Antigovernment protesters near a monument to the founders of Kyiv on Independence Square in downtown Kyiv on February 19, 2014
Photo: ALEXEY FURMAN (epa)
The Sparks Of Change: Ukraine's Euromaidan Protests
Pro-European protests in Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, started five years ago -- on November 21, 2013. The early peaceful demonstrations turned into three months of confrontation between civilians and special forces. Dozens of people were killed and thousands were injured in a series of clashes in and around the city's central Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square). The rallies became known as the Euromaidan protests.
After pro-Russia President Viktor Yanukovych's abrupt decision to end talks on a Ukraine-European Union Association Agreement, protesters gathered on late November 21 in the main square of Ukraine's capital. In the following days, up to 100,000 Ukrainians joined the demonstrations.
The beatings on November 30 marked a turning point of the protests, with at least 79 people injured that day.
In the days following the vote in parliament, thousands gathered to protest the legislation restricting demonstrations. Hundreds were reported injured in the unrest. Protesters threw rocks and Molotov cocktails, set fire to cars and buses, and used the debris to build barricades in the streets.
Buildings, tents, and barricades burned on Kyiv's Independence Square after a day and night of clashes that left at least 18 people dead. The violence that erupted on February 18 was the worst since the start of protests in November.