The Revolution of Dignity ( uk, Революція гідності, translit=Revoliutsiia hidnosti) also known as the Maidan Revolution or the Ukrainian Revolution,Ukraine profile - Timeline

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took place in

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

in February 2014Everything you need to know about the Ukraine crisis
Vox (3 September 2014)
Ukraine's 2014 revolution to Trump's push for a Ukrainian probe of Biden: A timeline

ABC News ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...

(1 October 2019)
The February revolution

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Econo ...

(27 February 2014)
Ukraine: Everything you need to know about how we got here

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(3 February 2017) at the end of the

Euromaidan Euromaidan (; uk, Євромайдан, translit=Yevromaidan, lit=Euro Square, ), or the Maidan Uprising, was a wave of Political demonstration, demonstrations and civil unrest in Ukraine, which began on 21 November 2013 with large protes ...

protests, when deadly clashes between protesters and the security forces in the Ukrainian capital

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

culminated in the ousting of elected

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Viktor Yanukovych Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych ( uk, Віктор Федорович Янукович, ; ; born 9 July 1950) is a former politician who served as the fourth president of Ukraine from 2010 until he was removed from office in the Revolution of Di ...

, the overthrow of the

Ukrainian government The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine ( uk, Кабінет Міністрів України, translit=Kabinet Ministriv Ukrainy; shortened to CabMin), commonly referred to as the Government of Ukraine ( uk, Уряд України, ''Uriad Ukrai ...

, and the outbreak of the

Russo-Ukrainian War The Russo-Ukrainian War; uk, російсько-українська війна, rosiisko-ukrainska viina. has been ongoing between Russia (alongside Russian separatist forces in Donbas, Russian separatists in Ukraine) and Ukraine since Feb ...

. In November 2013, a wave of large-scale protests (known as Euromaidan) erupted in response to President Yanukovych's sudden decision not to sign a political association and free trade agreement with the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

(EU), instead choosing closer ties to

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

and the

Eurasian Economic Union The Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU or EEU)EAEU is the acronym used on thorganisation's website However, many media outlets use the acronym EEU. is an economic union of some post-Soviet states located in Eurasia. The Treaty on the Eurasian Econo ...

. In February of that year, the

Verkhovna Rada The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine ( uk, Верхо́вна Ра́да Украї́ни, translit=, Verkhovna Rada Ukrainy, translation=Supreme Council of Ukraine, Ukrainian abbreviation ''ВРУ''), often simply Verkhovna Rada or just Rada, is the ...

(Ukrainian parliament) had overwhelmingly approved finalizing the agreement with the EU. Russia had put pressure on Ukraine to reject it. These protests continued for months; their scope widened, with calls for the resignation of Yanukovych and the Azarov Government.Kiev protesters gather, EU and Putin joust

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was estab ...

(12 December 2013) Protesters opposed what they saw as widespread

government corruption Political corruption is the use of powers by government officials or their network contacts for illegitimate private gain. Forms of corruption vary, but can include bribery, lobbying, extortion, cronyism, nepotism, parochialism, patronage, inf ...

and

abuse of power Abuse is the improper usage or treatment of a thing, often to unfairly or improperly gain benefit. Abuse can come in many forms, such as: physical or verbal maltreatment, injury, assault, violation, rape, unjust practices, crimes, or other t ...

, the influence of

oligarchs Oligarch may refer to: Authority * Oligarch, a member of an oligarchy, a power structure where control resides in a small number of people * Oligarch (Kingdom of Hungary), late 13th–14th centuries * Business oligarch, wealthy and influential bu ...

police brutality Police brutality is the excessive and unwarranted use of force by law enforcement against an individual or a group. It is an extreme form of police misconduct and is a civil rights violation. Police brutality includes, but is not limited to, ...

, and violation of

human rights in Ukraine Human rights in Ukraine is a highly contested topic. Since 2017, Freedom House has given Ukraine ratings from 60 to 62 on its 100-point scale, and a "partly free" overall rating. Ratings on electoral processes have generally been good, but ther ...

.Yanukovych Offers Opposition Leaders Key Posts

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a United States government funded organization that broadcasts and reports news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Caucasus, and the Middle East where it says tha ...

(25 January 2014) Repressive anti-protest laws fuelled further anger. A large, barricaded

protest camp Protest camps are physical camps that are set up by activists, to either provide a base for protest, or to delay, obstruct or prevent the focus of their protest by physically blocking it with the camp. Protest camps may also have a symbolic or repr ...

occupied Independence Square in central Kyiv throughout the 'Maidan Uprising'. In January and February 2014, clashes in Kyiv between protesters and Berkut special riot police resulted in the deaths of 108 protesters and 13 police officers, and the wounding of many others. The first protesters were killed in fierce clashes with police on Hrushevskoho Street on 19–22 January. Following this, protesters occupied government buildings throughout the country. The deadliest clashes were on 18–20 February, which saw the most severe violence in Ukraine since it regained independence. Thousands of protesters advanced towards parliament, led by activists with shields and helmets, and were fired on by police snipers. On 21 February, an agreement between President Yanukovych and the leaders of the parliamentary opposition was signed that called for the formation of an interim unity government, constitutional reforms and early elections. The following day, police withdrew from central Kyiv, which came under effective control of the protesters. Yanukovych fled the city. That day, the Ukrainian parliament voted to remove Yanukovych from office by 328 to 0 (72.8% of the parliament's 450 members). Yanukovych alleged that this vote was illegal and possibly coerced, and asked Russia for help. Russia considered the overthrow of Yanukovych to be an illegal coup, and did not recognize the interim government. Immediately after, the

erupted, with a Russian military intervention, the annexation of Crimea by Russia, and the eruption of pro-Russian unrest throughout Ukraine, especially in the southern and eastern regions of the country. During the pro-Russian unrest, widespread protests, both for and against the revolution, occurred in eastern and southern Ukraine, where Yanukovych previously received strong support in the 2010 presidential election. “Pro-Maidan” and “

Anti-Maidan The anti-Maidan ( uk, Антимайда́н, Antymaidan; russian: Антимайдан, Antimaydan) refers to a number of pro-Russian demonstrations in Ukraine in 2013 and 2014 that were directed against Euromaidan and later the new Ukrainian ...

” rallies soon clashed with each other and escalated into violence such as the

2014 Odesa clashes The 2014 Odesa clashes were a series of conflicts between pro-Maidan and anti-Maidan demonstrators that broke out in the streets of Odesa as part of the rising unrest in Ukraine in the aftermath of the 2014 Ukrainian revolution. Violence inte ...

, with the violence at its worst in the Russian-speaking Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian separatists seized control of government buildings and proclaimed the creation of self-proclaimed breakaway states in

Donetsk Donetsk ( , ; uk, Донецьк, translit=Donets'k ; russian: Донецк ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin and Stalino (see also: Names of European cities in different languages (C–D), cities' alternat ...

and

Luhansk Luhansk (, ; uk, Луганськ, ), also known as Lugansk (, ; russian: Луганск, ), is a city in what is internationally recognised as Ukraine, although it is administered by Russia as capital of the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR). A ...

, sparking the Donbas War (forming part of the wider Russo-Ukrainian War). Eventually, by 2022, the Russo-Ukrainian War culminated with Russia initiating a full-scale

invasion An invasion is a Offensive (military), military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitics, geopolitical Legal entity, entity aggressively enter territory (country subdivision), territory owned by another such entity, gen ...

of Ukraine. The

interim government A provisional government, also called an interim government, an emergency government, or a transitional government, is an emergency governmental authority set up to manage a political transition generally in the cases of a newly formed state or f ...

, led by

Arseniy Yatsenyuk Arseniy Petrovych Yatsenyuk ( uk, Арсеній Петрович Яценюк ; born 22 May 1974) is a Ukrainian politician, economist and lawyer who served as Prime Minister of Ukraine twice – from 27 February 2014 to 27 November 2014 and f ...

, signed the EU association agreement and disbanded the Berkut.

Petro Poroshenko Petro Oleksiyovych Poroshenko ( uk, Петро́ Олексі́йович Пороше́нко, ; born 26 September 1965) is a Ukrainian businessman and politician who served as the fifth president of Ukraine from 2014 to 2019. Poroshenko ser ...

became president after a victory in the 2014 presidential elections (54.7% of the votes cast in the first round). The new government restored the 2004 amendments to the Ukrainian constitution that had been controversially repealed as unconstitutional in 2010, and initiated a removal of civil servants associated with the overthrown regime. There was also a widespread decommunization of the country.

Prelude

Successive Ukrainian governments in the 2000s sought a closer relationship with the

(EU). The government of

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

had been negotiating an association agreement with the European Union since 2012. Such comprehensive trade agreement with the EU would have impacted Ukraine's trade agreements with Russia, the latter being Ukraine's biggest trade partner at the time. Yanukovych believed that the complications could be addressed, and he said that he intended to enter the agreement, but continued to postpone. This was interpreted as an attempt to back out of signing this agreement, and led to a wave of protests which came to be known as the "

" movement. Euromaidan Kyiv 01-12-2013 35

Protests originally erupted in November 2013 after Yanukovych refused to sign the association agreement with the EU at a meeting of the

Eastern Partnership The Eastern Partnership (EaP) is a joint initiative of the European External Action Service of the European Union (EU) together with the EU, its member states, and six Eastern European partners governing the EU's relationship with the post-Sovi ...

Vilnius, Lithuania Vilnius ( , ; see also #Etymology and other names, other names) is the capital and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the munic ...

, choosing closer ties with Russia instead.

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Mykola Azarov Mykola Yanovych Azarov ( uk, Мико́ла Я́нович Аза́ров, ; né Pakhlo; Cyrillic: Пахло; born 17 December 1947) is a Ukrainian politician who was the Prime Minister of Ukraine from 11 March 2010 to 27 January 2014. He was t ...

had asked for €20 billion (US$27 billion) in loans and aid. The EU was willing to offer €610 million ($838 million) in loans, but Russia was willing to offer $15 billion, as well as cheaper gas prices. In addition, the EU demanded major changes to Ukraine's regulations and laws, but Russia did not stipulate regulatory or legal adjustment of such nature or scale. Russia also applied economic pressure on Ukraine and launched a propaganda campaign against the EU deal. Yanukovych was widely disliked in Ukraine's west but had some support in the east, where his native Russian is much more spoken, and in the south. The rallies were initially peaceful but became violent in January 2014 after parliament, dominated by Yanukovych's supporters, passed laws intended to repress the protests. The European Union and the United States urged Yanukovych to negotiate a peaceful end to the conflict and said they would impose sanctions on government officials if they were found responsible for violence. In the lead-up to the February revolution an amnesty agreement was made with protesters wherein they would be spared criminal charges in exchange for leaving occupied buildings. The demonstrators vacated all occupied Regional State Administration buildings, and activists in Kyiv left the Hrushevskoho Street standoff; Kyiv's City Hall was also released back to government control on 16 February. All those previously jailed for taking part in protests were scheduled to be released after 17 February. On 14 February, Yanukovych had said: "I want to say that I was incited, and I'm incited to use various methods and ways how to settle the situation, but I want to say I don't want to be at war. I don't want any decisions made using such a radical way." He called on all politicians to refrain from radicalism and to understand that "there is a line that shouldn't be crossed, and this line is law".

Overview

The protests that began on the night of 21 November 2013 with public protests in

Maidan Nezalezhnosti Maidan Nezalezhnosti ( uk, Майдан Незалежності , literally "Independence Square") is the central square of Kyiv, the capital city of Ukraine. One of the city's main squares, it is located on Khreshchatyk Street in the Shevchen ...

