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Oleksandr Yankovych - son of the President of Ukraine, one of the wealthiest businessmen in Ukraine

Майшев — Wed, 05 Feb 2014 15:12:50 GMT

Oleksandr Yankovych, adentist by training, was born in Donetsk in 1973 and, is currently one of the wealthiest businessmen in Ukraine and the second richest person in Donetsk after Rinat Akhmetov. As of November 2013 Oleksandr Yanykovych’s assets are estimated by Forbes to total $510 million.

The exponential rise of Oleksandr Yanukovych’s business empire occured in 2010–2013, when his father held the post of President of Ukraine. Prior to 2010, Mr. Oleksandr Yanukovych owned only the Management Assets Corporation, LLC (MAK, LLC) with a statutory capital of55 million UAH (less than $7 million).

The business interests of Oleksandr Yanukovych are concentrated in the Closed Joint Stock Company Ukrainian Bank of Development and the Closed Joint Stock Company Mako Holding.

1. Ukrainian Bank ofDevelopment (UBD)

CJSC Ukrainian Bank ofDevelopmentwas founded onApril 23, 2009 byDonsnabtara LLC, with as tatutory capital of 80 million UAH.
Donsnabtara LLC, which was founded in 1995, was at the time headed by Mrs. Valentyna Arbuzova, mother ofthe incumbent Vice Prime Minister ofUkraine.

Since January 27, 2011 Oleksandr Yanukovych has aquired 100% ownership overthe statutory capital ofUBD. This happened fewer than two months after Serhey Arbuzov, aclose friend ofMr. Oleksand Yanukovych, was appointedhead of theNational Bank ofUkraine. The mother ofMr. Serhey Arbuzov, Mrs. Valentyna Arbuzova has served as Head of the Executive Board ofUBDsince its creation.

Since its establishment in April 2009,UBDhas increased its capital 10 times over. In2013,UBDdoubled its capital overthe previous year. Interestingly, on December 24, 2012, Mr. Serhey Arbuzov, ason ofhead ofUBDMrs. Arbuzova, became the First Vice Prime-Minister ofUkraine.
The chronology ofUBD’scapital growth:

April 2009 — capital totaling80 million UAH
December 2010 — capital totaling111,7 million UAH
December 2011— capital totaling332,2 million UAH
December 2012— capital totaling409,3 million UAH
September 2013— capital totaling799,032 million UAH

UBD’scapital was increased through the issuance ofadditional stock, which was all bought with cash byOleksandr Yanukovych. Specifically, in May 2013UBDissued additional stock worth412 million UAH. Mr. Oleksandr Yanukovych bought the stock with his personal funds.
Meanwhile, in 2011UBD’sincreased net profit increased 17 times over 2010.

It is unclear what the origin is of the hundreds millions of cash invested by Oleksandr Yanukovych into his bank over the last three years. It could perhaps befrom activities ofMako Holding, which are described below.

The closeness of Mr. Oleksander Yanukovych to the President of Ukraine allowedUBDto get an array of extremely profitable contracts in 2010–2013 to serve and credit state institutions.

In February 2012, all employees of the central department of the Tax Service of Ukraine stopped receiving their salaries via the state-owned Ukreximbank and began receiving them via the relatively new UBD. The head of theTax Service of Ukraine, Mr. Klymenko, is known tobeagood friend of Mr. Oleksandr Yanukovych and Mr. Arbuzov, the latter who at that time was head of the National Bank of Ukraine. Each of the more than one thousand employees of the Tax Service received a«salary card» and a«deposit card» at the UBD. Each employee receiving their salary on a «salary card», had afixed amount oftheir salary transferred todeposit card. The employee had no choice about the transfer of the funds to the deposit card. In 2013UBDbecame one of several banks receiving a large portion of the «salary projects» for government employees, including those at the Ministry of the Interior and, court administrations in Kyiv and Donetsk. According to the Head ofthe Association of Ukrainian Banks, civil servants are forced to use the services ofUBDby imposition.
In 2013 UBD won as eries of public procurement contracts to provide credit to state-owned railway enterprises totaling 978 million UAH. Inparticular, onNovember 14, 2013, the state-owned Odesa Railway signed a contract with UBD to receive a line of credit in U.S. dollars of 55,61 mln UAH with a 10.5% interest rate. On November 8, 2013 the Donetsk railway signed a similar contract with UBD to receive a credit line for 55,64 million UAH.

UBD serves Mako Holding company and its subsidiaries, which are either controlled or belong to Mr. Oleksandr Yanukovych.

UBDuses the following intermediary banks for transfers inUSD and Euros:

Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas, New York, USA
PJSC Commercial Bank KHRESCHATYK
Deutsche Bank AG, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

2. Closed Joint Stock Company Mako Holding

Mako Holdingis the parent company of about 20 spectacularly successful companies in Ukraine, the Netherlands and Switzerland, most of which significantly expanded in 2010–2013, during the presidency of Mr. Viktor Yanukovych.

Oleksandr Yanukovych isthesole owner of Mako Holding CJSC, which was established on February 25, 2011 with statutory capital of 55 million UAH. The company isthe successor of the now defunct MAK LLC.MAK LLCwas registered on June 7, 2006 and was wholly owned by Oleksandr Yanukovych.
Once established in 2011Mako Holding had a negative profit on its balance sheet. In a year the company showed an official net profit totaling 197 million UAH.
On November 22, 2011Mako Holding issued an additional 450000 shares with a total value of 225 million UAH. In January 2012 Mr. Oleksandr Yanukovych officially purchased all of this stock with cash.
In September 2013 Oleksandr Yanukovych issued an interest-free loan to Mako Holding worth 150 million UAH.

Mako Holdingistheparent company ofaseries ofenergy, coal and development companies, which significantly expanded in2011–2013, specifically:

CJSC Edelveis was registered onJanuary 20, 2010 inDonetsk by MAK LLC. In 2012 Mako Holdinginvested 1,56 millionUAH in CJSC Edelveis, receiving a 99% share of Edelveis. During 2010— 2012 the company was not profitable. In 2011 Edelveisreceived 15,02% of Artemivsk Winery CJSC, which appeared to be quite profitable; Artemivsk Winery reported net profits of 13,2 million UAH, 17,7 million UAH, and 13,1 million UAH in 2010, 2011 and 2012, respectively.In June 2013 Edelveis transferred its stock inArtemivsk Winerytothe Netherlands’ based companyARTVIN Holding BV.
Edelveissince 2011 has 25% shares of Corporation Management Assets Company.
Architecture-Engineering Company Constructiv LLCwas registered in2010. Mako Holding owns 70% shares of the company; in 2012 Mako Holding invested 248,200 UAH in the company.
Mako Invest LLC was registered on November 24, 2011. Its statutory capital is5 million UAH divided between Mako Holding (51%) and Oleksandr Yanukovych (49%); in2012 «Mako Holding» invested an additional 4,04 millionUAH in Mako Invest LLC.
Mako Trading LLC was registered onDecember 7, 2011. Its statutory capital is5 million UAH divided betweenOleksandr Yanukovych (49%) and Mako Holding (51%); in2012 Mako Holding invested 43,2 million UAH inMako Trading LLC. During the first quarter of2013Mako Trading exported 370 thousand tons of energy coal with a price of 835 UAH per 1 ton (totaling 308,95 million UAH). The key beneficiary ofthe exported coal became Swiss MAKO Trading SA, which is controlled by Mako Holding a swell. Additionally, in2013Mako Trading exported coal toItalian Energy Coal SPA, Croatian Nasicecement DD and Portuguese Carbol LDA. In 2012 Mako Trading exported 200,000 tons ofcoal, which was received from state-owned enterprises Shakhterskantratsyt, Snezhnoyeantratsyt and Torezantratsyt.
Mako Activ LLC was registered on March 14, 2012. Its statutory capital is180 million UAH and is 99% controlled byMako Holding; in 2012 Mako Holdinginvested 20 million UAH in Mako Activ LLC.
Management Assets Company Corporation was registered onMarch 31, 2009. Its statutory capital is 4 million UAH, which isequally shared by Mako Holding,Edelveis LLC,Capital Building Corporation CSJC, and Ryatuvalnyk LLC.
Ryatuvalnyk LLC shares are 99% controlled by Capital Building Corporation.
Eastern Business Centre, LLCwas established on August 13, 2010. In2012 Mako Holding invested 127,3 millionUAH in the company; on April25^th, 2013 Mako Activ LLCbecame thesuccessor of Eastern Business Centre.
Capital Building Corporation, CJSC was established on December 9, 2005. Since 2010 the company had been controlled by MAK LLC; in 2012 Mako Holding invested 45,7 million UAH in Capital Building Corporation receiving 96,8% of itsshares. In August 2013 Mako Holding issued aninterest free loan totaling 20 million UAH to the Capital Building Corporation.
MAKO Holding B.V. was established on October 27, 2011 in theNetherlands by LiFe Holding AG, which was its sole shareholder until December 23, 2011, when Mako Holdingbought all shares ofthe company. The statutory capital of Mako Holding B.V.is currently 10 million Euro. In 2012 Mako Holdinginvested 105,3 millionUAH in MAKO Holding B.V., which asofDecember 31, 2012 didn’thave any employees in theNetherlands, or abroad. Mako HoldingB.V.is thesole shareholder of ARTVIN Holding BV, which owns 19% ofArtemivsk Winery. MAKO Holding B.V.isthesole shareholder of theSwitzerland based MAKO Trading SA.
Marinaservice CJSC,was registered onMay 26, 2010 by LLC MBService with an initial statutory capital of55 millionUAH. The initial statutory capital of Marinaservice CJSC was increased to64 million UAH in November 2012. Since the third quarter of 2011, Oleksandr Yanukovych became the sole owner of the company. In 2010 Marinaservice bought four historical buildings in Balaklava Bay and received from the Ministry of Transportation anopen-ended lease of hydro-technical facilities. In 2011 the company bought floating pantones, wave-breakers, administrative buildings and two apartment buildings. In total, all of the buildings in Balaklava Bay cost Marinaservice 54,6 million of UAH.In 2010 the Minisrty of Defence of Ukraine allowed the privatization of 8.4 hectares of land belonging to ship yard Metalist near Balaklava Bay and 1.8 hectar of Cape Aya, which were leased byMarinaservice. In 2011 Marinaservice leased 1.8 hectares of Balaklava Bay. On July 16, 2013 the Sevastopol city administration gave 1.32 hectares of Balaklava bay land to Marinaservice. Thus intotal, Marinaservice acquired more than 10 hectares ofprecious access tothe water near Sevastopol.

