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crisis?
Gumuchian, CNN
Ukrainian demonstrators gather in Kiev's Maidan, or Independence Square, on February 21, 2014, a da
after the bloodiest day of revolution protests. Nearly 50 activists were killed and hundreds more injured
in clashes in the square on February 20, 2014. The street protests soon led to the ouster of pro-Russian
President Viktor Yanukovych and triggered a chain of events that included Russia's annexation of
Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and ghting in Eastern Ukraine with pro-Russian separatist forces.
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will leave only when you pull closer to the European Union,
Ukraine has been rattled by anti-government when you change the constitution, when you alter the
government's power structure, they have loudly insisted.
But why?
Ukraine is split: Some want to align more with the government resisted their calls so vehemently?
The opposition has also pushed to shift power 1. What prompted the protests?
European Union. But on November 21, he decided to suspend talks with the EU.
The deal, the EU's "Eastern Partnership," would have created closer political ties and generated economic
growth. It would have opened borders to trade and set the stage for modernization and inclusion, supporters
He had his reasons. Chief among them was Russia's opposition to it. Russia threatened its much smaller
neighbor with trade sanctions and steep gas bills if Ukraine forged ahead. If Ukraine didn't, and instead joined
a Moscow-led Customs Union, it would get deep discounts on natural gas, Russia said.
Yes, a more personal one. Yanukovych also was facing a key EU demand that he was unwilling to meet: Free
former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, his bitter political opponent. Two years ago, she was found guilty of
abuse of o\ce in a Russian gas deal and sentenced to seven years in prison, in a case widely seen as
politically motivated. Her supporters say she needs to travel abroad for medical treatment.
Many Ukrainians were outraged. They took to the streets, demanding that Yanukovych sign the EU deal. Their
numbers swelled. The demonstrations drew parallels to Ukraine's 2004 Orange Revolution, which booted
It's not just one gure, but a coalition. The best known gure is Vitali Klitschko. He's a former world champion
boxer (just like his brother Wladimir). Klitschko heads the Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reforms party. But
the oppositon bloc goes well beyond Klitschko and the UDAR. There's also Arseniy Yatsenyuk. (More on him
later.)
In a way that inamed passions further. He ew to Moscow, where he and Russian President Vladimir Putin
announced Russia would buy $15 billion in Ukrainian debt and slash the price Kiev pays for its gas. And then,
when the demonstrations showed no signs of dying down, he adopted a sweepting anti-protest law.
The law barred people from wearing helmets and masks to rallies and from setting up tents or sound
equipment without prior police permission. This sparked concerns it could be used to put down
demonstrations and deny people the right to free speech -- and clashes soon escalated. The demonstrators
took over City Hall for the better part of three months.
Yes, ultimately it was. Amid intense pressure, deputies loyal to Yanukovych backtracked and overturned it. But
by then, the protests had become about something much bigger: constitutional reform.
The protesters want to see a change in the government's overall power structure. They feel that too much
power rests with Yanukovych and not enough with parliament.
In late January, the President odered a package of concessions under which Yatsenyuk, the opposition leader,
would have become the prime minister and, under the President's oder, been able to dismiss the government.
He also odered Klitschko the post of deputy prime minister on humanitarian issues. He also agreed to a
working group looking at changes to the constitution. But the opposition refused.
The concessions weren't enough to satisfy them. They said Yanukovych had hardly loosened his grip on the
government, nor had he seemingly reined in authorities' approach to protesters. "We're nishing what we
started," Yatsenyuk said.
13. But over the weekend, it seemed things were getting better, weren't they?
Yes. On Sunday, protesters vacated Kiev's City Hall, unblocked a major street and left other government
buildings in exchange for the government dropping charges against those arrested. But any breakthrough was
a distant memory by Tuesday.
The opposition wanted to introduce amendments in parliament that would have limited the President's powers
and restored the constitution to what it was in 2004. But the speaker of parliament refused to allow it. Bloody
clashes followed.
Depends on whom you ask. The government pointed the nger at protesters. The opposition, in turn, blamed
the government. Regardless, it was the bloodiest day of protests up to that point; 28 people died.
Yes, the government and opposition agreed on a truce late Wednesday. But it barely took hold -- and blood
Gunre erupted Thursday at Maidan, or Independence Square, which has been ground zero for anti-
government protesters. At least 20 people died. It's unclear what prompted the gunre. Again, nger-pointing
followed: The government said protesters broke the truce; the protesters said the government did.
Top international diplomats have been trying to resolve the crisis. There's also been talk of sanctions.
Analysts warn there's little that outside pressure could do, especially if the Ukrainian military gets involved on
Street protests that started in November over a trade pact have swelled into something much bigger -- a
demand that the President loosen his grip on power and the constitution be changed. As a result, the eastern
European country is in the midst of a wave of anti-government protests, the likes of which it hasn't seen in 10
years.
There's something else: Ukraine, the biggest frontier nation separating Russia and the European Union, is
something of a pawn between Russia and the West. The EU and the U.S. think Russia wields a lot of inuence.
"My own hunch," said Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, "is this is going to continue
to escalate."
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