Russia-Ukraine War | [2022] - Britannica

The toppling of the Yanukovych government and the invasion of Crimea

From November 2013 to late February 2014, protesters gathered on Kyiv’s Maidan Nezalezhnosti (“Independence Square”) in a series of demonstrations that came to be known as the Euromaidan. Those protests involved several distinct stages, culminating in the removal of Pres. Viktor Yanukovych, which in turn precipitated a violent separatist movement in the eastern regions of the country.

In late November 2013 Yanukovych had signaled his willingness to sign an association agreement with the European Union. In return, the Europeans demanded that he release opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko from prison and initiate constitutional and legal reforms. After a visit with Russian Pres. Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Yanukovych opted not to sign the agreement. It seemed that Ukraine would commit itself to the Eurasian Economic Union, a Russian-led EU analogue that would include Kazakhstan and Belarus as members when it came into existence on January 1, 2015.

Within hours of Yanukovych’s about-face, protesters took to the streets. They were mainly young people, alerted by social networks and text messages, and they soon established a camp on the Maidan. Although the level of daily participation fluctuated over time, every Sunday masses converged on the Maidan; at the action’s peak, 500,000 gathered in central Kyiv. The authorities initially deployed the Berkut riot police without serious confrontations, but on the night of November 30 the order was given to clear the square by force. Dozens were injured in the ultimately ineffective effort, and the protests were reenergized by the assault.

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On December 16 Putin offered Ukraine $15 billion in loans and reduced gas prices to offset a shortfall in the country’s finances that had been sparked by the near depletion of its hard currency reserves. The parliament enacted draconian anti-protest laws on January 16, 2014, that limited freedom of speech and assembly, outlawed nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and established a virtual dictatorship under Yanukovych. Though they were repealed only 12 days later, the measures steeled the protesters. In an effort to preserve his rule, Yanukovych removed Prime Minister Mykola Azarov and offered government posts to opposition leaders Arseniy Yatsenyuk and Vitali Klitschko, but both declined.

The government brought gangs of armed men to Kyiv from other cities, principally Kharkiv and Donetsk. They burned cars, beat protesters, and kidnapped prominent journalists. On the opposition side, local militias formed, based partly on rightist groups such as Right Sector. The average protesters were no longer the 20-something students but more-hardened 30- and 40-year-olds, many from western Ukraine. Pro-Euromaidan activists took over government buildings in Kyiv and throughout Ukraine.

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On February 18 more than 20 people were killed in clashes with police, but that was merely a hint of what was to come. Two days later the center of Kyiv became a battleground. Government snipers fired on protesters from the roofs of buildings, killing at least 80 and wounding hundreds. Amid the chaos the Maidan protesters held their ground. On February 21 a group of EU foreign ministers arrived in Kyiv to broker a deal between Yanukovych and parliamentary opposition leaders. The parties agreed to form a government of “national unity” within 10 days, implement constitutional reforms to reduce the powers of the presidency—reinstating the constitution of 2004—and hold new presidential elections by December 31. Yanukovych would remain president until those elections were held. The opposition leaders agreed to the deal, and Putin, in a telephone conversation with U.S. Pres. Barack Obama, appeared to support it. The following day, however, Yanukovych fled Kyiv. The parliament responded by stripping him of his office, ordering the release of Tymoshenko from prison, and appointing Oleksandr Turchynov acting president. New presidential elections were called for May 25.

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On February 27 heavily armed troops—who were dubbed “little green men” for the lack of insignia on their uniforms—took over the parliament and government buildings in Simferopol in the Ukrainian autonomous republic of Crimea. After numerous implausible denials by the Kremlin, these gunmen were later confirmed to be Russian personnel. They installed a new prime minister, Sergey Aksyonov, whose party had received only about 4 percent of the vote in the most recent elections. Members of the self-declared Crimean militia, backed by 25,000 troops and sailors attached to the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol, took over government buildings and military installations, forcing the surprised Ukrainian units to surrender. The covert invasion and illegal annexation of Crimea was given a sheen of legitimacy by a widely criticized referendum on March 16, during which it was reported that more than 95 percent of voters supported joining the Russian Federation.

On April 2 Putin formally revoked the 2010 Kharkiv Accords, suspending the discount on Russian natural gas that Ukraine had received in exchange for basing rights in Crimea. He celebrated Victory Day, a holiday marking the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany, with a visit to Sevastopol on May 9. Putin maintained that a pro-Nazi junta had taken power in Ukraine and was targeting Russian speakers. These statements were supported by scant evidence but were nevertheless repeated at length over subsequent years. Propaganda in the Russian media reached absurd heights.