of closer ties with Russia. In December, Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to purchase $15 billion in Ukrainian government bonds. These moves to bind Ukraine to Russia infuriated Ukrainians who wanted the country allied to the West with its tradition of democracy and capitalism. Speaking this morning from the Olympic park in Sochi, Russia, Russian Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev condemned the movement that brought down Yanukovych: “Today, I see no legitimate Ukrainian partners for dialogue. . . If people crossing Kiev in black masks with Kalashnikov rifles are considered a government, it will be difficult for us to work with such a government.” The next multbillion dollar installment of Russian aid to Ukraine has been cancelled, and yesterday, the Russian ambassador to Kiev was recalled, because of “chaos” in the city, and the.
Foreign correspondents in Kiev reported this morning that calm seems to have settled over the city. Former protesters have joined city police–who only last week were shooting at them–to share responsibility for guarding government buildings and directing traffic.
Additional World Book articles:
- Kuchma, Leonid Danylovich
- Viktor Yushchenko
- Ukraine 2004 (a Back in Time article)
- Ukraine 2005 (a Back in Time article)
- Ukraine 2009 (a Back in Time article)
- Ukraine 2010 (a Back in Time article)
- Ukraine 2011 (a Back in Time article)
- Ukraine 2012 (a Back in Time article)
