Three years ago, on February 21, 2014, after three months of peaceful protest that turned into a bloody battle, the Revolution of Dignity forced former president of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych, and his entourage to abandon their Ukrainian government posts and flee the country, fearing inevitable criminal prosecution.
Within hours of Mr. Yanukovych stepping down, special forces and internal army soldiers abandoned their posts in Kyiv’s central streets and at the Presidential Administration by the busloads. More than 35 buses had departed by mid-afternoon on February 21, 2014.
Later that evening, the opposition leaders addressed the crowd from Independence Square, where Volodymyr Parasiuk, 26, spoke to the audience to support a peace deal. “We created a turning point. We gave the politicians a chance to become future ministers and presidents, but they don’t want to fulfill on condition: that the convict goes away. …I deeply plead with you: support this thing. I tell you from my brigade, which includes my father who came here: If you don’t demand by 10 a.m. that Yanukovych steps down, we are going on an armed assault, I promise you.”
Mr. Yanukovych at that point had no official protection any longer from the Maidan activists, and fearing for his own safety, he fled the country. On February 22, Parliament approved a resolution dismissing Mr. Yanukovych on the basis that he removed himself unconstitutionally from fulfilling his constitutional authority, which threatened the state’s governability, territorial integrity and sovereignty, as well as violated the rights and freedoms of its citizens.
Mr. Yanukovych and many of his cohorts continue to reside in Russia, where he and his cronies avoid extradition and criminal prosecution.
Source: “Ukraine on brink of economic collapse, pro-Russian forces call for secession, Yanukovych flees country, reported to be in Russia,” by Zenon Zawada, The Ukrainian Weekly, March 2, 2014.