Following the clashes between protesters – who had been demonstrating against President Viktor Yanukovych’s decision to not sign an Association Agreement with the European Union – and police that resulted in hundreds of injured on November 30, 2013, Kyiv erupted with the biggest social unrest since the country regained its independence in 1991.
Initial crowd estimates ranged from 200,000 to 1 million in outrage over the police’s excessive use of force. In an action dubbed the “Euro-Maidan,” the protesters had taken control of several strategic sites in Kyiv, including Independence Square, the adjacent Trade Union Building and the Kyiv City Council.
The protest demands by then had grown beyond simply Euro-integration. The movement demanded a complete overhaul of a government system plagued by corruption and mismanagement, and change was to include the ouster of President Yanukovych and Prime Minister Mykola Azarov.
Instead of staying in Ukraine to address these protests, Mr. Yanukovych – who failed to sign an Association Agreement with the European Union at its summit in Vilnius on November 27-28 – flew to China on December 3 to negotiate more loans. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Azarov narrowly avoided Parliament’s dismissal of the Cabinet after the opposition was able to muster 186 out of the necessary 226 votes.
The failure to oust the Cabinet on the first vote delayed any such similar vote until February 2014. The failed move also increased public skepticism of the political will to work for change. By December 5, 2013, 64 charges had been filed by the government against Euro-Maidan participants.
Hundreds of thousands of protesters barricaded themselves on the Maidan (Independence Square) during the coldest months of the year and defended the square from government advances that peaked again on February 18-20, 2014, and resulted in more than 100 dead.
On February 22, 2014, Mr. Yanukovych and many of his Cabinet members fled the country to Russia, fearing reprisals. In their absence, an interim government was formed, led by acting President Oleksandr Turchynov and Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, and a presidential election was scheduled.
Source: “Hundred of thousands take to the streets of Kyiv, Protesters support Euro-integration, express outrage over police brutality,” by Zenon Zawada, December 8, 2013.