3. Donbass Rozrahunkovo Finansovyi Centr, DRFC

While UBD,Mako Holding and Mako Holding’ssubsidiaries officially belong tothe business empire of Mr. Oleksandr Yanukovych, there remain anumber ofcorporate structures with nodirect legal ownership links tothe son ofViktor Yanukovych. However, dozens ofjournalistic investigations provide evidence that Oleksandr Yanukovych istheir beneficiary owner. Thus, allegedly Mr. Yanukovych is abeneficiary owner of highly profitable DRFC LLC, which isone ofthe leading businesses inthe coal and energy sector in Ukraine.
The Association Donbass Rozrakhunkovo-Finansovyi Centre (DFRC)was established in1997 and until 2010 was controlled by Eduard Prutnik, an MP from the Party of Regions and close friend of Mr. Viktor Yanukovych.

In June 2012 the Association was reorganized intothe Public Joint Stock Company Central Enrichment Factory Comsomolska, the ownership of which is divided between 3 companies:

DRFC LLC, which invested 200,1 million UAH giving it 74,18% shares
Eastern Transport Company LLC, which invested 0,02 million UAH giving it 0,01% shares
Regional Department of State Property Fund (State), which invested 69.6 million UAH giving it 25,81% of shares

Since November 26, 2013 DRFC LLChas bought all the shares which previously belonged to the other parties.

In turn, DRFC LLCofficially belongs to Sarone Holdings Limited, a company registered in BVI, where the beneficial owner is hidden.
According to anumber of journalistic investigations Mr. Oleksandr Yanukovych has controlled the company since 2010.

In 2011 DFRC LLC won state tenders totaling to 949,3 millionsUAH.
Insummer 2012 DFRC privatized five state-owned factories that enrich coal, specifically Uzlovskaya,Chervona Zirka,Komsomolskaya,UkraineandRussia.

The factories provide services to dozens of state-owned coal mining companies and win multimillion UAH tenders.

Enrichment of excavated coal improves its quality and often coal-mines work with enrichment factories, each of which enriches anaverage of 2–2.5 million tons of coal per year.

In November 2012 the Ministry of Energy and Coal Mining contested the privatizations, claiming that it was illegal to issue more than 50% of state-owned factories’ shares to a private companyDFRC. The commercial court in Donetsk, however, issued adecision infavor ofDFRC, relying on changes inlegislation adopted in March 2012, a few months before the privatization by legislative initiative of the President Viktor Yanukovych.

DFRC has been actively buying coal from so-called «little mines» or«coal pits». According to the data of the Ministry of Energy and Coal, at least 9 mln tons of coal are produced at coal pits, which neither have safe working conditions nor provide social benefits to miners. The coal from pits ischeaper and can bepurchased for 300–400 UAH per ton, versus what the regular coal mines sell for 800–1000 UAH per ton. Taking into consideration thatDFRC sells its coal to the electric stations for 925 UAH per ton, the difference in is a pure profit for DFRC, which when combined with heavy state subsidies enables DFRC to be one of the leading companies in the coal business inUkraine.

According tojournalistic investigations conducted since April 2012 Mako Trading isacting asa guarantor ofexport operations conducted by the Chervona Zirka coal enrichment factory, which belongs to DRFC. During the first quarter of 2013 Chervona Zirka exported about 4300 tons ofcoal toPoland and the Czech Republic at a price of 820 UAH per ton.

Finally, there is one more company called LE MARE, LLC, which could be included in the list of the Yanukovychs’ business structures. Olena Yanukovych, the wife of Oleksandr Yanukovych, is owner of the company with 20 mln UAH of statutory capital. The company allegedly owns a luxurious fitness centre in Donetsk called LE-MAREE.

yanukovich.info

EUROMAIDAN. Ukrainian Regional State Administration occupations

Майшев — Mon, 27 Jan 2014 12:57:23 GMT

Ukrainian Regional State Administration (RSA) occupations that started on 23 January 2014 are an ongoing part of the Euromaidan anti-government protest movement.
Since 23 January several Western Ukrainian Oblast (province) Governor buildings and regional councils have been occupied by Euromaidan activists. Several RSA of the occupied oblasts then decided to ban the activities and symbols of the Communist Party of Ukraine and Party of Regions in their oblast.

Following a standoff between protesters and government forces in Kiev on 23 January, tensions flared as anti-government forces mobilized and overtook the Regional State Administration (RSA) of a number of western Ukrainian cities, with some forcing local governors to file letters of resignation. By the afternoon, the administrations of Lviv, Rivne and Ternopil, and Khmelnytskyi were also in the hands of thousands of revolutionary protesters.

In Lviv, the 2,000 stormed the regional state administration building shouting "Revolution!"; Oleh Salo, governor and presidential appointee, signed a letter of resignation as a result of the takeover. The mayor of Lviv, in response, declared that none of the Black Thursday laws would ever apply on the territory of Lviv.

Ternopil city council denounced the Black Thursday laws and demanded they be repealed. Activists in Khmelnytskyi erected barricades around the regional administration, surrounding the building. As a result, Khmelnytskyi local parliament demanded snap elections, the dissolution of the Berkut, and their joining of the People's Rada along with opposition groups in Kiev.

Also occupied was Cherkasy, where 20,000 would overtake the administration, but later lose ground to police. By the end of the 23rd, Lviv, Ternopil, Rivne, and Khmelnytskyi remained in control of anti-government forces. Blockades of local administrations that were not physically overtaken occurred in Sumy, Ivano-Frankivsk,Vinnytsia, Poltava, and Zhytomyr.

Prime Minister Azarov has called the occupying force not a part of the political opposition, but rather a rebellion, and president Yanukovych condemned the takeover of public buildings. Counter to the anti-government sentiment, the administration of Crimea announced that it would not respect any outcome from the Euromaidan protests or possible revolution, including if snap elections occurred.

The following day, 24 January, Ivano-Frankivsk was overtaken in its second day of pressure while its governor escaped; meanwhile in Lutsk, 5,000 surrounded the administration building and Volyn Oblast governor Borys Klimchuk resigned, and later, the councilor Volodymyr Voitovych pleaded before the people on his knees before himself resigning as well.

The administration of Chernivtsi was stormed and occupied, after which governor Mykhailo Papiev resigned. Lutsk and Uzhhorod's administrations were blockaded, in addition to standing blockades in Poltava, Vinnytsia, and Zhytomyr.

The governor of Uzhhorod's ranch burned down, and protesters dispersed for the evening with intent to reconvene the next day. In responsive measures, Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolayiv, and Zhytomyr were fortified by police. By 11 p.m., the regional state administration of Sumy was breached and occupied, but officials refused to capitulate.

On 25 January, protesters first seized the RSA of Vinnytsia; 7 police were injured in the assault which drew over 1,000 supporters, but the remainder of police stood down peacefully to the cheers of protesters; governor Ivan Movchan not resigned.

Protesters managed to occupy the RSA building in Chernihiv, demanding the resignation of the governor. Later that day, protesters occupied the chamber of the RSA in Poltava as 2,000 protesters overwhelmed 400 police, forming an impromptu parliament named Nationalna Rada.

Uzhhorod was blockaded by protesters, which was split between pro-government and anti-government factions. In Sumy, over 5,000 protested in front of but did not attempt to take the RSA building. 150 Kherson Residents block local regional state administration.

Also on 25 January regional lawmakers in Lviv voted to establish a parallel government.

On 26 January a notable shift occured in the country's east, with BBC News suggesting "unrest is spreading further into the country's east, which has traditionally had closer ties with Russia and is President Viktor Yanukovych's support base".