(Independence Square) in

were still ongoing by mid-February 2014. The protests were sparked by the Ukrainian government's decision to suspend the signing of an association agreement with the

(EU). A period of relative calm in the anti-government demonstrations in Kyiv ended abruptly on 18 February 2014, when protesters and police clashed. At least 82 people were killed over the next few days, including 13 policemen; more than 1,100 people were injured. On 18 February, some 20,000 Euromaidan protesters advanced on the

(Ukrainian parliament) in support of restoring the

Constitution of Ukraine The Constitution of Ukraine ( uk, Конституція України, translit=Konstytutsiia Ukrainy) is the fundamental law of Ukraine. The constitution was adopted and ratified at the 5th session of the ''Verkhovna Rada'', the parliament ...

to its 2004 form, which had been repealed by the Constitutional Court of Ukraine shortly after Yanukovych was elected president in 2010. The police blocked their path. The confrontation turned violent; the BBC, citing correspondents, reported that each side blamed the other. The police fired guns with both

rubber bullet Rubber bullets (also called rubber baton rounds) are a type of baton round. Despite the name, rubber bullets typically have either a metal core with a rubber coating, or are a homogeneous admixture with rubber being a minority component. Alth ...

s and, later,

live ammunition Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other weapo ...

(including automatic weapons and sniper rifles), while also using

tear gas Tear gas, also known as a lachrymator agent or lachrymator (), sometimes colloquially known as "mace" after the early commercial aerosol, is a chemical weapon that stimulates the nerves of the lacrimal gland in the eye to produce tears. In ...

and flash grenades in an attempt to repel thousands of demonstrators. The protesters fought with crude weapons (such as large rocks and bats), firearms, and improvised explosives (

Molotov cocktail A Molotov cocktail (among several other names – ''see other names'') is a hand thrown incendiary weapon constructed from a frangible container filled with flammable substances equipped with a fuse (typically a glass bottle filled with flamma ...

s), and broke into the headquarters of the

Party of Regions The Party of Regions ( uk, Партія регіонів, Partiia rehioniv, ; russian: Партия регионов, Partiya regionov) was a pro-Russian political party in Ukraine formed in late 1997 that then grew to be the biggest party of U ...

. Police officers stormed the main protest camp on

and overran parts of the square. The Trade Unions Building, which served as the Euromaidan headquarters, was burned down. Political commentators suggested that Ukraine was on the brink of a civil war. Some areas, including

Lviv Oblast Lviv Oblast ( uk, Льві́вська о́бласть, translit=Lvivska oblast, ), also referred to as Lvivshchyna ( uk, Льві́вщина, ), ). The name of each oblast is a wikt:Appendix:Glossary#relational, relational adjective—in Englis ...

, declared themselves politically independent of the central government. Euromaidan RSA occupations

Starting on 18 February Euromaidan activists occupied regional state administration (RSA) buildings in several

oblasts An oblast (; ; Cyrillic (in most languages, including Russian and Ukrainian): , Bulgarian: ) is a type of administrative division of Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Ukraine, as well as the Soviet Union and the Kingdom o ...

(regions). On 19 February, the authorities instituted police checkpoints, restrictions on public transportation, and school closures in Kyiv, which the media referred to as a ''

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...

state of emergency A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to be able to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state du ...

. On 20 February, Internal Affairs Minister

Vitaliy Zakharchenko Vitaliy Yuriyovych Zakharchenko ( uk, Віталій Юрійович Захарченко, Russian: Виталий Юрьевич Захарченко, born 20 January 1963) is a Ukrainian and Russian politician who is a senior consultant at Ru ...

announced that he had signed a decree authorising the use of live ammunition against protesters.Zakharchenko officially allowed firearms to the security forces
TSN(20 February 2014) Central Kyiv saw the worst violence yet, and the death toll in 48 hours of clashes rose to at least 77.Ukraine protests timeline
BBC, 23 February 2014 In response, the chairman of the Ukrainian parliament (equivalent to the office of

speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

in other countries' parliaments), Volodymyr Rybak, announced the next day that he had signed a parliamentary decree condemning the use of force and urging all institutions (the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Cabinet of Ministers, etc.) to cease immediately all military actions against protesters. Parliament also suspended Zakharchenko from his duties. On 21 February, President Yanukovych signed a compromise deal with opposition leaders. It promised constitutional changes to restore certain powers to parliament and called for early elections to be held by December. Despite the agreement, thousands continued to protest in central Kyiv, and the demonstrators took full control of the city's government district: the parliament building, the president's administration quarters, the cabinet, and the Interior Ministry. On 21 February, a bill to remove Yanukovych was introduced in parliament. On the same day, Yanukovych left for

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' (3 January 2015) On 22 February, the protesters were reported to be in control of Kyiv, and Yanukovych was said to have fled the capital for eastern Ukraine. The parliament voted 328–0 in favour of removing Yanukovych from office and scheduled new

presidential elections A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The pr ...

for 25 May. Parliament named its

chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

Oleksandr Turchynov Oleksandr Valentynovych Turchynov ( uk, Олександр Валентинович Турчинов; born 31 March 1964) is a Ukrainian politician, screenwriter, Baptist minister and economist. He is the former Secretary of the National S ...

, as interim president on 23 February. A warrant for the arrest of Yanukovych was issued by the new government on 24 February. Over the next few days,

Russian nationalist Russian nationalism is a form of nationalism that promotes Russian cultural identity and unity. Russian nationalism first rose to prominence in the early 19th century, and from its origin in the Russian Empire, to its repression during early ...

politicians and activists organised rallies in Crimea and urged Russia to help defend the region from advancing "fascists" from the rest of Ukraine.

Detailed timeline

18 February 2014

On 18 February at 16:00, the

Kyiv Metro The Kyiv Metro ( uk, Ки́ївський метрополіте́н, Kyivskyi metropoliten, ) is a rapid transit system in Kyiv that is owned by the Kyiv City Council and operated by the city-owned company Kyivsky Metropoliten''.'' It was initi ...

stopped all service because of a terrorist threat.

Initial clashes (Mariinskyi and Lypky)

The night before the clashes,

Right Sector Right Sector ( uk, Пра́вий се́ктор, ''Pravyi sektor'') is a right-wing to far-right, Ukrainian nationalist organization. It originated in November 2013 as a right-wing, paramilitary confederation of several radical nationalist orga ...

called on all of its members to ready themselves for a "peace offensive" on 18 February. The

Maidan People's Union The Maidan People's Union ( uk, Народне об'єднання "Майдан", translit=Narodne obiednannya "Maidan") is an alliance in Ukraine formed by several political parties and non-partisan individuals and public organizations on the fif ...

also urged all concerned citizens to take part in the "peace offensive", which student unions had agreed to join as well. The Maidan Union reported on the morning of 18 February that columns of protesters would begin a march on parliament at 08:30. That morning, around 20,000 demonstrators marched on the parliament building as that body was set to consider opposition demands for a new constitution and government. Around 09:45, the demonstrators broke through the police barricade of several personnel-transport trucks near the building of the Central Officers' Club of Ukraine and pushed the cordon of police aside. The clashes started after some two dozen demonstrators moved a police vehicle blocking their path to parliament. At 10:00, a member of parliament representing Batkivshchyna,

Lesya Orobets Lesya Yuriyivna Orobets ( uk, Ле́ся Ю́ріївна Оробе́ць, born May 3, 1982) is a Ukrainian politician and a Member of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (Parliament of Ukraine) since 2007 (elected as member of Our Ukraine - People's ...

, reported that police armed with Fort-500T shotguns had begun to attack with flash and

stun grenade A stun grenade, also known as a flash grenade, flashbang, thunderflash, or sound bomb, is a less-lethal explosive device used to temporarily disorient an enemy's senses. Upon detonation, they produce a blinding flash of light and an extremely lo ...

s from Shovkovychna Street and Lypska Street. As the column neared the parliament building at 10:08, it met resistance from another cordon of police officers. There were reports that the number of protesters had swelled to 50,000. At 10:18, according to other reports, explosions and smoke were seen on Instytutska Street as people started to tear up roadway paving blocks. Protesters started to throw the pavement blocks at the police, while officers defending themselves with shields tried to subdue the crowd with stun grenades. Protesters who had barricaded themselves near the Dynamo Stadium colonnade began setting fire to tires. At about 10:30, parliament was set to vote on whether to restore the 2004 constitution. However, it did not happen as Chairman Rybak did not register the bill. At 10:33, the street fights between protesters and the police shifted to Shovkovychna Street. Protesters started to wave ₴200 banknotes in the face of some of Yanukovych's police forces—saying that they were mercenaries—in

Mariinskyi Park Mariinskyi Park ( uk, Маріїнський парк, ''Mariyins'kyi park'') is a park located in Pechersk neighborhood in front of the Supreme Council of Ukraine ( Constitution Square), Hrushevsky Street, and Park Road. The park is also a S ...

. An activist, Oleksandr Aronets, reported that snipers were targeting civilians. By 11:00, protesters had sustained serious wounds.

s were thrown by the protesters, and on Shovkovnycha Street, a barricade of dump trucks was set on fire.

Raid on Party of Regions office and police retaliation

At 11:23, the Berkut special police forces tried to launch an assault on the crowd, but the protesters attacked back. Two minutes later, the first report came that protesters were breaking down the doors of the

headquarters on Lypska Street. At 11:30, protesters—including the journalist Tetyana Chornovol—sacked and set fire to the building. Two persons died as a result, including a programmer who worked at the headquarters. At 12:12, Minister of Healthcare Raisa Bohatyriova was attacked by protesters as she left

, but she escaped unharmed. By 12:30, the police had regained control of the

office. By 13:00, thousands of police officers had encircled the government district and begun chasing down protesters. One protester with a head wound told the ''Kyiv Post'' that charging police officers had "smashed everybody" in their path. Barricade line separating interior troops and protesters

Barricade line separating interior troops and protesters

Around 13:30, four officers on Instytutska Street were stationed atop a building, lobbing stun grenades at the crowd and shooting, when protesters stormed the building and set part of it on fire. The protesters forced their way to the roof, forcing the police to retreat. The building on Instytutska Street was described as the scene of the day's most violent clashes. Berkut and Internal Troops servicemen opened a full-scale assault, firing directly into the crowd. There were reports of police using

water cannon A water cannon is a device that shoots a high-velocity stream of water. Typically, a water cannon can deliver a large volume of water, often over dozens of meters. They are used in firefighting, large vehicle washing, riot control, and mining ...

s to break through. Maked protester seen during clashes in Kyiv, Ukraine

By mid-afternoon, police officers using tear gas drove as many as 10,000 protesters from Mariinskyi Park, where barricades had been built earlier in the day. Demonstrators threw stun grenades, filling the park with smoke. Other anti-government activists tried to keep the pro-government and anti-government forces apart. Multiple news outlets published photographs showing the police armed with AK-74 assault rifles. Former Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs

Hennadiy Moskal Hennadiy Hennadiyovych Moskal ( uk, Геннадій Геннадійович Москаль; born 11 December 1950) is a Ukrainian politician and the former governor of Zakarpattia Oblast, serving from 2015 to 2019.

speculated that they were Alpha Group units. A Berkut leader, Vladimir Krashevsky, said the armed police officers in black with yellow armbands were part of a Berkut unit that had been deployed to help evacuate the interior troops. Protesters re-occupied City Hall. And according to the Russian state-owned newspaper ''

Izvestia ''Izvestia'' ( rus, Известия, p=ɪzˈvʲesʲtʲɪjə, "The News") is a daily broadsheet newspaper in Russia. Founded in 1917, it was a newspaper of record in the Soviet Union until the Soviet Union's dissolution in 1991, and describes ...

'', opposition activists armed with bats and iron rods beat a computer engineer, Valery Konstantinovich Zakharov, to death in the raid on the Party of Regions office.

Advance toward Maidan

Clashes between radically oriented protesters and internal troops

At 15:45, hundreds of riot police officers advanced toward parliament, attacking protesters. An officer grabbed the

gas mask A gas mask is a mask used to protect the wearer from inhaling airborne pollutants and toxic gases. The mask forms a sealed cover over the nose and mouth, but may also cover the eyes and other vulnerable soft tissues of the face. Most gas mask ...

of a ''Kyiv Post'' journalist on Instytutska Street and said of the police advance: "I love it! We love it!" At 16:00, the acting chief of the Security Service of Ukraine, Oleksandr Yakymenko, and acting Interior Minister Zakharchenko issued a public warning to protesters to clear the streets within two hours, saying, "If by 18:00 the lawlessness doesn't cease, we shall be forced to use all legal means to bring order." At the October Palace, visible from Independence Square, riot police threw bricks down the hill at protesters from a bridge along Instytutska Street.

