December 11, 2013

Riot police have abandoned their latest attempt to dislodge antigovernment demonstrators from their strongholds, including Independence Square in Kiev, the Ukrainian capital. Their withdrawal came only after battling with protesters for several hours. Wearing hard hats, the protesters had locked arms to form a human chain around the square to keep the police out. In the occupied city hall, demonstrators used fire hoses to shoot icy water at police to keep them at bay.

The antigovernment protests in Kiev began in late November with demonstrators blockading government buildings and erecting barricades on Independence Square in a campaign to bring down the government of President Viktor Yanukovych. The unrest was triggered by President Yanukovych’s refusal to sign sweeping political and free trade accords that would have moved Ukraine closer to the European Union (EU). Experts on the situation in Ukraine note that to most Ukrainians, the West represents freedom, democracy, and prosperity.

Ukrainians protest in Kiev's Independence Square in 2004. Their demonstrations led to the Orange Revolution, an important step toward democracy. However, subsequent governments have failed to live up to the promise of the revolution. (AP/Wide World)

Over the last two weeks, the protests have grown ever larger. Hundreds of thousands of people turned out on Sunday, December 8. At the height of that demonstration, protesters pulled down a giant statue of Lenin, underscoring their rage at Russia over Russian President Vladimir Putin’s role in convincing Yanukovych to back off from the EU agreements. International affairs experts suggest that Yanukovych fears that moving Ukraine closer to the EU could trigger painful reprisals from Russia, Ukraine’s largest trading partner. During a natural gas price dispute in 2009, Putin cut off the flow of natural gas to Ukraine, leaving the country without heat during a particularly cold January.

Yanukovych stoked the unrest even further last week by stopping on his way home from an official trip to Beijing to meet with Putin at the Russian resort city of Sochi. Putin is pressing Yanukovych to bring Ukraine into a customs union with Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan. Russia has dominated Ukraine on and off  for more than 200 years. Because of its fertile soil, Ukraine was once described as Russia’s breadbasket.

Additional World Book articles:

• Kuchma, Leonid Danylovich
• Viktor Yushchenko
• Ukraine 2004 (a Back in Time article)
• Ukraine 2005 (a Back in Time article)