Protesters in Zaporizhia threatened to seize the RSA, demanding the resignation of the governor. Governor Plushenko said he would die for the Party of Regions, and that the protesters were "cowards and traitors". By 2 p.m., the crowd grew to 10,000 and attempted to storm the RSA against hundreds of police guarding the entrance; at least 5 protesters were injured as police violently dispersed the crowd using rubber bullets and batons, with the help of plain-clothed titushky wearing white armbands; over 200 were arrested.

Up to 2,000 marched on the RSA in Odessa, but were repelled by pro-government supporters and municipal barricades. In Sumy, protesters occupied the city's council building with a Batkivshchyna MP taking leadership; elsewhere, a crackdown by police occured on protesters in the city.

The first floor of the Sumy RSA was occupied but police held the remainder in the standoff; the exter Activists in Chernihiv set up a barricade, fortifying the regional administration building. 500 protesters picketed the entrance to the Mykolayiv RSA; there was suspicion that titushky enforcements were stationed inside.

50 members of the right-wing group Right Sector attempted to seize the building, but were dissuaded by the peaceful protesters. 3,000 attempted to capture the RSA in Dnipropetrovsk and were met by over 200 police; 37 were arrested.

The conflict led to instances of rioting, Titushky violently beat protesters, whom they hunted down in the streets; they also wore identifiable yellow arm bands. Dnipropetrovsk Governor Kolesnikov called the protesters 'extreme radical thugs from other regions'.

There were also mass demonstrations in Kirovohrad but the RSA was guarded by a heavy police presense; the leaders of the local UDAR and Svoboda parties were raided and arrested in their homes. In Kremenchuk (Poltava Oblast), protesters attempted to seize the city council. Some 2,000 people gathered for a people's assembly in Cherkasy, south-east of Kiev, said Unian. The crowd of over 1,000 voted for the creation of a People's Rada and gave the local governor 24 hours to resign from his post. On the early morning past midnight of the 27th, 12 were arrested for blocking the RSA. 1,000 protesters in Kiev advanced on the RSA in the capital, forming nearby but not assaulting the building. Zhytomir remained in a standoff.

Another attempt is made on Dnipropetrovsk early 27 January, but is repelled. Police announced on the 27th plans to re-take Chernihiv's regional administration. Uzhhorod remained in a standoff, but not blocked due to the police presence.

Banning of Party of Regions and the Communist party
The days after the anti-government forces had overtook their Regional State Administration (RSA) the regional councils of Ternopil and Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi and Poltava Oblast all decided to ban the activities and symbols of the Communist Party of Ukraine and Party of Regions in their Oblast (province).

Wiki

EUROMAIDAN.Protests across Ukraine

Майшев — Mon, 27 Jan 2014 12:27:05 GMT

A 24 November 2013 protest in Ivano-Frankivsk saw several thousand protestors gather at the regional administration building.
No classes were held in the universities of western Ukrainian cities such as Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk and Uzhhorod. Protests also took place in other large Ukrainian cities: Kharkiv, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Luhansk, Lviv, and Uzhhorod. The rally in Lviv in support of the integration of Ukraine into the EU was initiated by the students of local universities. This rally saw 25–30 thousand protesters gather on Prospect Svobody (Freedom Avenue) in Lviv.

The organizers planned to continue this rally 'till the 3rd Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, on 28–29 November 2013. A rally in Simferopol, which drew around 300, saw nationalists and Crimean Tatars unite to support European integration; the protesters sang both the Ukrainian national anthem and the anthem of the Ukrainian Sich Riflemen.

7 people were injured after 40 titushky (thugs) attacked a tent encampment in Dnipropetrovsk, which was ordered cleared by court order on 25 November. Officials estimated the number of attackers to be 10-15, and police did not intervene in the attacks. Similarly, police in Odessa ignored calls to stop the demolition of Euromaidan camps in the city by a group of 30, and instead removed all parties from the premises. 50 police officers and men in plain clothes also drove out a Euromaidan protest in Chernihiv the same day.

On 25 November, in Odessa, 120 police raided and destroyed a tent encampment made by protesters at 5:20 in the morning. The police detained three of the protesters, including the leader of the Odessa branch of Democratic Alliance, Alexei Chorny. All three were beaten in the police vehicle and then taken to the Portofrankovsk Police Station without their arrival being recorded. The move came after the District Administrative Court hours earlier issued a ban restricting citizens' right to peaceful assembly until New Year. The court ruling places a blanket ban on all demonstrations, the use of tents, sound equipment and vehicles until the end of the year.

On 26 November, a rally of 50 was held in Donetsk.
On 28 November, a rally was held in Yalta; university faculty who attended were pressured to resign by university officials.
On 29 November, Lviv protesters numbered some 20,000. Like in Kiev, they locked hands in a human chain, symbolically linking Ukraine to the European Union (organisers claimed that some 100 people even crossed the Ukrainian-Polish border to extend the chain to the European Union).

On 1 December, the largest rally outside of Kiev took place in Lviv by the statue of Taras Shevchenko, where over 50,000 protesters attended. Mayor Andriy Sadovy, council chairman Peter Kolody, and prominent public figures and politicians were in attendance. An estimated 300 rallied in the eastern city of Donetsk demanding that President Viktor Yanukovych and the government of Prime Minister Mykola Azarov resign. Meanwhile, in Kharkiv, thousands rallied with writer Serhiy Zhadan, during a speech, calling for revolution. The protest was peaceful.

Protesters claimed at least 4,000 attended, with other sources saying 2,000. In Dnipropetrovsk, 1,000 gathered to protest the EU agreement suspension, show solidarity with those in Kiev, and demand the resignation of local and metropolitan officials. They later marched, shouting "Ukraine is Europe" and "Revolution". EuroMaidan protests were also held in Simferopol (where 150-200 attended), and Odessa.

On 2 December, in an act of solidarity, Lviv Oblast declared a general strike in order to mobilize support for protests in Kiev, which was followed by the formal order of a general strike by the cities of Ternopil and Ivano-Frankivsk.

In Dnipropetrovsk on 3 December, a group of 300 protested in favor of European integration and demanded the resignation of local authorities, heads of local police units, and theSecurity Service of Ukraine (SBU).

On 7 December it was reported that police were prohibiting those from Ternopil and Ivano-Frankivsk from driving to Kiev.
Protests on 8 December saw record turnout in many Ukrainian cities, including several in eastern Ukraine.

On 9 December, a statue to Vladimir Lenin was destroyed in in the town of Kotovsk in Odessa Oblast. In Ternopil, Euromaidan organizers were prosecuted by authorities.

On 14 December, Euromaidan supporters in Kharkiv voiced their disapproval of authorities fencing off Freedom Square from the public by covering the metal fence in placards. They have since 5 December been the victims of theft and arson. A Euromaidan activist in Kharkiv was attacked by two men and stabbed twelve times. The assailants were unknown but activists told the Kharkiv-based civic organization Maidan that they believe the city’s mayor, Gennady Kernes, to be behind the attack.

On 22 December, 2,000 rallied in Dnipropetrovsk.
In late December, 500 marched in Donetsk. Due to the regime's hegemony in the city, '500 marchers to assemble in Donetsk is the equivalent of 50,000 in Lviv or 500,000 in Kiev.' On 5 January, marches in support of Euromaidan were held in Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Odessa, and Kharkiv; the latter three drawing several hundred and Donetsk only 100.

On 11 January, 150 activists met in Kharkiv for a general forum on uniting the nation-wide Euromaidan efforts. A church were some were meeting was stormed by over a dozenthugs, and others attacked meetings in a book store; smashing windows and deploying tear gas to stop the Maidan meetings from taking place.

On 22 January in Donetsk, two simultaneous rallies were held - one pro-Euromaidan and one pro-government. The pro-government rally attracted 600 attendees to about 100 from the Euromaidan side. Police reports claimed 5,000 attended to support the government, to only 60 from Euromaidan. In addition, approximately 150 titushky appeared and encircled the Euromaidan protesters with megaphones and began a conflict, burning wreaths and Svoboda Party flags, and shouted "down with fascists!", but were separated by police. Meanwhile, Donetsk City Council pleaded with the government to take tougher measures against Euromaidan protesters in Kiev. Reports indicated a media blackout took place in Donetsk.

In Lviv on 22 January, amid the police shootings of protesters in the capital, military barracks were surrounded by protesters. Many of the protesters included mothers whose sons are serving in the military, and pleaded with them not to deploy to Kiev.

In Vinnytsia on 22 January thousands protesters blocked the main street of the city and the traffic. Also, they brought "democracy in coffin" to the city hall, as a present to Yanukovych.

23 January Odessa city council member and Euromaidan activist Oleksandr Ostapenko's car was bombed. The Mayor of Sumy threw his support behind the Euromaidan movement on 24 January, laying blame for the civil disorder in Kiev on the Party of Regions and Communists.

Wiki

More: EUROMAIDAN in Ukraine

EUROMAIDAN. 19-26 January 2014. Hrushevskoho Street riots. (Photo, Live Stream)

Майшев — Sun, 26 Jan 2014 18:52:00 GMT

On 19 January, Sunday mass protest, the ninth in a row, took place gathering up to 200,000 in central Kiev to protest the new anti-protest laws, dubbed the "Dictatorship laws". The rally was attended by opposition leaders, but was also the first public appearance of Tetiana Chornovol since her alleged attack by the authorities.