Breach of Hrushevskoho Street Barricade

Throughout the day of 18 February 2014, protesters lit tires, threw and launched Molotov cocktails, bars of steel and other projectiles at lines of Berkut police. At 17:04, armed Berkut untied the wire at the Mykhaila Hrushevskoho Street barricade gate near Dynamo Stadium and penetrated with some surprise. EuroMaidan protesters were watching a drone hovering from the opposite direction, with their backs turned to the police. Hundreds of Berkut began throwing grenades, two of which injured U.S. photographer Mark Estabrook and countless others while discharging their pistols and shotguns. Euromaidan protesters and civilians began a mass retreat toward the next gate in a barricade on Khreschatyk Street. There were many injuries and several deaths. At 20:00, Pro-Russian sources had reported that 50 unknown or presumably Pro-Russian assailants were trying to break into the Canadian embassy. On the same day, a

Global Affairs Canada Global Affairs Canada (GAC; french: Affaires mondiales Canada; AMC)''Global Affairs Canada'' is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (). is the department ...

spokesperson acknowledged that protesters had taken "shelter" and were "peaceful and have not caused any damage or harm to staff." In 2015, it was revealed that the embassy had deliberately opened its gates after spotting a Canadian passport-wielding EuroMaidan protester being chased by Berkut. Upon entry of the unknown passport-wielding EuroMaidan protester, a deluge of EuroMaidan protesters stormed the embassy and occupied the main lobby, using the embassy as a safe haven from Berkut. The embassy was used to treat the wounded during the evening of 18 February. EuroMaidan protesters later left the embassy voluntarily, leaving flowers. Unnamed European allies later asserted, that given the prolonged occupation and lack of resistance by Canadian foreign service officers, Canada played an intentional and deliberate role in enabling EuroMaidan protesters. Contemporary media sources argue that Prime Minister

Stephen Harper Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. Harper is the first and only prime minister to come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ...

never acknowledged the true extent of the security breach.

Attack on Maidan

Following the warning, the police advanced on thousands of protesters on

(Independence Square) with guns, a water cannon, and an armored personnel carrier. Tents housing protesters were burning on the main square. The police justified their actions as part of an anti-terror campaign against "individuals who had clearly armed themselves".Ukraine: ‘Protesters to be punished’ as police come under attack
,

Euronews Euronews (styled on-air in lowercase as euronews) is a European television news network, headquartered in Lyon, France. The network began broadcasting on 1 January 1993 and covers world news from a European perspective. The majority of Eurone ...

(19 February 2014) Opposition leader

called on the police to retreat 200 meters up Instytutska Street and urged both sides to call a truce until morning. Protesters on the square stacked tires and other burning debris to create a wall of fire between themselves and security forces. The TV channel 5 Kanal's broadcast was shut down countrywide but remained available via satellite (with a brief interruption) and a live feed on YouTube. It resumed service some hours later. Euromaidan in Kiev 2014-02-19 10-22

At approximately 22:00, it was reported that the police had broken through the protesters' barricades on the eastern side of the square. Officers then tried to retake the occupied Trade Unions building but failed. Presidential adviser

Hanna Herman Hanna Mykolaivna Herman ( uk, Га́нна Микола́ївна Ге́рман) (born 24 April 1959; Lviv region,

said that negotiations between the government and the opposition would only happen once peace was restored and the crowds retreated, and that "calling further for armed conflict is a great crime against the Ukrainian people and the Ukrainian state."

General Prosecutor of Ukraine The prosecutor general of Ukraine (also procurator general of Ukraine, uk, Генеральний прокурор України) heads the system of official prosecution in courts known as the Office of the Prosecutor General ( uk, Офіс ...

Viktor Pshonka Viktor Pavlovych Pshonka ( uk, Віктор Павлович Пшонка, Russian: Виктор Павлович Пшонка, born 6 February 1954, Serhiyivtsi, Sloviansk Raion, Donetsk Oblast, Ukrainian SSR, USSR) is a former Prosecutor Gene ...

said: "Organisers of mass protests will be held accountable. We will demand the heaviest punishment both for those who revved people up to take part in today's action and for those who organised and controlled them." At 01:35 the next morning, street lights were switched off around the square. The activists believed that this heralded the beginning of a decisive assault.

Opposition leaders meeting with President Yanukovych

Emerging from a meeting with President Yanukovych, opposition leader

Vitali Klitschko Vitali Volodymyrovych Klitschko (; uk, Віта́лій Володи́мирович Кличко́ ; born 19 July 1971) is a Ukrainian politician and former professional boxer who serves as mayor of Kyiv Hromadske TV Hromadske ( uk, Громадське; lit. ''Public'') is a digital broadcasting station in Ukraine that commenced operations on 22 November 2013. The station was announced in June 2013 by 15 journalists, before commencing operations on 22 Novemb ...

that the talks had not been successful. Klitschko said that opposition leaders had listened for more than an hour to Yanukovych's claims that they were to blame for the 20 deaths on 18 February. The president also demanded that the opposition force the protesters to leave

. He reportedly threatened opposition leaders with criminal prosecution. In a message on

Ukrainian television Television has a long history in Ukraine, where regular television broadcasting started during the Soviet years in 1951. However the first ever TV broadcast took place on 1 February 1939 in Kyiv. Since then TV broadcasting has expanded, particula ...

, Yanukovych told the opposition leaders, "Separate yourself from the radical elements that seek bloodshed and conflict with law enforcement agencies," and said that if they did not do so, he would "talk differently" with them. He added: "The opposition leaders have ignored the basic foundation of democracy. The line had been crossed when they called people to arms." On 20 February, three opposition parties (

Batkivshchyna The All-Ukrainian Union "Fatherland" ( uk, Всеукраїнське об'єднання "Батьківщина", translit=Vseukrains'ke obiednannia "Bat'kivshchyna") referred to as Batkivshchyna (), is a political party in Ukraine led by Peo ...

UDAR The Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform ( uk, Український демократичний альянс за реформи Віталія Кличка; the acronym UDAR ( uk, УДАР) translates to "strike" or "punch", en, Ukrainian ...

, and Svoboda) said in a statement: "We never have and never will call people to arms. This is our principled position. The death of each person is a personal tragedy for each of us." Later that day, the parties said, "To hold talks with the regime, the policies of which led to the deaths of many people, is an extremely unpleasant thing, but we must do everything possible and even the impossible to prevent further bloodshed." They said that dissolving the protests would be "counterproductive and unrealistic" and stated: "It was not we who brought Maidan together, and it is not for us to disperse it! People will decide themselves what to do depending on when and how their demands are satisfied."

19 February

The

was closed and main roads blocked by police. Bigger stores and malls on

Khreshchatyk Khreshchatyk ( uk, Хрещатик, ) is the main street of Kyiv, Ukraine. The street has a length of . It stretches from the European Square (northeast) through the Maidan and to Bessarabska Square (southwest) where the Besarabsky Market ...

were also closed, but according to a

correspondent, "Life away from the barricades is business as usual." In the early morning,

titushky The Titushky (plural; uk, тітушки, russian: титушки) were mercenary agents in Ukraine who supported the Ukrainian security services during the administration of Viktor Yanukovych, often posing as street hooligans in sports clothing ...

shot two protesters, killing one. By this point, the death toll had risen to 26 on both sides, including 10 police. The

Security Service of Ukraine The Security Service of Ukraine ( uk, Служба безпеки України, translit=Sluzhba bezpeky Ukrainy}) or SBU ( uk, СБУ, link=no) is the law enforcement authority and main intelligence and security agency of the Ukrainian ...

(SBU) launched an "anti-terrorist" operation, while the intelligence services began investigating unnamed politicians over what was described as an illegal attempt to seize power. The decision to begin the anti-terrorist operation involved the SBU, the Interior Ministry, the Ministry of Defence, the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, and the central and local governments, according to a statement on the SBU website. According to political analyst

Taras Berezovets Taras Valeriyovych Berezovets ( uk, Тарас Валерійович Березовець) (born 1 March 1975) is Ukrainian political analyst, founder of Free Сrimea project (2014), CEO of the Fund for National Strategies (2015), founder of Hybri ...

, the decree meant that the SBU could search protesters, seize their property, and detain them at will, "without a court order or other legal safeguards." Euromaidan 19 February 9

In the early morning, Olena Lukash announced that the opposition had refused to sign a declaration disapproving of radical measures. President Yanukovych demanded that the opposition stop occupying buildings and seizing arms; the opposition, however, would not concede. The acting minister of defence,

Pavlo Lebedyev Pavlo Valentynovych Lebedyev ( uk, Павло Валентинович Лебедєв) (born on 12 July 1962, settlement Novomikhailovsky, Krasnodar Krai, the RSFSR, the USSR) is a Ukrainian and Russian financier and businessman. Member of the B ...

, acknowledged that he had sent some airborne troops from

Dnipropetrovsk Dnipro, previously called Dnipropetrovsk from 1926 until May 2016, is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper Rive ...

.Lebedev confirmed sending airborne troops from Dnepropetrovsk to Kyiv

The Ukrainian Week ''The Ukrainian Week'' ( uk, Український Тиждень, translit=Ukrainskyi Tyzhden) is an illustrated weekly magazine covering politics, economics and the arts and aimed at the socially engaged Ukrainian-language reader. It provides ...

. 19 February 2014 Ciphered telegrams were discovered in which

Yuriy Ilyin Yuriy Ivanovych Ilyin ( uk, Юрій Іванович Ільїн; ; ; born 21 August 1962) is a Ukrainian admiral and former commander of the Ukrainian Navy. He was elevated to the position of Chief of the General Staff by President Viktor Yanuk ...

, the newly appointed chief of the general staff of the

Ukrainian Armed Forces , imports = , exports = , history = , ranks = Military ranks of Ukraine , country=Ukraine The Armed Forces of Ukraine ( uk, Збро́йні си́ли Украї́ни), most commonly know ...

, gave direct orders to deploy military units. Also on 19 February, a military An-26 made a secret flight from Kyiv to Russia to pick up a large batch of anti-riot weapons and ammunition; this only became known in 2015. A Euronews correspondent on Independence Square reported that protesters were arriving "from all parts of Ukraine". By 14:50, about 5,000 remained on the square.

occupied the Kyiv Central Post Office and the State Committee for Television and Radio, with the post office serving as a new headquarters. Euromaidan in Kiev 2014-02-19 12-06

President Yanukovych fired the chief of the

general staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine ( uk, Генеральний штаб Збройних сил України) is the military staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. It is the central organ of the Armed Forces Administration and o ...

Volodymyr Zamana Volodymyr Zamana is a Ukrainian colonel general, Chief of the General Staff in 2012–2014. On 19 February 2014, at the height of the February 2014 Euromaidan riots, president Viktor Yanukovych dismissed Zamana from his position as Chief of t ...

, and replaced him with Ilyin, who was previously the commander of the

Ukrainian Navy The Military Naval Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine ( uk, Військо́во-морські́ си́ли Збро́йних сил Украї́ни, ВМС ЗСУ) is the maritime forces of Ukraine and one of the five branches of the Arme ...

. The Ministry of Defence announced that it was redeploying units around the country to guard military facilities. The director of the SBU, Oleksandr Yakymenko, said that military bases and arms depots had been attacked in several regions. The

European Investment Bank The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the European Union's investment bank and is owned by the EU Member States. It is one of the largest supranational lenders in the world. The EIB finances and invests both through equity and debt solutions ...

froze activities in Ukraine, saying, "For the time being, the situation is so cruel that it would be politically the wrong signal, but also irresponsible vis-a-vis the people we asked to do the job, to be active on business in Ukraine." Following a meeting between government and opposition leaders late at night, both sides declared a truce and agreed to start negotiations. President Yanukovych said in a statement that he had agreed to "start negotiations with the aim of ending bloodshed and stabilising the situation in the state in the interests of social peace". According to opposition politician Yatsenyuk, the truce included a pledge from Yanukovych not to launch a police assault that night.

did not agree to the truce. A Euronews correspondent on Independence Square reported that the number of protesters had grown, saying, "In general, all I have heard from people is the more they are attacked and the worse they are beaten, the more determined they are to stand back up and resume the struggle."

