Ten years ago, thousands of Ukrainians gathered in Kyiv’s Independence Square to demand a European future for their country. Their actions set into motion a decade of revolution, turmoil and conflict, culminating in Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022.
A decade on from the protests, Ukraine’s path in the European Union is set to be decided at an upcoming summit in Brussels.
Euromaidan
In late November 2013, under intense pressure from Russia, Ukraine’s then-President Viktor Yanukovych pulled out of signing an association agreement with the European Union, opting instead to sign a loan and energy deal with Moscow.
His decision triggered fury among Ukrainians who dreamed of a democratic future in the EU, outside the political orbit of Russia. Thousands of protesters filled Kyiv’s Maidan Square, waving the twin blue and gold colors of the Ukrainian and European Union flags.
“Living under Yanukovych in Ukraine was humiliating. Nobody cared about the people. The authorities didn’t hide their criminal, completely pro-Russian nature,” said Dmytro Riznychenko, who took part in the demonstrations. “We wanted to find human dignity. We wanted freedom.”
“Revolution of dignity”
After several days of peaceful protests, Ukrainian police converged to clear Independence Square in a brutal crackdown on the show of dissent. In response, thousands more Ukrainians joined the protests from across the country. In the grip of winter, central Kyiv was barricaded by the demonstrators, as riot police formed lines to protect government buildings.
Heavily armed riot police tried to take back control of the capital in February 2014. In the violence, 108 protesters were killed, with dozens shot by police snipers. A global outcry triggered the resignation of Yanukovych, who fled to Russia.
The events became known as Ukraine’s “revolution of dignity.” Its victims are commemorated via memorials in Independence Square.
Russian invasion
Olga Tokariuk, who now works for the British policy group Chatham House, took part in the Euromaidan demonstrations.
“We had no idea what was ahead,” she told VOA. “Of course, we could not have imagined that there would be Russia’s invasion and that there would be war that would last for nine years already, that there would be Russia’s full-scale invasion, that millions of Ukrainians would have to leave their homes. Thousands would be killed in this war. Many of the people who were on the square in Maidan would be killed in this war.”
Russia forcefully annexed Crimea in March 2014, and fomented a separatist war in eastern Ukraine, a prelude to its full-scale invasion eight years later.
“Buffer zone”
Ukraine elected a pro-Western government following the revolution and demanded EU membership. But Brussels said Ukraine wasn’t ready — and that proved fateful, says Tokariuk.
“Ukraine paid a huge price for its desire to be a part of the European family, where it rightfully belongs. And unfortunately for a very long time, Ukraine was denied this possibility. Ukraine was kept in this back room somehow in, in limbo. Ultimately, that’s what compelled Russia to invade Ukraine on a large scale. It was left as a buffer zone,” Tokariuk said.
Ukraine is now engaged in a full-scale war against Russia. More than 10,000 civilians have been killed since Moscow’s invasion in February 2022.
EU summit
At a summit in Brussels next month, European leaders will decide whether to begin formal negotiations on Ukraine’s EU accession. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says it is his country’s destiny.
“Twenty years ago, it was a romantic dream. Ten years ago, it was an ambitious goal. And today it is a reality in which it is no longer possible to stop our progress,” he said in a televised address Tuesday, on the anniversary of the Euromaidan protests.
Visiting Kyiv to mark the anniversary, Charles Michel, the president of the European Council, offered his support and urged the EU’s 27 member states to back Ukraine’s membership.
“Ukraine’s progress has been remarkable, especially during a full-blown war, and it continues to get closer to the EU,” Michel said. “Enlargement is a strategic investment for the EU — so it’s been for peace, prosperity and democratic values. I want to be clear I intend to do everything to convince my 27 colleagues that we need a positive decision in December.”
European hopes
It’s vital that the EU offers Ukraine hope for the future, said analyst Olga Tokariuk.
“It was a huge mistake to keep Ukraine in this waiting room for such a long time. So only with Ukraine fully integrated into the European Union — but also into NATO — peace is possible on the entire European continent. It will be blow to Russia, of course, because that would mean that Ukraine has once and for good departed from the so-called Russian sphere of influence,” Tokariuk said.
Ten years since the Euromaidan protests, Ukraine has suffered death and destruction on a scale few could have imagined.
“Because the sequence of events that followed was so dramatic and so tragic, I think myself — and many people who were there at Maidan — we ask ourselves occasionally, was it worth it? You know, if we knew what would follow, would we still go out to the square and protest? And the answer in most cases is ‘yes,’” Tokariuk told VOA.
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