Many protesters defied the face concealment ban by donning party masks, while others wore hard hats and gas masks. AutoMaidan leader Dmytro Bulatov demanded a single oppositional candidate be named, and the crowd also chanted against leaders to comply with this action. Batkivshchyna leaders Arseniy Yatsenyuk and Oleksandr Turchynov declared that a new, alternative parliament would be created.

Euromaidan activists, including former Ukrainian Navy chief, Rear Admiral Ihor Tenyukh, appealed to the military for its "solemn allegiance to the Ukrainian people" rather than the "criminal regime", and for members of the military and police to not carry out criminal orders, namely in the use of force against civilians; they assured those who would be fired for refusing orders of violence would be reinstated once a new government for Ukraine is installed.

Clashes erupted as thousands descended upon parliament via Hrusehvskoho Street, and were met by police cordons, and a blockade of military cars, mini-vans and buses. The protests escalated into riots and clashes with police erupted. The riots on Hrushevskoho Street have been ongoing from 19–21 January and have involved both Euromaidan activists and opposition leadership.

Between 21–22 January, 3 were killed during the Hrushevskoho Street riots. On 21 January, the first death occurred after a 22-year old man fell from atop the 13 metre high colonnade in front of Dynamo Stadium while confronted by Berkut police, and suffered fractures to his spine's cervical vertebrae. Reports of the incident debate on whether the man jumped from the building to flee the beating, fell, or if he was pushed by police.

The second death occurred at 6 a.m. on 22 January, where police shot and killed a protester climbing the barricades in the conflict zone. It was reported he received 4 gunshot wounds, including to the head, and died immediately on the scene before being taken to hospital. The third, a Belarusian man, was also shot dead by police. Clashes spread to Lutheran Street near the Presidential Administration, with protesters lobbing molotov cocktails.

Danger arose when it appeared that activists who sought treatment at hospitals were 'disappearing'. Prominent Euromaidan activists Ihor Lutsenko and Yuriy Verbytsky were abducted by five unknown men on 21 January at 4 a.m. from Oleksandrivska Hospital in Kiev. Lutsenko was found beaten in the woods the next day, but Verbytsky was murdered; his body found on 22 January.

In response to the escalating violence, police were permitted by the government to increase measures in stopping the riots and protests. Police were now able to block roads to restrict access to the city, and allowed the use of water cannons against rioters regardless of air temperature, which was -10 C at the time of the announcement.[348][349] Despite this, some 50,000 came to Euromaidan to show support. Tanks were reported to be traveling via rail from Chernihiv to Kiev, but government sources claimed they were headed instead to Odessa. Police also illegally published the names and addresses of all known Automaidan activists.

On 22 January the president presented a number of medals to various figures in the police forces and military for their service in the conflict. Controversially, President Yanukovych attempted to present Ukrainian Orthodox Church Patriarch Filaret with an award, which was refused.

Opposition leaders presented the president with a 24-hour window to give in to demands. Vitali Klitschko warned the government that protesters would "go on the attack" if their demands were not met by the next day, while Yatseniuk stated, "Tomorrow we go forward together. If a bullet in the forehead, then bullet in the forehead." Following this sentiment, the UNA-UNSO called on all gun-owning Ukrainians to arm themselves to defend the Maidan.

On 22 January suddenly at least three tanks were deployed from Chernihiv. Officially the tanks were being transferred to the Odessa Oblast and not be going to Kiev. On 23 January it was announced that due to the complicated situation in the country all tanks were returned to their place of permanent base.

Two dozen men in masks armed with batons stormed the TV Kyiv station at 7:00 p.m. Later, several thousand protestors from the anti-Euromaidan group "Kievans for a Clean City" surrounded the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv. Crowd leader Ivan Protsenko blamed American financing and interference for the events in Kiev, and picketers then egged the embassy. Later, a number of attendees engaged in an altercation with promoters after they were not paid for their time and participation in the picket.

In the early morning of 23 January, police raided and destroyed a Red Cross Euromaidan medical center. Carrying on from the previous night, it was reported by activist groups that television blackouts were taking place across the country to channels which carried Euromaidan coverage, and internet and social media blocks were also under way. Riot police from Vinnytsia refused their orders to be deployed to Kiev after reports from activists indicated that police and military were being mobilized nation-wide.

Automaidan activists were attacked and beaten in Mariinsky Park, and detained by police; 9-10 vehicles had their windows smashed or tired blown. Ruslana called the attack "a carefully planned ambush."

At interview to BBC (Davos, Switzerland), the Prime Minister of Ukraine Mykola Azarov assured that Berkut was not able to use fire arms. Yet, there are several photos of Berkut servicemen who use molotov cocktail and rocks, the use of which are not authorized. Police also brought a water cannon, while outside temperatures were below freezing.

Euromaidan activists documented police brutality on multiple occasions from Berkut and servicemen of the Internal Troops of Ukraine, wherein officers assaulted activists and even random people and would humiliate them using excessive foul language, and force them to undress naked.

In a video leaked to YouTube, Interior Ministry troops tortured and humiliated a Euromaidan activist in Kiev's Pechersk region; where he was stripped naked in the cold after being beaten, and photographed by officers. The video was in close proximity, leaked by an officer in an apparent sign of self-evident barbarism and hatred within police ranks.

BBC News interviewed another protester who was photographing the Hrushevskoho Street riots, and then beaten and stabbed by police.

On 23 January reports surfaced that riot police were engaging in the use of improvised grenades, taping nails and other shrapnel to conventional stun grenades.

On January 23, 2014 Berkut grabbed a 22 year old volunteer of Euromaidan medical service (native of Donetsk), confiscated all her identification documents, took her out of the city and left her out in a woodline near Vyshhorod.

On 23 January it was reported that, according to the wife of an active Berkut officer, troops were being ordered to evacuate their families from the city. FC Dynamo Kyiv updated their Facebook page with a red-and-black tryzub as a sign of support for the revolution. FC Shakhtar Donetsk fans then also threw their support behind the Euromaidan movement.

On 23 January 2014 soldiers of the Internal Troops of Ukraine (VV) were awarded with medals bearing the title "National honor to military law enforcement servicemen", a medal that is in fact not in the official list of state awards.Awards were given out to military units of the Eastern Territorial Command (STK) #3057 (Mariupol) and #3037 (Donetsk).

On 24 January President Yanukovych stated (at a meeting with religious leaders) that the dubbed "Dictatorship laws" would be amended, saying that "we will prepare and compromise solutions together with the opposition. We will vote for amending these laws and so will settle all issues".

At the same meeting he also stated that "we will continue a dialogue with the opposition leaders" and "I will be doing all I can to stop this conflict and stop violence. "If we can do this on a good note, let's leave it on a good note, and if we can't, we'll use all legitimate methods".

Also on 24 January Interior Minister Vitaliy Zakharchenko guaranteed "that the police will not take forceful action to clear Maidan Nezalezhnosti".

On 25 January 2014 at 00:40 (EET) the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVS) accused the security of Euromaidan in assault on three police officers. In its press-release, the MVS claims that the so-called Maidan security attacked three officers who were on duty.

One of them was immediately struck with a knife. The detained servicemen were held in the city hall. Now the wounded one has been freed and hospitalized, while the fate of the other two is unknown. MVS claimed that a policemen who was walking home in civilian clothing was killed by a shot in his head. The same day Interior Minister Vitaliy Zakharchenko claimed "According to information received by law enforces, firearms being piled up at House of Trade Unions and Kyiv City State Administration" and "The opposition leaders don't want to disassociate themselves from radical forces, but are no longer capable of controlling them, exposing Ukrainians to danger". The opposition denied that its activists had captured policemen and called the Interior Ministry's statement provocative. It also denied piling up firearms and did accuse the authorities of setting up "a criminal group purposefully formed by the authorities to conduct destructive actions on the Maidan".[382] Later on 25 January Zakharchenko stated that protesters had freed 2 captive policemen, "Captive policemen have been tortured and now are hospitalized".

On January 25, 2014 Lieutenant General of Militsiya Vitaliy Yarema announced that the Ministry of Internal Affairs recently received more ammunition from the Russian Federation which is not certified and may be used against protesters.

Vitaliy Zakharchenko announced that in Kiev is the highest degree of extremism.
A third meeting since the start of the Hrushevskoho Street riots between President Yanukovych and the three main opposition leaders Yatseniuk, Klitschko and Tiahnybok took place on 25 January as requested by the All-Ukraine Council of Churches and Religious Organizations.

During the meeting President Yanukovych offered the position of Prime Minister of Ukraine to Arseniy Yatsenyuk and the position of Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine in charge of humanitarian affairs to Vitali Klitschko. The government also offered an amnesty for protesters who agree to release administration buildings they have seized. During the meeting President Yanukovych also promised to consider changes to the Ukrainian constitution (which currently gives the President of Ukraine extensive powers) either through a referendum or through legislation by the forming of a working group containing all parties in Ukraine's parliament to discuss returning to the constitution as it was between 2004 and 2010, under which parliament had significantly more powers than currently.