20 February

At 00:35,

Interfax Interfax (russian: Интерфакс) is a Russian news agency. The agency is owned by Interfax News Agency joint-stock company and is headquartered in Moscow. History As the first non-governmental channel of political and economic informatio ...

reported that Yanukovych had declared 20 February a day of mourning for those killed in the clashes. Around 03:50, activists claimed that they had torn a shoulder patch from the uniform of a Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) soldier during the clashes, brandishing the patch as alleged proof of Russian involvement. Protesters at Independence Square continued to hear gunshots, despite the ceasefire agreement. Around 04:20, five buses carrying protesters from

Ivano-Frankivsk Ivano-Frankivsk ( uk, Іва́но-Франкі́вськ, translit=Iváno-Frankívśk ), formerly Stanyslaviv ( pl, Stanisławów ; german: Stanislau), is a city located in Western Ukraine. It is the administrative centre of Ivano-Frankivsk O ...

arrived. Each side blamed the other for igniting the deadly conflict. Yakymenko blamed Ukraine's current Euromaidan government, claiming they were responsible for hiring snipers on 20 February. In a statement, the

Presidential Administration of Ukraine The Office of the President of Ukraine ('' uk, Офіс Президента України'') (formerly ''Administration of the President of Ukraine'', uk, Адміністрація Президента) is a standing advisory body set up by ...

claimed that the protesters had gone on the offensive: "They are working in organised groups. They are using firearms, including sniper rifles. They are shooting to kill," it said. Protesters accused the police of starting the conflict by throwing Molotov cocktails and improvised explosive devices. Opposition politician Klitschko issued a statement saying: "Armed thugs have been let loose in the streets to attack people and create an illusion that there is a confrontation between citizens." At 09:25, protesters pushed the Berkut back to the October PalaceDay of Mourning. Online

Ukrayinska Pravda ''Ukrainska Pravda'' ( uk, Українська правда, lit=Ukrainian Truth) is a Ukrainian online newspaper founded by Georgiy Gongadze on 16 April 2000 (the day of the Ukrainian constitutional referendum). Published mainly in Ukraini ...

. 20 February 2014 after security forces tried to set fire to

Kyiv Conservatory Pyotr Tchaikovsky National Music Academy of Ukraine ( uk, Національна музична академія України імені Петра Чайковського) or Kyiv Conservatory is a Ukrainian state institution of higher music e ...

, which was being used as a field hospital for wounded protesters. At 09:32, it was announced that parliament would not convene. Euromaidan protesters marched on the police with shields and Molotov cocktails and forced them to retreat, thus regaining control of Independence Square and capturing up to 67 police officers. Around 10:49, law enforcement personnel were captured while sleeping in the

Ukrainian House The International Convention Center "Ukrainian House" ( uk, Український дім. Міжнародний конгрес-центр) is the largest international exhibition and convention center in Kyiv, Ukraine. Popularly referred to a ...

and during clashes on barricades near the October Palace. Many of the men were only 18 or 19 years old, were not trained, and were armed only with rubber truncheons. Those with minor injuries were treated by medics. The captured police were from

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

, the central-eastern cities

and

Kryvyi Rih Kryvyi Rih ( uk, Криви́й Ріг , lit. "Curved Bend" or "Crooked Horn"), also known as Krivoy Rog (Russian: Кривой Рог) is the largest city in central Ukraine, the 7th most populous city in Ukraine and the 2nd largest by area. K ...

, and eastern

. Interior Troops soldiers, of whom almost 100 surrendered during the clashes (mostly conscripts aged 19–20), were held prisoner at the headquarters of the

Energy Company of Ukraine In physics, energy (from Ancient Greek: ἐνέργεια, ''enérgeia'', “activity”) is the quantitative property that is transferred to a body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of work and in the form of heat ...

and at the October Palace. At 10:00, between 10,000 and 20,000 demonstrators remained, according to the

Kyiv Post The ''Kyiv Post'' is the oldest English-language newspaper in Ukraine, founded in October 1995 by Jed Sunden. History American Jed Sunden founded the ''Kyiv Post'' weekly newspaper on Oct. 18, 1995 and later created KP Media for his holdings. ...

, and at least 42 people had been killed, primarily by police gunfire. According to a

UNIAN The UNIAN or Ukrainian Independent Information Agency of News ( uk, Українське Незалежне Інформаційне Агентство Новин, УНІАН, translit=Ukrayins'ke Nezalezhne Informatsiyne Ahentstvo Novyn) is a ...

correspondent, there were more than 30,000 people on Independence Square. At 10:55, the chief of the presidential administration,

Andriy Klyuev Andriy Petrovych Klyuyev ( uk, Андрій Петрович Клюєв, Russian: Андрей Петрович Клюев, born 12 August 1964), also spelled as Andrii Kliuiev, is a Ukrainian businessman and politician, who was ranked as 7th ...

, announced that the president was prepared to sign a treaty with the opposition on the demanded changes to the

, and that the ongoing clashes should compel politicians to find a quick consensus. An unindentified protester armed with a rifle

At 10:00,

's activists picketed the main office at the Kyiv Metro station Politekhnichnyi Instytut, demanding that the system be reopened. A former head of the

Kyiv City State Administration Kyiv City State Administration ( uk, Київська міська державна адміністрація, translit=Kyivska miska derzhavna administratsiia), is the national-level branch of the Government of Ukraine that administers Kyiv, t ...

, Ivan Saliy, also called for the reopening of the metro. At 16:00 that day, the

Titushky The Titushky (plural; uk, тітушки, russian: титушки) were mercenary agents in Ukraine who supported the Ukrainian security services during the administration of Viktor Yanukovych, often posing as street hooligans in sports clothing ...

were transported by metro from the Pozniaky station to the Pecherska station, ''Lvivska Gazeta'' reported. The government also closed highways and railway access. Trains between Kyiv and

Lviv Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine ...

, one of the protesters' strongholds, were temporarily suspended; a railway spokeswoman said this was because of damage to the lines. Coincidentally, there were reports that arms had been seized from an Interior Ministry armory in Lviv and transported to the outskirts of Kyiv. The head of the

, Volodymyr Makeyenko, resigned from the

but said that he would continue to perform his duties to ensure that the city functioned properly. He then ordered the reopening of the

. By 15:00, the metro was still not running, and ground-based transport in the city was scarce. The metro was partly reopened in the early evening, but interchange stations remained closed. The Embassy of the United Kingdom in Kyiv was temporarily closed.

Radio Liberty Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

published video footage of police special forces shooting protesters with Kalashnikov and sniper rifles. Acting Interior Minister Zakharchenko announced that combat weapons had been provided to the police, saying in an address to the nation, "We signed relevant orders as part of the Antiterrorist Center's work: the law enforcement officials have been provided with combat weapons, and they will be used in line with the law on police." The ministry's website said the riot police had the right to use their weapons to free hostages being held by protesters. The ministry further stated that a sniper had injured 20 of its police officers.

Interfax-Ukraine The Interfax-Ukraine ( uk, Інтерфакс-Україна) is a Kyiv-based Ukraine, Ukrainian independent news agency founded in 1992. The company does not belong to the Russian news corporation Interfax Information Services. The company pub ...

reported that at 15:00, "a group of unknown individuals" headed to the Presidential Administration Building, and shots and explosions were heard. The Euromaidan self-defense force had repeatedly urged protesters not to go outside the square's perimeter.

Diplomatic efforts

The above-mentioned clashes erupted shortly before three visiting EU foreign ministers—

Radosław Sikorski Radosław Tomasz "Radek" Sikorski (; born 23 February 1963) is a Polish politician and journalist who is a Member of the European Parliament. He was Marshal of the Sejm from 2014 to 2015 and Minister of Foreign Affairs in Donald Tusk's cabinet ...

of Poland,

Laurent Fabius Laurent Fabius (; born 20 August 1946) is a French politician serving as President of the Constitutional Council since 8 March 2016. A member of the Socialist Party, he previously served as Prime Minister of France from 17 July 1984 to 20 Marc ...

of France, and

Frank-Walter Steinmeier Frank-Walter Steinmeier (; born 5 January 1956) is a German politician serving as President of Germany since 19 March 2017. He was previously Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2005 to 2009 and again from 2013 to 2017, as well as Vice Chan ...

of Germany—were due to meet with President Yanukovych to push for a compromise with the Ukrainian opposition. The meeting was delayed for security reasons and began an hour late. Before the meeting, Fabius said in an interview with BFM TV: "Our purpose is to cause the Ukrainian administration to conduct elections. There is no solution other than elections." The negotiations lasted six hours. Prime Minister

Donald Tusk Donald Franciszek Tusk ( , ; born 22 April 1957) is a Polish politician who was President of the European Council from 2014 to 2019. He served as the 14th Prime Minister of Poland from 2007 to 2014 and was a co-founder and leader of the Civic ...

of Poland told reporters soon afterward, "It was agreed with Yanukovych that there was a willingness to hold early elections this year, both presidential and parliamentary." Tusk also said that Yanukovych "was willing to form a national unity government in the next 10 days and to change the constitution before the summer". Further talks were scheduled to negotiate the signing of the relevant document. After a telephone conversation between Yanukovych and the Russian president,

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...

, Russian human rights ombudsman

Vladimir Lukin Senator Vladimir Petrovich Lukin, sometimes (rarely and erroneously) Lokin, (russian: Влади́мир Петро́вич Луки́н; born 13 July 1937, in Omsk) is a Russian politician who served as Human Rights Commissioner of Russia from F ...

was sent as an envoy to Ukraine, at Yanukovych's request, to try to mediate talks between the government and the opposition. The United States imposed visa bans on 20 Ukrainian officials it considered "responsible for ordering human rights abuses related to political oppression". The

introduced a visa ban and a financial asset freeze against those responsible for the violence in Ukraine, and a ban on export to Ukraine of equipment that could be used for repression. "The scale of implementation will be taken forward in the light of developments in Ukraine," the EU Council concluded.

Ukrainian political developments

The leader of the ruling

Oleksandr Yefremov Oleksandr Yefremov or Aleksandr Efremov ( uk, Олександр Сергійович Єфремов, russian: Алекса́ндр Серге́евич Ефре́мов) is a Ukrainian former parliamentarian and politician. A former governor o ...

, travelled to

to meet with local leaders and law enforcement agents to discuss the possibility of southeastern Ukraine's declaring independence and seceding from the state. The chairman of the Supreme Council of Crimea,

Vladimir Konstantinov Vladimir Nikolaevich Konstantinov (russian: Владимир Николаевич Константинов; born March 19, 1967) is a Russians, Russian-Americans, American former professional ice hockey player who played his entire National Hocke ...

, travelled to Moscow, where he announced that the Autonomous Republic of Crimea would secede from Ukraine if there were a change of power. Party of Regions MP Sergiy Tigipko called for the resignation of parliament chairman Volodymyr Rybak, his replacement with an opposition parliamentarian, and the urgent election of a prime minister supported by all factions. "The president, the parliament speaker, the acting prime minister, and opposition leaders have completely lost control of the situation in the country and do not offer any solutions to pacify the country," he said. "Their inaction is leading to increased confrontation and deaths. Immediate concrete steps, rather than negotiations, are needed to resolve the crisis in the country."Tigipko calls for Rybak's immediate resignation, urgent election of prime minister

(20 February 2014) In the evening, Tigipko held talks with opposition politicians Yatsenyuk and Klitschko. The head of the

, Volodymyr Makeyenko, and 17 MPs resigned from the

. In

Rivne Rivne (; uk, Рівне ),) also known as Rovno (Russian: Ровно; Polish: Równe; Yiddish: ראָוונע), is a city in western Ukraine. The city is the administrative center of Rivne Oblast (province), as well as the surrounding Rivne Raio ...

and

Zhytomyr Zhytomyr ( uk, Жито́мир, translit=Zhytomyr ; russian: Жито́мир, Zhitomir ; pl, Żytomierz ; yi, זשיטאָמיר, Zhitomir; german: Schytomyr ) is a city in the north of the western half of Ukraine. It is the Capital city, a ...

