Ukraine marks 10th anniversary of Maidan Uprising
Looking back at the Revolution of Dignity
An anti-government protester waving a Ukrainian flag during clashes with police on Hrushevskyi Street near the Dynamo Stadium in Kyiv, 25 January 2014. Photo: Brendan Hoffman / Getty Images
Today marks the 10th anniversary of the beginning of Ukraine’s Maidan Uprising, the mass anti-government protest in the centre of Kyiv that continued for three months, eventually bringing down the government and causing Ukraine’s pro-Moscow president to flee to Russia.
The uprising began in response to then President Viktor Yanukovych’s sudden decision not to sign an association agreement with the EU, despite it having widespread support throughout the country. On 21 November 2013, journalist Mustafa Nayyem wrote a Facebook post saying: “Meet at 10:30pm under the Independence Monument. Wear warm clothes, bring tea, coffee, a good mood and friends.”
The protest camp that established itself that night was violently dispersed by the authorities nine days later, after which the protests turned against Yanukovych personally. Early December saw mass clashes in Kyiv between protesters and police, while in late January, hundreds were injured as the clashes worsened and the first deaths were reported. By late February, the government had lost its parliamentary majority and Yanukovych had fled to Russia in disgrace.
To mark the 10th anniversary, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the “historic pro-European uprising on the Maidan” had marked the country’s “first victory” against Russia, “a victory for involvement, for courage, for the Revolution of Dignity, for popular resistance, for civil society.”
“We began a new chapter in our struggle 10 years ago. Ukrainians launched their first counteroffensive 10 years ago, against lawlessness and an attempt to rob us of our European future,” Zelensky said.