According to Justice Minister Olena Lukash President Yanukovych would dismiss the second Azarov Government if Yatsenyuk accepted the Prime Minister post. Nevertheless Yatsenyuk told a large crowd on Maidan Nezalezhnosti that while the opposition is generally ready to accept leadership of the government, President Yanukovych still had to meet several key demands of the opposition (including early presidential elections) and that talks will continue. At a later news conference, Yatsenyuk said "we are not throwing out the proposal, but we are not accepting it, either. We are conducting serious consultations among three opposition forces". About an hour after the opposition leaders spoke the Hrushevskoho Street riots continued.

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Live Stream/ Espreso TV

Live stream from Kiev Maidan Nezalezhnosti.

RadioSvoboda, Espreso TV,

EUROMAIDAN. 16 January 2014 anti-protest laws

Майшев — Sun, 26 Jan 2014 14:05:24 GMT

On 16 January the MPs from Party of Regions and Communist Party of Ukraine (and a number of independent MPs) in the Ukrainian parliament passed anti-protest laws (the texts of some of them became available after MPs had voted for them) which criminalized all of the Euromaidan opposition's methods employed during protests.

The laws introduced 10-year jail terms for blockading government buildings; hefty fines and prison terms for protesters who wear face masks and helmets; fines and prison terms for unauthorised installation of and provision of facilities or equipment for tents, stages or amplifiers in public places; and driving bans for people who form convoys of more than five cars.

Also approved was legislation to easier strip members of parliament of immunity; the identification of members of non-government organisations funded by foreign governments or foundations as "foreign agents"; 2-year jail terms for defamation spread through social media; 1-year jail terms of corrective labour for slandering government officials; mandatory registration for internet-based media and prepaid mobile phone services purchasers.

According to The Financial Times, the 11 new laws were approved while opposition lawmakers were occupying the main session hall and voted in by MPs by means of show of hands that "were too rapid to actually be counted, and in some cases done in five seconds.

The opposition dubbed the day in parliament 'Black Thursday' and stated that, "Today Ukrainian parliamentarianism is dead", and that the laws have ensured "dictatorship where there is no right to assemble, to reason, to live, where there is no law, no civil rights, and no legal process". The Party of Regions faction noted that the opposition had prevented normal voting since members of opposition factions had taken away voting cards from their colleagues in parliament.

Party of the Regions MP Oleh Tsariov stated the laws were aimed to prevent further escalation of the ongoing political crisis. The OSCE called on President Yanukovych to veto the legislation "which might be arbitrarily interpreted and lead to disproportionate restrictions on media freedom, stifling debate and critical views". In reaction on the 16 January votes EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Štefan Füle stated he was "deeply disappointing to see such a turn from the European path of Ukraine" and he believed the laws were aimed at limiting partnership with the civil society.

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton criticism (among others) was "The changes that seem to seriously curtail the activities of civil society organizations in Ukraine and simplify procedures for revocation of mandates of members of parliament are equally worrying".

And she added "I call on the President of Ukraine to ensure that these decisions are revised and brought in line with Ukraine's international commitments". German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier reaction on the laws was "The limitation of civil rights will lead Ukraine only further away from Europe". And the United States Department of State expressed deep concern ""Both the process and the substance of the Rada’s actions today cast serious doubt on Ukraine’s commitment to democratic norms".

In response to foreign criticism Ukrainian Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara urged foreign diplomats "to avoid making unilateral statements and remarks that do not reflect the real state of affairs". He also noted that the laws adopted by the Ukrainian parliament on 16 January already exist in the laws of most European countries and meet generally accepted democratic standards and international practices.

The following day, president Yanukovych signed the bills into law and dismissed Hennadiy Vorobiev as commander of the Ukrainian Ground Forces. Presidential chief of staff Serhiy Lyovochkin resigned from his post in protest of the laws, as well as presidential spokeswoman Daria Chepak. In accordance with enforcing the new anti-social laws, Interior Minister Zakharchenko pledged that "each offence will be met by our side harshly."

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EUROMAIDAN. 1–15 January 2014. Аttacked and brutally beaten Svoboda's MP

Майшев — Sun, 26 Jan 2014 13:47:54 GMT

On New Year's Eve, 200,000 attended Euromaidan to jointly celebrate. On 1 January, 15,000 held a torchlight march through Kiev in support of the 105th birthday of Stepan Bandera, a controversial World War II-era nationalist.
On 3 January, after being questioned by police, a Svoboda's MP Andriy Illenko and his lawyer Sydir Kizin were attacked and brutally beaten outside of a police station in Kiev. Both received extensive injuries. According to Svoboda, Illyenko was primarily diagnosed with a broken jaw and treated for a concussion; according to police, a broken nose.

The attack occurred after the members of Svoboda came out of the Shevchenkivskyy's police station. The party called the attack an 'attempted murder'.
According to Batkivschyna MP Arsen Avakov (on 9 January 2014) recently the protesters in Kiev had experienced regular power cuts; to prevent this oppositions MPs did have five meetings with Kiev city authorities and electricity suppliers and installed back-up generators.[311] According to Avakov there had been no difficulties with taking rubbish out of Maidan Nezalezhnosti and taking wood into the square.

On 10 January, Berkut riot police clashed with protesters near Kiev-Sviatoshyn Raion district court in Sviatoshyn neighborhood of Kiev, where guilty verdicts against the so-called "Vasylkiv terrorists" were announced. The Patriots of Ukraine group members were given 6 year sentences for 'trying to blow up a non-existent Vladimir Lenin statue' (a local city council already dismantled the Lenin monument before the alleged plot was discovered); critics called the court proceedings a sham. After the court verdict was announced, protesters (more than 100) decided to block the prisoner transport bus, after which hundreds of riot police were dispatched, who used tear gas and batons. More than a dozen people got injured, some of them seriously, with reports of multiple broken hands and legs, as well as head injuries. Opposition leader Yuri Lutsenko was among the injured, photographed with bloody head wounds and knocked unconscious before being taken to a hospital for intensive care. A witness account stated that police targeted Lutsenko, dragging him into a bus where he was beaten. Three members of the Svoboda Party were also injured; as well as two photojournalists, whose camera equipment was broken by police.

European Union and American officials condemned the attack, with US Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt saying “Lutsenko will be remembered as hero of EuroMaidan” for trying to intervene in the confrontation between police and protesters. The three opposition party leaders (Klitschko, Yatseniuk, and Tyahnybok) issued a joint statement condemning the assault, categorizing it as attempted murder.

On 12 January, the protests numbered 10,000–50,000 people were held on Maidan Nezalezhnosti.
On 15 January, courts banned protests and public assembly in Kiev once again. This led the opposition to believe that the following night ("and the next ones") Maidan Nezalezhnosti would be cleared by Berkut special police units.

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EUROMAIDAN. 18–31 December 2013. AutoMaidan activists

Майшев — Sun, 26 Jan 2014 13:35:39 GMT

On 18 December Prime Minister Mykola Azarov stated that without the deal with Russia "bankruptcy and social collapse would have awaited Ukraine". He also added that there was no way Ukraine could have signed the EU Association Agreement as Ukraine would have had to accept unfeasibly stringent IMF conditions for economic reform. The protest on Maidan Nezalezhnosti continued on 18 December 2013.

On 19 December President Viktor Yanukovych stated "We have decided to pause [on the Association Agreement] to work out on what kind of conditions should be in place for us to sign the Free Trade Zone Agreement [a part of the Association Agreement]. And this answer should be found by the government. There isn’t any contradiction about Ukraine’s course on the [EU] integration issue. Generally, this is not about the integration, this is about economical relations". Although he added "If we talk about the work on the free trade agreement [a part of the EU Association Agreement], this will take us some time, and we still have a lot of uncertainties. Surely, we should see how this will benefit us in the short term, midterm, and long term".

He also added that Ukraine may combine the EU Association Agreement with observer status in the Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia and the Eurasian Economic Union. And that Ukraine expects to be granted observer status in the Eurasian Economic Union, "As concerns the Eurasian Union, we filed a written bid in Astana in August this year to consider Ukraine's participation in the Eurasian Union as an observer". The same day Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski stated "I do not know any formal facts that should say that it is impossible to sign the association agreement between Ukraine and the European Union". Meanwhile Russian President Vladimir Putin commented on the 17 December deal between Russia and Ukraine (which he described as an "act of brotherly love"): "This is not at all linked to (protests at) Maidan, nor with the EU-talks that Ukraine leads… We're just seeing that Ukraine is in dire straits and we should support her".

On 20 December high-ranking EU-officials stated that the EU is still ready to sign the Association Agreement "as soon as Ukraine is ready for it", that this agreement was also beneficial for Russia and that the EU "is totally not concerned about the fact that Ukraine is signing agreements with Russia". On 20 December 2013 Prosvita building in Kharkiv was thrashed by unknown.

