Yesterday a rebellious Ukrainian parliament called for the impeachment of its president, Viktor Yanukovych, who, earlier in the day, had defied all notions of revolution, calling it a coup.
Shortly after, Kiev fell in the hands of the protesters, and Yanukovych’s forces were nowhere to be seen.
Here’s an overview of the ongoing showdown in Ukraine from November 2013 onwards…
The protests started in reaction to president Victor Yanukovych’s decision not to sign a treaty with the EU, which meant the country was heading definitively back into the Russian sphere of influence (from wikipedia.org)Protesters in Maidan Square (henceforth dubbed EuroMaidan) set up a revolution Christmas tree (from wikipedia.org)
They banded up to fight the crackdown and withstood attack after attack from government forces (from wikipedia.org)
Pro-government protests known as Anti-Maidan were also held (from wikipedia.org)
The EuroMaidan protesters held out for months, refusing to back down and demanding a reversal of state policy and Viktor Yanukovych’s resignation (from wikipedia.org)
When the government started losing its grip on the situation, it sent in armed forces and snipers (pic by svaboda, via twitter)
There were many casualties, most of them civilians (from wikipedia.org)
The situation took a grave turn (pic from http://zyalt.livejournal.com, via twitter)
The protesters armed themselves up and started firing back with deadly intent (pic by Reuters, via twitter)
Kiev descended to chaos as the battle for the nation’s capital escalated (via Sky News)
The protesters prevailed. They took control of parliament, which had already voted for Viktor Yanukovych’s impeachment (from Vice)
Yulia Tymoshenko, icon of the Orange revolution, former prime minister, energy tycoon and political prisoner, was released from custody. She gave a speech to the protesters, urging them to stand their ground, because ‘their work was not over.’ (pic by Independent, via twitter)
The world is split over what is happening in Ukraine. Pro-EU forces are hailing the result, but so are nationalist and fascist movements, such as Golden Dawn. Russian people, on the other hand, are considering it an attack on their diaspora and their extended sphere of influence. (pic from Valencia, via twitter’s Toni Mejías)
The story is developing. With elections set for May 25th – and Yanukovych having taken shelter in the Russian-speaking part of the country to the east, refusing to resign – there’s some way to go before the situation is resolved.