, the Party of Regions formally disbanded, with all MPs from those regions leaving the party as well. Ten Party of Regions and two independent MPs called for a return to the parliamentary-presidential form of government. They also called on security forces to "execute the oath they swore to the Ukrainian people, not to follow criminal orders to use firearms, not to allow the participation of law enforcers in provocations involving gangs against the peaceful public and protesters all over Ukraine". At 16:42, parliament convened for an emergency sitting. The Party of Regions did not take part. According to a

correspondent, 227 MPs out of 450—mostly from the opposition, but some from the Party of Regions—were present. Out of 238 deputies present, 236 voted to condemn the recent violence, ban the use of weapons against protesters, and withdraw troops and the police deployed against them. The entire parliamentary faction of the

Communist Party of Ukraine The Communist Party of Ukraine, Abbreviation: KPU, from Ukrainian and Russian "" is a banned political party in Ukraine. It was founded in 1993 as the successor to the Soviet-era Communist Party of Ukraine which was banned in 1991 (accord ...

and some 80% of the Party of Regions chose to miss the session. Lawmakers barred chiefs and commanders of the Interior Troops, the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the SBU, and other government agencies from carrying out any counter-terrorism operations because they violated the Constitution of Ukraine. They were also ordered to stop blocking roads and bridges, squares and streets in Kyiv and other cities and towns. The Party of Regions MPs at the sitting agreed to form an "anti-crisis group". Late in the evening, it was announced that five more MPs had left the parliamentary faction of the Party of Regions. The Parliament of Crimea called for an extraordinary session on 21 February. The leader of the

Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People The Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People ( crh, Къырымтатар Миллий Меджлиси - ''Qırımtatar Milliy Meclisi'') is the single highest executive-representative body of the Crimean Tatars in period between sessions of the Q ...

said he suspected that lawmakers would ask for Russian military intervention, stating, "Tomorrow may be a decision that will bring chaos and disaster to Crimea." Several scholars discussed the possibility of Russian intervention in Crimea specifically, because of its unique geopolitical nature and demographics.

21 February

The Armed Forces' deputy chief of staff, Lieutenant-General Yuri Dumansky, resigned because he disagreed with the involvement of the army in the conflict. "Today the army is being involved in the civil conflict, which could lead to the mass deaths of civilians and soldiers," he said. At around midnight, journalist Artem Shevchenko, referring to his sources in the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, announced that 10

BTR BTR may refer to: Companies * BTR Aerospace Group * BTR plc, formerly BTR Industries, one of the predecessor companies of Invensys plc * British Thomson-Houston (former name BTR), a British engineering and heavy industrial company Media, music, ...

s had departed from Kozachia (Cossack) Bay, where the

Black Sea Fleet Chernomorskiy flot , image = Great emblem of the Black Sea fleet.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Great emblem of the Black Sea fleet , dates = May 13, ...

of Russia is based, escorted by DAI (Road Auto Inspection) vehicles. According to Shevchenko, 1,500 airborne soldiers and 400 marines—including the 25th Airborne Brigade, the 1st Marine Brigade, the 831st Anti-sabotage Unit, and the 2nd Marine Spetsnaz—had been transferred on 20 February under the command of the SBU for the anti-terrorist operation. In the lead-up to the day's parliamentary session, it was reported that many members of the Party of Regions and their families had fled the capital, including acting Interior Minister Zakharchenko and Prosecutor General

. Later, Maidan activists released the Interior Troops servicemen whom they had captured the previous day. Meanwhile, the entire police force of

Radekhiv Radekhiv ( uk, Раде́хів; pl, Radziechów) is a city in Chervonohrad Raion, Lviv Oblast (region) of Ukraine. It hosts the administration of Radekhiv urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Population: . Ed Stelmach, the premier o ...

joined the protesters in Kyiv. The

officially ended its "preparations for antiterrorist operation" introduced on 19 February.

Agreement on settlement of political crisis

A compromise deal was agreed to on 21 February after hours of negotiations led by the

mediators and Foreign Ministers

of Poland,

of France, and

of Germany. Officially called the

Agreement on settlement of political crisis in Ukraine The Agreement on settlement of political crisis in Ukraine (Ukrainian: Угода про врегулювання політичної кризи в Україні, Russian: Соглашение об урегулировании политич ...

, but unofficially called the 21 February Agreement, it was signed by both opposition leaders and the president after overnight negotiations (read the full text of the agreement here). The agreed-to provisions included a restoration of the constitution as it was between 2004 and 2010; constitutional reform to be completed by September; early presidential elections no later than December 2014; an investigation into the violence conducted under joint monitoring of the administration, the opposition, and the Council of Europe; a veto on imposing a state of emergency; amnesty for protesters arrested since 17 February; the surrender of public buildings occupied by protesters; the forfeiture of illegal weapons; "new electoral laws", and the formation of a new Central Election Commission. The three EU foreign ministers signed the document as witnesses, but not the Russian mediator

, because he had no mandate to sign an agreement on the crisis. The 450-seat parliament voted unanimously, 386–0, to return to the 2004 constitution, and then its 450 members voted 332–0 to suspend acting Interior Minister Zakharchenko. Another bill made changes to the Criminal Code, allowing for the release of

Yulia Tymoshenko Yulia Volodymyrivna Tymoshenko ( uk, Юлія Володимирівна Тимошенко, ; Hrihyan (); 310 MPs voted in favour of the measure, including 54 from the Party of Regions and 32 Communists.

Mykola Rudkovsky Mykola ( uk, Мико́ла, Mykóla, ) is a Slavic variant, more specifically a Ukrainian variant, of the masculine name "Nicholas", meaning "victory of the people". It may refer to: People * Mykola Arkas (1853–1909), Ukrainian composer, wri ...

introduced a bill to impeach President Yanukovych. Parliament also adopted a resolution late that evening that ordered all Interior Ministry troops and police officers to return to their barracks.

Agreement aftermath

leader

Dmytro Yarosh Dmytro Anatoliyovych Yarosh ( uk, Дмитро Анатолійович Я́рош; born 30 September 1971) is a Ukrainian activist, politician, nationalist and military commander who is the main commander of the Right Sector's Ukrainian Vol ...

rejected the agreement, saying, "We have to state the obvious fact that the criminal regime had not yet realised either the gravity of its evil doing." He noted that the agreement did not include provisions for the arrest of Interior Minister Zakharchenko; the punishing of Berkut commanders alleged to have been involved in the murder of civilians; the removal of the general prosecutor and defence minister; a ban on the Party of Regions and Communist Party; and guarantees of safety for those involved in the opposition. He called for the "people's revolution" to continue until power had been completely removed from the governing authorities. Euromaidan leader Andriy Parubiy insisted that elections be held as soon as possible and reiterated that one of the main demands of protesters had been the resignation of President Yanukovych. AutoMaidan also announced that it would not accept anything short of Yanukovych's resignation. Vitali Klitschko apologised to the crowd on Independence Square after shaking hands with Yanukovych. Protesters there responded to the deal by booing opposition leaders. Activist

Volodymyr Parasiuk Volodymyr Zinoviyovych Parasyuk ( uk, Володи́мир Зіно́війович Парасю́к; born 9 July 1987) is a Ukrainian military commander and politician who served as a People's Deputy of Ukraine from 27 November 2014 to 29 A ...

warned from the stage that if Yanukovych did not resign by 10:00 the next day, an armed coup would be staged.

Oleh Lyashko Oleh Valeriiovych Liashko ( uk, Олег Валерійович Ляшко; born. 3 December 1972) is a Ukrainian politician, journalist and soldier who was a long time member of the Verkhovna Rada and leader of the Radical Party. Liashko was ...

echoed the demand, saying, "Either he resigns, or we take him away." Outside of Kyiv, it was later discovered that the summer home of pro-Russian politician

Viktor Medvedchuk Viktor Volodymyrovych Medvedchuk ( uk, Віктор Володимирович Медведчук, ; born 7 August 1954) is a Ukrainian lawyer, business oligarch, and politician who is since September 2022 living in exile after being handed over ...

had been set on fire. By late afternoon, hundreds of riot police officers guarding the presidential compound and nearby government buildings had vanished.

, the Polish foreign minister, described the withdrawal of forces as "astonishing", noting that it was not part of the agreement. The riot police had begun withdrawing early in the morning because they feared that Yanukovych's government would pin the responsibility for the violence on them, and because they feared being attacked after protesters stole around 1,200 pistols and

Kalashnikov rifle A Kalashnikov (Калашников) rifle is any one of a series of automatic rifles based on the original design of Mikhail Kalashnikov. They are officially known in Russian as "Avtomát Kaláshnikova" ( rus, Автома́т Кала́шник� ...

s from the police on 18 February during the occupation of government buildings in

. The

Ukrainian Interior Ministry The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine ( uk, Міністерство внутрішніх справ України, Ministerstvo vnutrishnikh sprav Ukrainy, MVS) is the ministry of the Ukrainian government that oversees the interior aff ...

was left without leadership. Deputy Interior Minister Viktor Dubovik ordered the riot police to leave the city, but it is unclear where this order originated. Opposition member

Serhiy Pashynsky Serhiy Volodymyrovych Pashynskyi ( uk, Сергі́й Володи́мирович Паши́нський; born 14 October 1966) is Ukrainian politician and statesman. He has been a people's deputy of Ukraine of four convocations and is the chai ...

arranged escorts out of the city for more than 5,000 officers, Interior Ministry forces, and other

special forces Special forces and special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...

. After the riot police vanished, Andriy Parubiy reported that Euromaidan self-defence had peacefully gained control over Kyiv and its government buildings, and that the military was standing with the opposition. A new parliamentary

coalition A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces. Formation According to ''A Gui ...

was created after 28 MPs left the

' faction. Within the remaining faction, a "group of 31 deputies with a special position" was formed by Sergiy Tigipko "to persuade other Party of Regions MPs to vote progressively".

Removal of Yanukovych

On 21 February, President Yanukovych and parliament declared 22 and 23 February to be days of mourning "due to the loss of human life as a result of mass disturbances". Parliament Chairman Volodymyr Rybak submitted his resignation in parliament on 22 February, citing illness. Yanukovych's whereabouts were unknown, despite media reports that he had flown to

Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.Kharkiv Oblast Kharkiv Oblast ( uk, Харківська́ о́бласть, translit=Kharkivska oblast), also referred to as Kharkivshchyna ( uk, Ха́рківщина), is an oblast (province) of eastern Ukraine. The oblast borders Russia to the north, Luhans ...

at the time,

Mykhailo Dobkin Mykhailo Markovych Dobkinrussian: Михаил Маркович Добкин, translit=Mikhail Markovich Dobkin (born 26 January 1970) is a Ukrainian politician, former governor of Kharkiv Oblast, former mayor of Kharkiv,

, Yanukovych was in Kharkiv that day).

said that most of the ministers had disappeared, including Interior Minister Zakharchenko, who was reported to have fled to

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

. In the afternoon, the Rada voted 328-0 to remove Yanukovich from his post and to schedule a presidential election for 25 May. This vote did not follow the impeachment process specified by the

Ukrainian Constitution The Constitution of Ukraine ( uk, Конституція України, translit=Konstytutsiia Ukrainy) is the fundamental law of Ukraine. The constitution was adopted and ratified at the 5th session of the ''Verkhovna Rada'', the parliament ...

, which would have involved formally charging Yanukovych with a crime, a review of the charge by the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, and a three-fourths majority vote—at least 338 votes in favor—in parliament. Instead, parliament declared that Yanukovych "withdrew from his duties in an unconstitutional manner" and cited "circumstances of extreme urgency" as the reason for early elections. Lawmakers then elected opposition leader Oleksandr Turchynov to be the chairman of Parliament, acting president and prime minister of Ukraine; this decision also violated the Constitution, according to which the impeached President was to be succeeded by the Prime Minister

Serhiy Arbuzov Serhiy Hennadiyovych Arbuzov ( uk, Сергій Геннадійович Арбузов, russian: Сергей Геннадьевич Арбузов, translit=Sergey Gennadyevich Arbuzov; born 24 March 1976) is a Ukrainian former banker and polit ...

. Turchynov claimed that Yanukovych had agreed to resign as president, but after consulting with advisers, he disavowed that and even pre-recorded a resignation statement. Yanukovych said he would not resign or leave the country and called parliament's decisions "illegal". He added, "The events witnessed by our country and the whole world are an example of a coup d'état", and compared them to the rise of the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...

in Germany in the 1930s.