On 21 December, Volodymyr Maralov, a member of the activist anti-corruption group Road Control was shot and his car burned at approximately 11 p.m. on Shevchenko Square in Kiev while being attacked by two men and one accomplice. According to the surgeon who removed the bullet, it was within 6 inches of his heart.

The group claims the attack was part of an ongoing effort by officials to stop the organization's reporting on police corruption. The assailants allegedly demanded Maralov expose the whereabouts of a group member who received political asylum in the United States in November, and for the location of incriminating data. Earlier this month, Road Control journalist Andriy Dzyndzya and his lawyer Viktor Smaliy were remanded into custody for two months; Dzyndzya is accused of stealing keys to a front-end loader that was used on the 1 December riots, his lawyer is accused of attacking a judge.

On 22 December, the fifth ongoing week of the protests, 100,000 rallied in Kiev. During this day major opposition parties and non-partisans established a nationwide political movement called Maidan People's Union. And Klitschko told the crowds "We won't leave this place in any case. I'm inviting you to stand and celebrate the New Year here, on the Maidan".

On 23 December 2013 Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov stated "there is no contradiction" in Ukraine's association with the EU and their observer status in the Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia and the Eurasian Economic Union.

On 24 December 2013 an armed assault was conducted in downtown of Kharkiv on co-organizer of protest in Kharkiv Dmytro Pylypets. He received 12 stab wounds.

In the early morning of 25 December Tetiana Chornovol, a well known Ukrayinska Pravda journalist, Euromaidan social-activist, and Batkivshchyna party member was brutally assaulted near Boryspil International Airport.

Euromaidan activists called for a picketing of the Ministry of Internal Affairs at 8 am, in which hundreds attended, calling for Minister of Internal Affairs Vitaliy Zakharchenko's resignation. Chornovil was hospitalized with a broken nose, a concussion and multiple bruises. Opposition parties accused the authorities of being behind the attacks, while a statement from Olena Bondarenko of the Party of Regions categorized the attack as spontaneous violence caused by Euromaidan, and blamed the opposition.

On 27 December a law (drafted by the second Azarov Government) introduced criminal liability for the seizure of buildings "which leads to the disruption of their normal operation" in the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

On 29 December, re-energised by the 25 December attack on Chornovol, tens of thousands gathered again in Kiev. About 200 cars packed with protesters joined by over a thousand protesters marched on President Yanukovych's Mezhyhirya residence 10 kilometres outside Kiev's outskirts.

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EUROMAIDAN. 17 December 2013 Ukrainian–Russian action plan

Майшев — Sun, 26 Jan 2014 13:19:55 GMT

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yanukovych held the sixth "interstate consultation" on 17 December in Moscow, where they signed the 17 December 2013 Ukrainian–Russian action plan.

This consisted of the Russian National Wealth Fund buying $15 billion of Ukrainian Eurobonds and the cost of Russian natural gas supplied to Ukraine lowered to $268 per 1,000 cubic metres (this price was $400). As part of the action plan Russia committed itself to the restoration its customs regulations on imports from Ukraine that had existed before mid-August 2013. According to President Putin and Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov this deal was "not tied to any conditions" and Ukraine's possible accession to the Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia was not addressed.

Peskov also added "it is our principled position not to interfere in Ukraine's affairs" and accused other countries of doing the opposite. According to President Yanukovych the trade situation between Russia and Ukraine required urgent intervention, and that it should be coordinated with other Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries. He also added referring to Russia–Ukraine relations, "We'll have to learn lessons for the future and not to repeat such mistakes". And President Yanukovych also stated that Ukraine and Russia should strengthen cross-border and inter-regional cooperation "which create convenient conditions for the people".

In response to the agreement, the opposition parties blocked parliament in order to defer its ratification since they quickly denounced the plan. And approximately 50,000 continued their protest on Maidan Nezalezhnosti. Where opposition leader Vitaly Klitschko told the crowd “He [President Yanukovich] has given up Ukraine’s national interests, given up independence and prospects for a better life for every Ukrainian”. The opposition leaders vowed to continue their protests, if necessary through New Year and Orthodox Christmas (celebrated on 7 January annually), they repeated their demands for the firing of the second Azarov Government, early presidential and parliamentary elections.

Also on 17 December, UDAR issued a statement regarding an alleged attempt on leader Vitali Klitschko's life. According to the party in a statement to western diplomats, when Klitschko's private jet was attempting landing at Boryspol airport on 24 November, the plane was denied landing at an altitude of 100m, and a visual clearance of 50m. They allege this was an attempt to repeat an accident similar to the 2010 Polish Air Force Tu-154 crash.

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EUROMAIDAN. 12–16 December 2013

Майшев — Sun, 26 Jan 2014 13:12:49 GMT

On 12 December, it was reported that in addition to barricades being rebuilt, there was no longer any room for tents to be set up on Maidan.

Chief of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) Oleksandr Yakymenko invited experts from the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) to advise in how to disperse of the protests; said Batkivshchyna MP Hennadiy Moskal, who acted as Deputy Chairman of the SBU in 2007. Citing sources within the SBU, he said that recommended was the use of debilitating gases and aerosols.

Later, Russian liberal-democratic politician Boris Nemtsov was barred entry into the country by border services. Over 10,000 remained in Maidan overnight.
A roundtable discussion was held on 13 December involving the president, three leaders of the opposition, representatives of the government, parliament, clergy and civil society.

There was no live broadcast on any national channel, and the live stream of two TV channels was disrupted when opposition leaders spoke. Following the roundtable, former president Kravchuk blasted the blackout of the broadcast, saying "I organized the roundtable. It is outrageous that they turned it off. It is outrageous when the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing."

Controversially, it was uncovered that Dmytro Levin, who claimed to represent a student organization involved in Euromaidan, is actually a member of Young Regions, the youth wing of the pro-presidential Party of Regions. The real student leaders of Euromaidan said they were not invited to take part in the discussion, and Levin's statements (which included claims of being "used" by opposition politicians) were said to be uncharacteristic for the real leaders of the student strikes, such as stopping repressions against students and dismissal of Education Minister Dmytro Tabachnyk. During the roundtable President Yanukovych proposed an amnesty for detained demonstrators.

After the talks Klitschko stated "Not a single step was made to meet the opposition, I have the impression that the authorities today did not listen to a single one of the demands of the opposition". A Ukrainian court did free nine people arrested on 30 November on 13 December. Also that day, and after his delegation had talked to European Commissioner Štefan Füle, First Deputy Prime Minister Serhiy Arbuzov stated Ukraine will "soon sign" an agreement on closer ties with the European Union (during an interview with Euronews). However, in relation to this Prime Minister Azarov defended the decision to hold off on signing the Association Agreement, saying had Ukraine "signed an association agreement with the European Union at current conditions, this would have inevitably led to its economy's collapse". The previous day, Azarov suggested postponing the deadline for the entry into force of certain provisions of the agreement on a free trade area with the EU, which EU officials rejected.

On 14 December President Yanukovych suspended the Head of Kiev City Administration Oleksandr Popov, Deputy Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Volodymyr Sivkovych. Later the same day the General Prosecutor of Ukraine's Office handed "a notification on suspicion of abuse of power when ordering the police actions of 30 November 2013" out to Sivkovych and Popov; and to former Head of Kiev police Valeriy Koriak and his Deputy Head Petro Fedchuk.

According to Prosecutor General of Ukraine Viktor Pshonka "All four officials will soon be placed under home arrest". The previous day opposition leader Yatsenyuk had stated during the roundtable discussion "Those who made illegal orders, and those who executed them, must be held to account, for the whole country to see. Those who have been arrested as activists of the Maidan must be released – That is all".

Meanwhile on Maidan, popular Ukrainian rock band Okean Elzy performed to "possibly hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians," and estimates for the day placed over 200,000 in Kiev to support the movement.

The size of the protest held at 200,000 the following day, according to Interfax. U.S. senators Christopher Murphy and John McCain addressed the crowds. EU Enlargement Commissioner Štefan Füle said the EU is stopping talks on the Association Agreement because of the Yanukovych administration's unreasonable demands, of which Ukrainian authorities have sought $27 billion in aid to sign.

In a tweet issued by Füle, he said there was a divergence between the words and deeds of the president and government regarding the Association agreement, and that "their arguments have no grounds in reality."

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EUROMAIDAN. 11 December 2013 police clash with protesters. (VIDEO)

Майшев — Sun, 26 Jan 2014 13:03:42 GMT

In the early morning of 11 December, thousands of coordinated Internal Troops (VV) and Berkut surrounded the Maidan Nezalezhnosti (square) in order to clear out all remaining protesters, barricades, and encampments from its periphery in what was described as a 'determined and unexpected crackdown on protesters'.

Temperatures fell to -13C (+9F), the coldest night of the winter to date in Kiev. Several police officers confirmed they had been given orders to clear barricades from the boundaries of the square but not remove the tent camp that has sprung up inside the space.City workers used a bulldozer and chainsaws to clear away remaining barricades from the previous night's advance.There were no immediate signs of violence, and no attempt by riot police to take down camps located within the square itself. Many police were trapped behind protester lines during the scuffles but demonstrators allowed them to regroup and in some instances even handed back their shields. Police later pressed forward again.

The fiercest battle came on the north side of the square, where hundreds of black-helmeted riot police struggled for several hours against lines of protesters who wore orange hardhats distributed by organizers.

Taxi drivers and subway conductors played a notable role in organizing the rise of protesters, spreading the word of the crackdown and in the case of taxi drivers, offering rides into the center of the city. By 5:13 am, the crowd had swelled to 25,000 from 5,000 hours earlier. The confrontation between protesters and police during the removal of barricades is said to have reenergized the demonstrations. The barricades were rebuilt shortly after the departure of the police.

The police stated that the clearing of the Maidan (police referred to it as "territory landscaping work") was carried out at night "to avoid additional noise and inconvenience to traffic and people, since the working week continues". Later that morning Ukrainian Interior Minister Vitaliy Zakharchenko stated "I want to calm everyone down: there will be no dispersal of Maidan [the rally at Maidan Nezalezhnosti]. Nobody is infringing upon the people's right to a peaceful protest. However, the rights and legitimate interests of other people cannot be ignored. The capital city's normal functioning cannot be disrupted."

His Deputy Minister Viktor Ratushniak stated that afternoon, "If the enforcement service goes to the police and starts carrying out the court's ruling, the police will accordingly be involved. If the enforcement service does not request help from the police, the latter will stay out". Witnesses claimed 8 buses of "Leopard" Interior Troops had left deployment from Vyshhorod to Kiev.

In a separate incident, local media reported that a company of 220 Berkut troops based in Kirovohrad refused to accept orders to deploy to Kiev, renouncing the use of force against peaceful protesters. The Interior Ministry denied the reports.

Overnight, activists formed self-defense groups to guard Kiev City Hall. Police attempted to raid the building by mid-morning, which it swarmed with busloads of riot troops; but were held back by fire hoses, firecrackers, and smoke bombs.

The steps to the building were also slicked with ice and cooking oil. By the afternoon, demonstrators on Khreshchatyk, at City Hall, and the Maidan had held off, and then outnumbered police, who then left the area.

Clashes during the raid and a standoff at City Hall sent 30 people to seek medical aid and fifteen to hospital, including nine police, officials stated. People hospitalized with frostbitten feet, head injuries, broken ribs, arms and legs, as well as back injuries. The Kyiv Post reported an instance of a Berkut officer blatantly clubbing a man in a Batkivshchyna party jacket as they advanced. Among the injured was Svoboda MP Andriy Illenko, who was seen in photos with his head bloodied and bandaged. Prime Minister Azarov denied that force has been used against demonstrators, calling the event "clearing the roads". 11 demonstrators were arrested during the clashes.

Protest leader Vitali Klitschko referred to the police actions as "senseless and brutal actions by the authorities" that only would help the number of protestors to go up. "This was the most stupid thing the authorities could have done," said Klitschko. "To clear out the square when Catherine Ashton is in town. People here are determined not to live in a police state."

The incident also drew immediate criticism from European and American politicians, including Catherine Ashton and John Kerry.

Kiev Passenger Railway Station and Terminal D of Boryspil International Airport were closed for hours and reopened after bomb threats made against them turned out to be hoaxes.

Also on 11 December Ukrainian Prime Minister Azarov stated that there will be no discussion about the Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia at a next round of negotiations with Russia: "There will be no discussion of the Customs Union and the government is not drafting any documents. I want to stop the rumors right away". He also requested EUR€20 billion from the European Union "to provide conditions to minimize losses for the Ukrainian economy" in connection with signing the Ukraine–European Union Association Agreement; adding "The government also favors the soonest possible signing of that agreement".

European Commission spokesman Olivier Bailly responded (the same day) "We consider that Ukrainian prosperity and Ukrainian future cannot be subjected to a call of tender where the highest bidder will get the price". Former president Viktor Yushchenko weighed in on the economics of Ukrainian-European integration, estimating that adopting European standards should actually cost US$400 million.

Talks with between President Yanukovych and the EU's Catherine Ashton and US Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland continued. After their meeting, Ashton stated that President Yanukovych had promised her he would take steps to resolve the crisis in Ukraine within 24 hours. Meanwhile Euromaidan's Denys Shevchuk left the roundtable meeting with former presidents Kravchuk, Kuchma, and Yushchenko, claiming, "This is just a fiction".

By the evening, thousands of protesters worked in large groups to shovel snow into sandbags and rebuild barricades, supported by metal railings and other debris. And President Yanukovych released an address to Ukrainians: "I invite representatives of all the political forces, priests, members of the public to a nationwide dialogue. I'm ready to participate in such a round table".

The address also stated the government would act "solely within the law and will never use force against peaceful assemblies". But opposition leader Arseniy Yatsenyuk responded there could only be talks once their demands had been met; and according to Vitali Klitschko, the police actions of the night before had "closed off the path to compromise".

Klitschko added the next day that if talks (for him this was only possible after the protesters demands had been met) would be held they "should take place with the participation of European representatives and members of civil society".

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EUROMAIDAN. Fall of the monument to Lenin in Kiev. (VIDEO)

Майшев — Sun, 26 Jan 2014 12:48:28 GMT

8 December marked the third Sunday in a row of mass protest in Kiev. Opposition leaders billed the day as the "March of a Million", and all opposition parties claimed the turnout met the 1,000,000 mark.

According to Interfax-Ukraine, initial reports estimated the number "greatly exceed[s] 100,000 people," which matched police estimates. Associated Press correspondents on the ground and leading world media reported that 500,000 attended.

A survey of protesters conducted on the 7th and 8th found that 92% of those who came to Kiev from across Ukraine came on their own initiative, and 8% came as part of a political party or civil society organization. In terms of cause, 70% said they came to protest the police brutality of November 30, and 54% to protest in support of the European Union Association Agreement signing. Among their demands, 82% wanted detained protesters freed, 80% wanted the government to resign, and 75% want president Yanukovych to resign and for snap elections.

After the rally, a large group of Ukrainian protesters toppled the statue to Lenin in Kiev. Unlike the previous week, police officers on the scene withdrew without attempting to defend the monument. After the statue was taken down, the group shouted "Yanukovych, you'll be next!", and proceeded to smash the statue with a sledgehammer, decapitate it, and dismantle it for souvenirs; in place of the statue was planted a Ukrainian and red-and-black insurgency flag.

The Svoboda party took credit for the statue's destruction, with several party MPs, including Ihor Miroshnichenko, joining the crowd and taking part in the act.

Protesters traveling from Belarus who were en route to Kiev to support the protests were denied entry into the country at the border crossing near Chernihiv (where protests have been banned by the local police), while other reports saw traffic officers puncturing the tires of a bus carrying Belarusians. The same day, Party of Regions MP Oleh Tsarev requested to the Security Service and Foreign Ministry of Ukraine to deport or/and ban foreign organizers and political consultants, document scans of which he posted (and later removed) on his Facebook account. Among those named in the document notably included Andreas Umland, Stanislav Belkovsky, Taras Kuzio, Gleb Pavlovsky, and former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili, among others.

In the early morning of 9 December, some 730 Tiger and Leopard special forces, whose base of operations had previously been blocked by a motorcade of protesters in Vasylkiv (outside Kiev), broke through the cordone with support from Berkut troops to travel into the city.

The same day three metro stations in the center of the city – Teatralna, Khreschatyk and Maidan Nezalezhnosti were closed, and trains ran through them without stopping, after the Kiev police had received an anonymous bomb threat. Teatralna station was reopened late afternoon after police completed a fruitless search for possible explosives.

In the afternoon the BBC reported that Ukrainian police had begun dismantling protest camps in front of government buildings in Kiev. The protesters had been given until Tuesday (10 December) to leave. They were blockaded with cars, barricades and tents. According to the BBC, no clashes had been reported, but its reporter in Kiev, Steve Rosenberg, described the situation as "tense with various rumours circulating" and that priests were urging the police not to use force, while blessing them.

Meanwhile Interfax-Ukraine reported about more police movements and removal of protest barricades in Kiev. The Ministry of Internal Affairs issued a statement that "MPs have informed us that spade handles and other objects that could be used to cause bodily injuries have been distributed to the protesters at the opposition's self-defense posts". It also stated no action was being taken on Maidan Nezalezhnosti.

Opposition leader (of the Batkivshchyna party) Arseniy Yatsenyuk meanwhile complained about violence against demonstrators and stated "We do not beat policeman, we do not use force, we do not have any weapons and we do not have any special means". Fellow opposition leader Vitaly Klitschko concerted with that. Svoboda leader Oleh Tyahnybok warned that the government was planning to cut off electricity before an attack on the Euromaidan rallies in central Kiev "But we are preparing to use alternative ways to continue the existence of our camp". He also warned that Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) and police had arrived in Ukraine "With the aim of organizing mass disorder."

The website of opposition party Batkivshchyna went offline on 9 December following a police raid on their headquarters.
At their office on Turivska Street in Podil, "In the corridor we have people with machine guns, trying to break through into server rooms," said Ostap Semerak, a Batkivshchyna member, and that some troops climbed in through its windows.