Disappearance and prosecution

Following the parliamentary procedures to transfer power to the new provisional government, General Prosecutor Pshonka and Minister of Revenues and Duties Oleksandr Klymenko were stopped at the Russian border while trying to flee the country. According to the State Border Service, Yanukovych also tried to flee via a charter flight from Donetsk, but was stopped by border guards. The guards were "met by a group of armed men who offered money for flying without the proper clearance". Yanukovych then left by armored car, and his subsequent whereabouts were unknown. Former Interior Minister Zakharchenko also tried to fly out of Donetsk and was similarly turned back. On 23 February, parliament deputy

claimed that Yanukovych had been seen at the Russian naval base in Sevastopol, preparing to flee the country on board a Russian military vessel. Journalist Tetyana Chornovol speculated that he was actually trying to flee on his private yacht, also in Sevastopol. According to court testimony of a bodyguard, Yanukovych and his family flew from Kharkiv to Donetsk by helicopter, then drove to

Berdiansk Berdiansk or Berdyansk ( uk, Бердя́нськ, translit=Berdiansk, ; russian: Бердя́нск, translit=Berdyansk ) is a port city in the Zaporizhzhia Oblast (province) in south-eastern Ukraine. It is on the northern coast of the Sea of ...

on the Azov Sea, from where they were flown by aircraft with Russian military markings, via two other airfields, to a Russian facility in Yalta, Crimea, then moved to Russian base in Sevastopol, and departed late on 23 February. On 24 February, acting Interior Minister Avakov announced that Yanukovych had been placed on the country's

most wanted list A most wanted list is a list of criminals and alleged criminals who are believed to be at large and are identified as a law enforcement agency's highest priority for capture. The list can alert the public to be watchful, and generates publicity ...

and that "a criminal case on mass killings of civilians has been opened" for him and other officials. On 25 February, parliament asked the

International Criminal Court The International Criminal Court (ICC or ICCt) is an intergovernmental organization and international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute individuals ...

to "establish and bring to justice" senior Ukrainian officials, including Yanukovych, for

crimes against humanity Crimes against humanity are widespread or systemic acts committed by or on behalf of a ''de facto'' authority, usually a state, that grossly violate human rights. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity do not have to take place within the ...

committed during "peaceful protests of citizens" from 21 November 2013 to 22 February 2014. On the same day, Yanukovych and Zakharchenko were declared internationally wanted. Criminal proceedings were launched in 20 February killings of Euromaidan demonstrators. Yanukovych; the former head of the presidential administration, Andriy Kliuyev; former Prosecutor General Pshonka; former Interior Minister Zakharchenko; former SBU head Yakymenko; the commander of the Interior Troops, Stanislav Shuliak; and a number of others were declared suspects in the case.

Aftermath and new government

On 22 February 2014,

Yulia Tymoshenko Yulia Volodymyrivna Tymoshenko ( uk, Юлія Володимирівна Тимошенко, ; Hrihyan ();Arsen Avakov Arsen Borysovych Avakov hy, Արսեն Բորիսի Ավակով (born 2 January 1964) is a Ukrainian politician and businessman. From 2014 to 2021 he was Ukraine's Minister of Internal Affairs, first being appointed in the first cabinet of P ...

as acting interior minister. Lawmakers also ousted

as general prosecutor of Ukraine in a no-confidence vote. On 23 February, the second day of national mourning, parliament voted to abolish the law on language policies that had given the Russian, Romanian, and Hungarian languages the official status of

regional language * A regional language is a language spoken in a region of a sovereign state, whether it be a small area, a federated state or province or some wider area. Internationally, for the purposes of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Lan ...

s in some areas. However, this measure was later vetoed by the acting president, who said he would not sign the bill until new legislation protecting minority languages was developed. The same day, parliament dismissed Foreign Minister

Leonid Kozhara Leonid Oleksandrovych Kozhara ( uk, Леонід Олександрович Кожара, Russian: Леонид Александрович Кожара, born 14 January 1963) is a former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. In 2013 he was th ...

, Health Minister

Raisa Bogatyrova Raisa Vasylivna Bohatyriova ( uk, Раїса Василівна Богатирьова; russian: Раиса Васильевна Богатырёва) (born on January 6, 1953) is a Ukrainian politician and former Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine ...

, and Education Minister

Dmytro Tabachnyk Dmytro Volodymyrovych Tabachnyk ( uk, Дмитро Володимирович Табачник, ; born November 26, 1963) is a pro-Russian Ukrainian politician, and former science and education minister of Ukraine.nationalised Yanukovych's private estate Mezhyhirya. Warrants were issued for former Incomes Minister Oleksandr Klymenko and former Prosecutor General Pshonka. Parliament also passed amendments restoring its power to appoint and dismiss judges, which had belonged to the

Supreme Council of Justice The Supreme Council of Justice ( ua, Вища рада правосуддя) is the national council of the judiciary of Ukraine, which nominates judges to be appointed by the President of Ukraine. In 2021, the Ethics Council was created with th ...

became fully operational again, including the reopening of the Maidan Nezalezhnosti station, on 24 February. On 24 February, parliament dismissed Social Policies Minister

Natalia Korolevska Natalia Yuriivna Korolevska ( uk, Наталія Юріївна Королевська) (born 18 May 1975 in Krasnyi Luch

and Culture Minister Leonid Novokhatko; it also dismissed

Ihor Sorkin Ihor Vyacheslavovych Sorkin ( uk, Ігор В'ячеславович Соркін, Ihor Vyacheslavovych Sorkin) is a former chairman of the National Bank of Ukraine. Biography Early years. Military career Igor Sorkin was born on March 3, 1967 i ...

as governor of the

National Bank of Ukraine National Bank of Ukraine ( uk, Національний банк України) or NBU ( uk, НБУ) is the central bank of Ukraine – a government body responsible for unified state policy in the field of country's monetary circulation, includ ...

and replaced him with

Stepan Kubiv Stepan Kubiv ( uk, Степан Іванович Кубів, Stepan Ivanovych Kubiv; born March 19, 1962) is a Ukrainian politician who was a former First Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine and simultaneously Minister of Economic Development and Tra ...

. The same day, it appointed

Valentyn Nalyvaichenko Valentyn Oleksandrovych Nalyvaichenko ( uk, Валенти́н Олекса́ндрович Налива́йченко; born 8 June 1966; Zaporizhia) is a Ukrainian diplomat and politician. On 24 February 2014, the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parl ...

as head of the

after dismissing Oleksandr Yakymenko from the post. Meanwhile, the leader of the Party of Regions faction,

, declared that the party was moving into the opposition. Seventy-seven of its MPs had left the faction over the past few days. On Tuesday, 25 February, acting President Turchynov called for the formation of a

national unity government A national unity government, government of national unity (GNU), or national union government is a broad coalition government consisting of all parties (or all major parties) in the legislature, usually formed during a time of war or other nat ...

by Thursday. (Two days earlier, he had asked for the formation of such a government by Tuesday.) Also on the 25th,

Anatoliy Kinakh Anatoliy Kyrylovych Kinakh ( uk, Анатолій Кирилович Кінах) (born August 4, 1954) is a Ukrainians, Ukrainian politician and honorary professor at the Mykolaiv Government Humanitarian University. Kinakh is a former (long servi ...

and 32 other deputies, mostly former Party of Regions members, created the

Economic Development In the economics study of the public sector, economic and social development is the process by which the economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or an individual are improved according to targeted goals and o ...

faction. On 26 February, Turchynov assumed the duties of the supreme commander-in-chief of the

. On 27 February 2014 the

first Yatsenyuk government The first government headed by Arseniy Yatsenyuk was created in Ukraine on 27 February 2014 in the aftermath of the Revolution of Dignity. The cabinet was formed as a coalition of the Batkivschyna, UDAR and Svoboda political parties, the Econo ...

headed by

was formed. The cabinet was formed as a coalition of the parties Batkivschyna,

and Svoboda and the parliamentary factions

and Sovereign European Ukraine and other independent MPs.

Juridical developments

On 24 February, parliament decided to release all political prisoners, including the father and son in the Pavlichenko criminal case, and terminated the powers of five judges of the

Constitutional Court of Ukraine The Constitutional Court of Ukraine ( ua, Конституційний Суд України) is the sole body of constitutional jurisdiction in Ukraine. The Constitutional Court of Ukraine interprets the Constitution of Ukraine in terms of l ...

, appointed from parliament's quota, for violating their oath. Lawmakers also offered to dismiss, for the same reason, two judges appointed by the president of Ukraine, and called on the Council of Judges of Ukraine to convene an extraordinary congress within three days to consider dismissing five Constitutional Court judges appointed by the council. In the same resolution, parliament assigned the prosecutor general of Ukraine to begin criminal proceedings against all judges who, in the opinion of the People's Deputies of Ukraine, were guilty of adopting on 30 September 2010 a decision of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine (No. 20-rp/2010) on the procedure of introducing constitutional amendments. On 27 February, judges of the Constitutional Court sent a letter to European organizations, international organizations, and human rights institutions questioning the constitutionality of the parliamentary resolution. On 27 February, Yanukovych was accused of having stolen $70 billion from the state budget. The

arrested the former chief of its counterintelligence service, Volodymyr Byk. On 3 July 2014, former Prime Minister

was placed on the international wanted list for alleged abuse of power.

Yanukovych press conference and Russian response

On 28 February, Yanukovych attended a press conference in southern Russia and answered questions from mostly Russian reporters. He said that the early presidential elections scheduled for late May were illegal and that he "would not be participating in them". He also said that while 21 February agreement could have calmed the situation, the opposition had not agreed to it. Russia considered the overthrow of Yanukovych to be an illegal coup (and a "military seizure of power") and did not recognize the interim government.Putin on Ukraine crisis: 'It is an unconstitutional coup'

(4 March 2014) On 1 March, Russia's parliament approved a request from President

to deploy Russian troops to Ukraine. On 24 March 2014 Putin stated, referring to the 2014 Ukrainian presidential election, "We will respect the choice of the Ukrainian people and will be working with the authorities formed on the basis of this election."Ukraine defends vote despite unrest, Putin pledges 'respect'

(24 March 2014)

Ban on Russian state TV

On 11 March 2014 the instructed all cable operators to stop transmitting a number of Russian channels, including the international versions of the main state-controlled stations—

Rossiya 1 Russia-1 (russian: Россия-1) is a state-owned Russian television channel, first aired on 14 February 1956 as Programme Two in the Soviet Union. It was relaunched as RTR on 13 May 1991, and is known today as Russia-1. It is the flagship cha ...

, Channel One, and

NTV NTV may refer to: Television * NTV (Bangladesh), a Bengali-language satellite television channel in Bangladesh * NTV (India), Telugu regional channel * NTV (Kenya) * NTV (Mongolia), a television channel based in Mongolia * NTV (Newport Televis ...

—as well as Rossiya 24.

Lustration

On 26 February, Ehor Sobolev was nominated to lead the Committee on Lustration in the new Yatsenyuk government. Months later, on 14 August 2014, parliament adopted a bill that established "procedures for conducting checks of government officials and people nominated for government position with the purpose of deciding whether they meet certain criteria for occupying relevant post". The law on lustration, which excluded from government most officials who had worked in the Yanukovych administration, affected up to a million people. Volodymyr Yavorsky of the

Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group The Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group (KhPG) is one of the oldest and most active Ukrainian human rights organizations. As a legal entity, it was established in 1992, but it has been working as a human rights protection group in the Ukrainia ...

called it "unreasonable" and a "serious, systematic violations of human rights"—among other reasons, because it meant too many people would lose their jobs, including officials who could not be easily replaced.

Berkut dissolved

On 25 February, acting Interior Minister Avakov signed a decree dissolving the Berkut. In March, Russia announced that the Crimean Berkut unit would preserve its name as it was incorporated into the

Russian Interior Ministry The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation (MVD; russian: Министерство внутренних дел (МВД), ''Ministerstvo vnutrennikh del'') is the interior ministry of Russia. The MVD is responsible for law enfor ...

.Russian interior bodies created in Crimea and Sevastopol
,

ITAR-TASS The Russian News Agency TASS (russian: Информацио́нное аге́нтство Росси́и ТАСС, translit=Informatsionnoye agentstvo Rossii, or Information agency of Russia), abbreviated TASS (russian: ТАСС, label=none) ...

(25 March 2014)

Protests against the new government

According to

Cathy Young Catherine Alicia Young (born Yekaterina Jung russian: Екатерина Юнг; born February 10, 1963) is a Russian-born American journalist. Young is primarily known for her writing about feminism and other cultural issues, as well as about R ...

, in the

Antimaidan The anti-Maidan ( uk, Антимайда́н, Antymaidan; russian: Антимайдан, Antimaydan) refers to a number of pro-Russian demonstrations in Ukraine in 2013 and 2014 that were directed against Euromaidan and later the new Ukrainian ...

protests against the revolution, street posters, Internet posts, and even speeches at rallies attacked the new government as a "Jewish clique" seeking to use Ukrainians to defend the interests of wealthy Jews, and depicted the revolution as a "Zionist coup."

Southern and Eastern Ukraine

The pro-Russian Ukrainian Front organisation held a meeting on 22 February with representatives from southern and

eastern Ukraine Eastern Ukraine or east Ukraine ( uk, Східна Україна, Skhidna Ukrayina; russian: Восточная Украина, Vostochnaya Ukraina) is primarily the territory of Ukraine east of the Dnipro (or Dnieper) river, particularly Khar ...

. Andriy Kluyev, an organiser of the event, said the group intended to discuss the federalisation of the country into semi-autonomous regions. Following the agreement with the opposition and measures passed by parliament, Yanukovych flew from Kyiv to

Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.Yuriy Lutsenko Yuriy Vitaliyovych Lutsenko ( uk, Юрій Віталійович Луценко; born 14 December 1964) is a Ukrainian politician whose most recent post was Prosecutor General of Ukraine from 12 May 2016 Mikhail Dobkin Mykhailo Markovych Dobkinrussian: Михаил Маркович Добкин, translit=Mikhail Markovich Dobkin (born 26 January 1970) is a Ukrainian politician, former governor of Kharkiv Oblast, former mayor of Kharkiv,

of Kharkiv and Mayor

Hennadiy Kernes Hennadiy Adolfovych Kernesrussian: Генна́дий Адо́льфович Ке́рнес, translit=Gennady Adolfovich Kernes (27 June 1959 – 17 December 2020) was a Ukrainian politician who was the Mayor of Kharkiv from 2010 until his deat ...

for advocating separatism. At the Congress of the Southern and Eastern regions in Kharkiv on 22 February, the deputies passed a resolution declaring that they were ready to take responsibility for protecting constitutional order in their territory. They stated that the recent events in Kyiv had paralyzed the central government and destabilised the country. They also signed a statement rejecting the authority of parliament. The Interior Ministry reported that Governor Dobkin and Mayor Kernes then fled to Russia. On 23 February, parliament adopted a

bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...

to repeal the country's law on minority languages. If signed by the president, the bill would have disestablished Russian as a minority language of Ukraine, although regions like Crimea are populated by a Russian-speaking majority. ''

The Christian Science Monitor ''The Christian Science Monitor'' (''CSM''), commonly known as ''The Monitor'', is a nonprofit news organization that publishes daily articles in electronic format as well as a weekly print edition. It was founded in 1908 as a daily newspaper ...

'' reported that the bill "only served to infuriate Russian-speaking regions, hosaw the move as more evidence that the antigovernment protests in Kyiv that toppled Yanukovych's government were intent on pressing for a nationalistic agenda." Acting President Turchynov vetoed the bill on 28 February. Also on 23 February, clashes erupted in Kharkiv between thousands of equally sized pro- and anti-government rallies, and Mayor Kernes was blocked from entering the City Council building. Pro-Russian protesters stood guard over the statue of

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...

in the city center, but the deputy head of the Regional State Administration announced that the city would dismantle the statue regardless on 25 February. On 24 February, acting Interior Minister Avakov announced that a criminal case had been launched against Yevhen Zhylin, leader of the Kharkiv-based anti-Euromaidan organisation Oplot. On 1 March, thousands of people in

Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.Donetsk Donetsk ( , ; uk, Донецьк, translit=Donets'k ; russian: Донецк ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin and Stalino (see also: Names of European cities in different languages (C–D), cities' alternat ...

Simferopol Simferopol () is the second-largest city in the Crimea, Crimean Peninsula. The city, along with the rest of Crimea, is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine, and is considered the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. However, ...

Odesa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrati ...

Melitopol Melitopol ( uk, Меліто́поль, translit=Melitópol’, ; russian: Мелитополь; based on el, Μελιτόπολις - "honey city") is a List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Zaporizhz ...

Yevpatoria Yevpatoria ( uk, Євпаторія, Yevpatoriia; russian: Евпатория, Yevpatoriya; crh, , , gr, Ευπατορία) is a city of regional significance in Western Crimea, north of Kalamita Bay. Yevpatoria serves as the administrative ...

Kerch Kerch ( uk, Керч; russian: Керчь, ; Old East Slavic: Кърчевъ; Ancient Greek: , ''Pantikápaion''; Medieval Greek: ''Bosporos''; crh, , ; tr, Kerç) is a city of regional significance on the Kerch Peninsula in the east of t ...

, and

Mariupol Mariupol (, ; uk, Маріу́поль ; russian: Мариу́поль) is a city in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. It is situated on the northern coast (Pryazovia) of the Sea of Azov, at the mouth of the Kalmius River. Prior to the 2022 Russian i ...

protested against the new government. Public surveys in April revealed that most people in Ukraine's eastern regions considered all levels of the government illegitimate. Half of respondents believed that President Turchynov was "illegally occupying his post". Roughly half held the same opinion about the central government led by Prime Minister Yatsenyuk. However, nearly 70% agreed that Yanukovych was also not the legal president of the country.

Crimea

Following the Ukrainian revolution, a secession crisis began in the

Crimean Peninsula Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a po ...

. On 1 March 2014, Yanukovych put into writing his request that President Putin of Russia send military forces "to establish legitimacy, peace, law and order, stability and defending the people of Ukraine". On the same day, Putin requested and received authorization from the Russian parliament to deploy troops to Ukraine in response to the crisis. Russian troops accordingly mobilized throughout Crimea and the southeast of Ukraine. By 2 March, Russian troops had complete control over Crimea.

Destruction of Soviet monuments

The monument to the Russian field marshal

Mikhail Kutuzov Prince Mikhail Illarionovich Golenishchev-Kutuzov ( rus, Князь Михаи́л Илларио́нович Голени́щев-Куту́зов, Knyaz' Mikhaíl Illariónovich Goleníshchev-Kutúzov; german: Mikhail Illarion Golenishchev-Kut ...

was demolished in the city of

Brody Brody ( uk, Броди; russian: Броды, Brodï; pl, Brody; german: Brody; yi, בראָד, Brod) is a city in Zolochiv Raion of Lviv Oblast (province) of western Ukraine. It is located in the valley of the upper Styr River, approximately ...

in western Ukraine. The militant group

was blamed for much of the destruction. In addition, a statue honouring Soviet soldiers was removed from the western Ukrainian city of

Stryi Stryi ( uk, Стрий, ; pl, Stryj) is a city located on the left bank of the river Stryi in Lviv Oblast (region) of western Ukraine 65 km to the south of Lviv (in the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains). It serves as the administrative cen ...

. In early December 2013, unknown activists partially painted in red and black (similar to the flag of the nationalistic

Ukrainian Insurgent Army The Ukrainian Insurgent Army ( uk, Українська повстанська армія, УПА, translit=Ukrayins'ka povstans'ka armiia, abbreviated UPA) was a Ukrainian nationalist paramilitary and later partisan formation. During World ...

) a statue honouring the workers of the Arsenal factory in Kyiv who died in 1918. On 28 February, a monument dedicated to

Soviet forces The Soviet Armed Forces, the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union and as the Red Army (, Вооружённые Силы Советского Союза), were the armed forces of the Russian SFSR (1917–1922), the Soviet Union (1922–1991), and th ...

who fought in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and one dedicated to Soviet soldiers who fought in Afghanistan, both in the city of

, were vandalized and painted with nationalistic slogans. On its English-language Twitter account, the Russian Foreign Ministry described the targeting of Russian- and Soviet-built monuments as "

Russophobic Anti-Russian sentiment, commonly referred to as Russophobia, is dislike or fear of Russia, the Russians, Russian culture. or Russian policy. The Collins English Dictionary defines it as intense and often irrational hatred of Russia. It is the ...

vandalism" and an "outrage", and demanded that it be stopped.

Economic

In May 2014, the International Monetary Fund disbursed US$3.2 billion to stabilise Ukraine. The European Union required Ukraine to secure this aid package from the IMF in order to obtain about 1.6 billion euros pledged under the recently signed Ukraine-EU Association Agreement.

Sports

On 19 February 2014,

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

announced that it had decided to change the venue of the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League

Round of 32 A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

match between

Dynamo Kyiv Football Club Dynamo Kyiv (, ) is a Ukrainian professional football club based in Kyiv. Founded in 1927 as a Kyivan football team of republican branch of the bigger Soviet Dynamo Sports Society, the club as a separate business entity was officia ...

and

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

from

Olympic Stadium ''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games. An Olympic stadium is the site of the opening and closing ceremonies. Many, though not all, of these venues actually contain the words ''Olympic Stadium'' as ...

in Kyiv to

GSP Stadium Gymnastic Club "The Pancyprians" Stadium (GSP Stadium) ( el, Στάδιο Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος "Τα Παγκύπρια") is a football stadium in Strovolos, Nicosia District, Cyprus. Although small by international standar ...

, in

Nicosia Nicosia ( ; el, Λευκωσία, Lefkosía ; tr, Lefkoşa ; hy, Նիկոսիա, romanized: ''Nikosia''; Cypriot Arabic: Nikusiya) is the largest city, capital, and seat of government of Cyprus. It is located near the centre of the Mesaor ...

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

, because of the riots in Kyiv. Dynamo Kyiv and the other clubs competing in the Round of 32 held a minute of silence for the victims in Kyiv before the match, and the athletes played wearing mourning armbands. On 25 February, subsequent games of the 2013–14 Ukrainian Basketball SuperLeague were postponed. On 26 February, the second part of the 2013–14 Ukrainian Premier League was suspended because of the situation in the country. On 3 March, a scheduled friendly match between the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.Nicosia Nicosia ( ; el, Λευκωσία, Lefkosía ; tr, Lefkoşa ; hy, Նիկոսիա, romanized: ''Nikosia''; Cypriot Arabic: Nikusiya) is the largest city, capital, and seat of government of Cyprus. It is located near the centre of the Mesaor ...

because of safety concerns regarding potential instability in

Kharkiv Oblast Kharkiv Oblast ( uk, Харківська́ о́бласть, translit=Kharkivska oblast), also referred to as Kharkivshchyna ( uk, Ха́рківщина), is an oblast (province) of eastern Ukraine. The oblast borders Russia to the north, Luhans ...

. Three

HC Donbass Hockey Club Donbass ( uk, Хокейний Клуб Донбас; russian: link=no, Хоккейный Клуб Донбасс, '' tr. Hokeinyi Klub Donbas'') is a Ukrainian professional ice hockey team based in Druzhkivka, currently playing in th ...

home KHL playoff games were moved from

Druzhba Arena Druzhba Arena was an indoor arena in Donetsk, Ukraine. It was built to develop hockey in the region. It was destroyed in May 2014. History Druzhba was built in 1975 as Druzhba Palace of Sports, by a standard design (dated 1956), with a seati ...

Slovnaft Arena The Ondrej Nepela Arena ( sk, Zimný Štadión Ondreja Nepelu) (also known as ''Orange Arena'' during the 2011 IIHF Championship, or as ''Slovnaft Arena'') is an indoor arena in Bratislava, Slovakia. It is primarily used for ice hockey and it ...

Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approxim ...

, Slovakia. After playing Game 7 of their first-round series against Dinamo Riga and Games 3 and 4 in the second round against Lev Praha in Bratislava, the Slovak capital, the team returned to Donetsk for the sixth game of the series against Lev.

Public opinion

A December 2016 survey by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology found that 34 percent of respondents in the government-controlled Ukraine regarded the change in power as an "illegal armed coup", while 56 percent regarded it as a "popular revolution".

Signing of the European Union–Ukraine Association Agreement

The

First Yatsenyuk Government The first government headed by Arseniy Yatsenyuk was created in Ukraine on 27 February 2014 in the aftermath of the Revolution of Dignity. The cabinet was formed as a coalition of the Batkivschyna, UDAR and Svoboda political parties, the Econo ...

signed on 21 March 2014 the

European Union–Ukraine Association Agreement The European Union–Ukraine Association Agreement is a European Union Association Agreement between the European Union (EU), the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom), Ukraine and the EU's 28 member states at the time (which are separate pa ...

with the DCFTA to be signed after the presidential election in May 2014.

Suicides of former officials

After

, eight former officials tied to Yanukovych's

were found to have committed suicide. When ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...

'' in summer 2015 approached the General Prosecutor's Office about the deaths, the office initially replied that all information about them was a state secret. The prosecutor's office later said that four of the deaths were being investigated as murders; a suspect was also charged with murder in a fifth case, the death of prosecutor Sergei Melnychuk.

Casualties

After the first day of clashes, 26 people were reported dead: 16 protesters and 10 police officers. Those hospitalised included three minors, five journalists, and 79 police officers. According to

Olga Bogomolets Olha Bohomolets ( uk, Ольга Вадимівна Богомолець, Olha Vadymivna Bohomolets, russian: Ольга Вадимовна Богомолец, Olga Vadimovna Bogomolets; born March 22, 1966) is a Ukrainian physician, singer and ...

, an honored doctor of Ukraine, "snipers were aiming at heart, lungs and neck".

Deaths

From 18 to 19 February, the official death toll according to the Ministry of Healthcare was 28, of whom 10 were police and Berkut troops. By 13:00 on 20 February, at least 34 more protesters had been fatally shot by the police, with reporters verifying the bodies (15 at the Kozatsky Hotel, 12 at the

Hotel Ukraine Hotel Ukraine ( ua, Готель Україна), also referred to as Hotel Ukrayina, is a four-star hotel located in central Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. It was built in 1961 as the Hotel "Moscow" in a location which originally was occupied by ...

, 7 at the Central Post Office). In the early afternoon, ''Kyiv Post'' journalists reported a further eight bodies on Khreshchatyk Street. According to the coordinator of medical services on Independence Square, Oleh Musiy, between 70 and 100 protesters had been killed by 17:30 on 20 February. Meanwhile, the Kyiv City State Administration reported 67 deaths based on the number of bodies delivered to forensics. The Ministry of Healthcare reported 75 deaths since the start of the conflict.

Speculation on snipers

reported that officials had intercepted a telephone call between Foreign Minister

Urmas Paet Urmas Paet (born 20 April 1974) is an Estonian politician and Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Estonia. He is a member of the Reform Party, part of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe. He has served as Minister of Fore ...

of Estonia and

High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (HR/VP) is the chief co-ordinator and representative of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) within the European Union (EU). The position is currently held ...

Catherine Ashton in which Paet relayed a doctor's testimony that the sniper killings of protesters and Berkut troops had been committed by the same people. Paet later asserted that he had not been implying that the opposition was involved, but merely relaying the content of the doctor's testimony.

, the doctor who allegedly claimed that protesters and Berkut troops had come under fire from the same source, said that she had not made such a claim to Mr. Paet; that she had not implied that the opposition was involved in the killings; and that the government had informed her that an investigation was underway.

—a former deputy head of Ukraine's main security agency, the SBU, and of the

Ministry of Internal Affairs An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...

(MIA)—suggested in an interview published in the Ukrainian newspaper ''Dzerkalo Tizhnya'' that snipers from the MIA and SBU, not foreign agents, were responsible for the shootings and had acted on contingency plans dating back to Soviet times. He said: "In addition to this, snipers received orders to shoot not only protesters, but also police forces. This was all done in order to escalate the conflict, in order to justify the police operation to clear Maidan." He further suggested that the current minister of internal affairs, Avakov, and the chairman of the SBU, Nalivaichenko, were protecting the personnel who actually planned and carried out the killings, in order to prevent backlash against the ministry and to avoid a loss of prestige. Avakov said that the conflict had been provoked by a "non-Ukrainian" third party and that an investigation was ongoing. On 31 March 2014, ''

The Daily Beast ''The Daily Beast'' is an American news website focused on politics, media, and pop culture. It was founded in 2008. It has been characterized as a "high-end tabloid" by Noah Shachtman, the site's editor-in-chief from 2018 to 2021. In a 20 ...

'' published photos and videos showing that the snipers were members of the SBU's "anti-terrorist" Alpha unit who had been trained in Russia. The media suggested that it was not the Ukrainian riot police who fired on the protesters, as previously believed, although the members of the Alpha team are Ukrainian citizens. Ukrainian mass medias reported the results of forensic examinations, according to which, the government police Berkut was implicated in the murders of maidan protesters since, according to these forensic examinations, matches were found between the bullets extracted from the bodies of maidan protesters and the weapons of the government police Berkut. The experts explained why no match between the bullets and the weapons, which had been assigned to the Berkut special force, had been found as a result of the examination of the bullets held in January 2015, whereas the examination carried out in December of the same year had showed such a match.

Foreign involvement

Russian involvement

Signing 17 December 2013 Ukrainian-Russian action plan

The perception that Yanukovych was trying to establish closer ties with Russia played a major role in the protests. Yanukovych accepted "bail-out" money—$2 billion out of a $15 billion package—from Russia, and this was interpreted as a sign that he would seek close ties with Putin. Russian officials had been pressuring the Ukrainian administration to take decisive action to crush the protests, and the police assault on Euromaidan protesters was ordered hours after the $2 billion from Russia was transferred. Several government ministers from across Europe blamed Russia for exacerbating the violence. In an interview on 20 February, a retired colonel of the Main Intelligence Directorate of Russia (GRU), Aleksandr Musienko, said that the conflict could only be solved by force, and that Ukraine had proven it could not exist as an independent, sovereign state.Massacre in Kiev: the truth in power?
Pravda.ru (original source). 20 February 2014. Pravda.ru. 20 February 2014 According to government documents released by Ukrainian former Deputy Interior Minister

, Russian officials served as advisers to the operations against protesters. Code-named "Wave" and "Boomerang", the operations involved the use of snipers to disperse crowds and capture the protesters' headquarters in the House of Trade Unions. Before some police officers defected, the plans included the deployment of 22,000 combined security troops in Kyiv. According to the documents, the former first deputy of the Russian GRU stayed at the Kyiv Hotel, played a major role in the preparations, and was paid by the Security Services of Ukraine. According to

, the authenticity of the documents could not be confirmed. Interior Minister

Arsen Avakov Arsen Borysovych Avakov hy, Արսեն Բորիսի Ավակով (born 2 January 1964) is a Ukrainian politician and businessman. From 2014 to 2021 he was Ukraine's Minister of Internal Affairs, first being appointed in the first cabinet of P ...

said that the conflict had been provoked by a "non-Ukrainian" third party and that an investigation was ongoing. On 21 February, after a failed crackdown that killed as many as 100 people, Yanukovych made some concessions. In response, Prime Minister

Dmitry Medvedev Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev ( rus, links=no, Дмитрий Анатольевич Медведев, p=ˈdmʲitrʲɪj ɐnɐˈtolʲjɪvʲɪtɕ mʲɪdˈvʲedʲɪf; born 14 September 1965) is a Russian politician who has been serving as the dep ...

of Russia said that Yanukovych needed to stop behaving like a "doormat", and that further loan installments would be withheld. A Russian political adviser,

Sergey Markov Sergey Leonidovich Markov (russian: Серге́й Леони́дович Ма́рков) ( – June 25, 1918), was an Imperial Russian Army general, and became one of the founders of the Volunteer Army counterrevolutionary force of the White m ...

, said, "Russia will do everything allowable by law to stop he oppositionfrom coming to power." On 24 February, Russia's Foreign Ministry issued a statement urging Ukrainians to "crack down on the extremists who are trying to get established in power", and Medvedev refused to recognise Ukraine's provisional government as legitimate. During a press conference on 3 April 2014, Ukraine's new interior minister, chief prosecutor, and top security chief implicated more than 30 Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) agents in the crackdown on protesters, saying that, in addition to taking part in the planning, the agents had flown shipments of large quantities of explosives into an airport near Kyiv. Valentyn Nalyvaichenko, the interim head of the

(SBU), said the agents had been stationed in Kyiv throughout the

protests, had been provided with "state telecommunications" while residing at an SBU compound, and had kept in regular contact with Ukrainian security officials. "We have substantiated grounds to consider that these very groups which were located at an SBU training ground took part in the planning and execution of activities of this so-called antiterrorist operation," Nalyvaichenko said. Investigators, he added, had established that Yanukovych's SBU chief, Oleksandr Yakymenko, who later fled the country, had received reports from FSB agents stationed in Ukraine, and that Yakymenko had held several briefings with the agents. The FSB rejected these claims as "groundless accusations" and otherwise refused to comment.

United States involvement

In December 2013, Republican Senator

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms ...

in company with Democratic senator

Chris Murphy Christopher Scott Murphy (born August 3, 1973) is an American lawyer, author, and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Connecticut since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served in the United States Hou ...

visited Yatsenyuk and Tyahnybok and later addressed the crowds:

Ukraine will make Europe better and Europe will make Ukraine better, we are here to support your just cause, the sovereign right of Ukraine to determine its own destiny freely and independently. And the destiny you seek lies in Europe.

Speaking to CNN on the same day, McCain said:

What we're trying to do is try to bring about a peaceful transition here, that would stop the violence and give the Ukrainian people what they unfortunately have not had, with different revolutions that have taken place – a real society. This is a grassroots revolution here – it's been peaceful except when the government tried to crack down on them, and the government hasn't tried that since. I'm praising their ability and their desire to demonstrate peacefully for change that I think they deserve. ..These people love the United States of America, they love freedom – and I don't think you could view this as anything other than our traditional support for people who want free and democratic society.

In a recorded phone conversation leaked on 4 February, Assistant Secretary of State

Victoria Nuland Victoria Jane Nuland (born July 1, 1961) is an American diplomat currently serving as Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs. Nuland, a former member of the foreign service, served as the Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eur ...

and US Ambassador to Ukraine

Geoffrey Pyatt Geoffrey Ross Pyatt (born November 16, 1963)Welcome, Mr. Pyatt!
, ''Den (ne ...

are heard discussing their wishes for a Ukraine transition to an interim government, and specifically, the roles in which they hoped to see the prominent opposition leaders:

Nuland: "I don't think Klitsch (Klitschko) should go into the government. I don't think it's necessary, I don't think it's a good idea." Pyatt: "Just let him stay out and do his political homework and stuff." Nuland: "I think Yats (Yatsenyuk) is the guy who's got the economic experience the governing experience. I just think Klitsch going in… he's going to be at that level working for Yatseniuk, it's just not going to work. We want to try to get somebody with an international personality to come out here and help to midwife this thing."

Nuland was also recorded in the same conversation saying, "Fuck the EU," dismissively referring to slow-moving European efforts to address political paralysis and a looming fiscal crisis in Ukraine.Gearan, Anne
In recording of U.S. diplomat, blunt talk on Ukraine
''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', 6 February 2014.

Notes

References

{{Subject bar , portal2=European Union , portal3=Society , portal4=Ukraine , commons=yes , commons-search=Euromaidan Euromaidan Protests in Ukraine Revolutions in Ukraine Riots and civil disorder in Ukraine 2014 in Ukraine Conflicts in 2014 21st-century revolutions Anti-communism in Ukraine History of Ukraine since 1991 Massacres in Ukraine Modern history of Ukraine Political history of Ukraine Ukrainian democracy movements Ukrainian nationalism Russia–Ukraine relations Ukraine–European Union relations Wars involving Russia Wars involving Ukraine Articles containing video clips 2010s in Kyiv February 2014 events in Europe