It was described by witnesses that a special detachment of police in tactical gear destroyed all equipment in the offices, which also housed the newspaper INTV, Evening News and website Censor.Net.ua, who were raided in similar fashion shortly after. The server room was described as "a mess", and the offices themselves were ransacked, and security cameras were destroyed. An Associated Press reporter confirmed broken glass and smashed computers in the offices.

"The attackers did not introduce themselves or show any warrant," Censor.net editor Yuri Butusov told Reporters Without Borders. "They ordered all our staff to move away from their computers and to not use their mobile phones. Then they confiscated all our equipment. It was a criminal raid designed to eliminate a site that has been carrying information about the 'Euromaidan' movement."

A police spokeswoman initially denied police had conducted any operations at the address,however, the Interior Ministry later admitted the attack on the Batkivshchyna office was sanctioned by a court order for "two criminal cases", pertaining to alleged "fraud and abuse of office".

The police said they received a tip from a 'group of citizens' that "illegally seized computer equipment worth Hr 350,000" was on the premises, and that officials from the company 'abused their authority'. During the raid, computer equipment, database servers, and documents were confiscated as evidence. Shorter after, UDAR evacuated their offices on Horky Street, which in a press release stated was in relation to the raid on Batkivshchyna.

On December 10 at 1:00 am, the Ukrainian government cut off the power in the Kiev City State Administration used by protesters as a headquarters. It was reported that protesters feared aggressive measures would be taken. At the same time, 1:00 AM, public servants with their faces hidden and 100 riot police cleared the barricade at the cross section of the Hrushevskoho street and the Kriposnyj provulok in Kiev.

MP Andriy Shevchenko announced that police used their batons and kicked protesters. Hours later, 200 police advanced on the barricades on Lyuteranska and Bankova Street, with hundreds of protesters holding their ground, including Wladimir Klitschko. There, provocateurs penetrated into the ranks of the protesters, threatened with sticks, and used tear gas against the police, Hromadske.TV reported. During the clash over the barricaded encampment, there were about 12 to 15 injuries reported, including among police.

EU foreign policy and security High Representative Catherine Ashton held meetings in Ukraine on 10 and 11 December "to support a way out of the political crisis."

Accompanied by a small delegation, she met President Yanukovych, governmental officials, opposition figures, and representatives of civil society. President Yanukovych also had a roundtable meeting with all three former presidents Leonid Kravchuk, Leonid Kuchma, and Viktor Yushchenko. During the meeting, discussed were the release of Euromaidan detainees, the implementation of future EU-related reforms, and Kuchma alluded to the possible dismissal of Prime Minister Azarov. The opposition and organizers of Euromaidan were not participants in the rountable meeting.

During the meeting President Yanukovych stated, "I have said many times that the program of the Party of Regions since 1997 has the strategic aim of Ukraine's integration with Europe" and that he had ordered the government to work on minimizing the economic risks to Ukraine that the signing of the Association Agreement with the EU would entail, by the time of the EU-Ukraine summit scheduled for the spring of 2014.

It was also decided "that there will be a bilateral commission, with the European Union on the one side and Ukraine on the other" (with occasional consultations with Russia) to normalize relations between Ukraine and the EU.

European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Štefan Füle responded that the EU was "willing to maintain dialogue with Russia to convince it that an Ukraine–European Union Association Agreement will not harm its economic interests, but it will not hold tripartite negotiations on the matter".

He also added that the EU was willing to provide financial aid to Ukraine for implementation of the Association Agreement.
During the 10 December talks, President Yanukovych expressed the wish to renegotiate the terms for the signing of the Association Agreement "If the agreement were signed as it is, it would create a lot of difficulties in the farming industry". On 10 December Svoboda leader Oleh Tyahnybok claimed Euromaidan leaders had not been invited to the roundtable meeting (he referred to the talks as "a stage-managed comedy"); the same day former president Kravchuk expressed hope that Euromaidan leaders would attend the meetings on 11 December.

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EUROMAIDAN. 30 November attack on protesters and 1 December 2013 riots. (VIDEO)

Майшев — Sun, 26 Jan 2014 12:29:02 GMT

The day after the riots, peaceful protests continued to take place and occupy Maidan Nezalezhnosti in Kiev, with tens of thousands attending, while thousands blocked the main Cabinet buildings.

According to BBC correspondent David Stern "They have set up almost a military camp of sorts, and have erected a very impressive barricade around the perimeter of the demonstration". David M. Herszenhorn of The New York Times described the square as "oddly festive" and added that "Protest leaders, sensing that momentum had turned to their advantage, continued to add infrastructure to their operation, bringing in television monitors and erecting the small tent city".

Elsewhere, Lviv, Ternopil and Ivano-Frankivsk announced a general strike in solidarity with the movement. 1,000 Internal Troops (National Guard) were deployed to Kiev around key government buildings by the Interior Ministry. The parliament committee on statehood and self-governance recommended a vote of no-confidence in Prime Minister Mykola Azarov 's government, opening a way for such a vote on 3 December. The Kiev City Council building remained occupied by protesters.

The people working at Kiev City Council were still being allowed to come in and do their usual jobs.

On 3 December the Azarov Government survived the vote of no-confidence with 186 MP's supporting the motion, and all but 1 Party of Regions MP abstaining from the vote; at least 226 votes were needed. However; the Communist Party of Ukraine, that had not supported this vote, stated that on 4 December they would put forward their own no confidence motion, based on the government's management of the economy.

If the 186 MP's supporting the 3 December motion support the 4 December no-confidence motion – which they have stated they will – the 4 December motion will pass with over 226 votes.

In his speech to parliament, Azarov warned protesters occupying the Kiev City State Administration that force could be used to remove them. In the morning of 3 December Euronews described the situation in Kiev as "calm at the moment, however tensions have remained high".Clashes with riot police did occur outside of parliament.

In the afternoon, in freezing conditions, several thousand protesters rallied on Maidan Nezalezhnosti were opposition leaders gave passionate speeches. After the speeches, the crowd moved to the Presidential Administration Building.

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs over 10,000 demonstrators rallied on Maidan Nezalezhnosti in the evening of 3 December; it also noted that it had recorded no incidents.

Demonstrators started to pitch about 10 army tents (including a campfire) on the square, and about 10 on Khreshchatyk; while Ukrainian performers entertained the demonstrators. Interfax-Ukraine reported that opposition leaders Arseniy Yatsenyuk, Oleh Tyahnybok and Vitali Klitschko met with foreign ambassadors that same evening. The next day they met with German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle in Kiev (including a walk on Maidan Nezalezhnosti).

On 5 December 2013 the protest continued with several thousand demonstrators continuing to rally on Maidan Nezalezhnosti; an Interfax correspondent reported that "the situation on the square is calm" and that wooden barricades were installed on Instytytska and Horodetskoho Street.

An Interfax-Ukraine correspondent reported that police buses blocked several streets leading to the Verkhovna Rada (parliament) and that about 150 "people waving flags of Svoboda and the red-and-black flags of Ukrainian nationalists" were rallying in front of the central entrance to the Budynok Uryadu (the administrative building for the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine).

Meanwhile, several hundred supporters of the Party of Regions and President Yanukovych pitched a camp (encircled by a metal fence) on the square in Mariinsky park (in front of the main entrance to the Verkhovna Rada).
The OSCE security group summit in Kiev advanced as planned.

Viktoria Siumar, a prominent journalist and former head of Institute of Mass Information, reported that Secretary (head) of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Andriy Klyuyev, met with TV managers on 6 December urging them to limit Euromaidan coverage.

This took place concurrent to Prime Minister Azarov's critical statement of the media in the country, in which he stated there was a lack of coverage towards pro-government rallies, a "disproportionate bias in coverage," and that "everywhere is dominated by only one point of view, and it is a distortion of reality, away from democracy."

The same day the Director of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights within the OSCE Janez Lenarčič stated that the government's demand that protesters unblock governmental buildings was "lawful" and "fully consistent with the acceptable restrictions on the freedom of assembly".

However, he also stated that the 30 November court ban on demonstrations in central Kiev was "an unqualified ban on demonstrations, in other words on peaceful assemblies, which is disproportionate and in contradiction to Ukraine's OSCE commitments".

Jailed former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko ended her hunger strike that she had started on 25 November in protest of "President Yanukovych's reluctance to sign the DCFTA" on 6 December. The same day police and a court order blocked a planned protest at President Yanukovych's private residence Mezhyhirya.

An unscheduled meeting between President Yanukovych and Russian President Vladimir Putin took place in the south Russian city of Sochi on 6 December 2013. Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Leonid Kozhara stated the cooperative agreements signed in Sochi were primarily in the fields of in space, aircraft construction, and engineering.

Prime Minister Mykola Azarov elaborated on the matter, saying the two met to discuss the drafting of a strategic partnership agreement, eliminate disputes over trading and economic issues, and in a separate announcement told journalists that the president would soon visit Moscow on 17 December, where a "major agreement" would be signed.

This prompted opposition leader Arseniy Yatsenyuk to issue a stern warning towards Yanukovych, saying "If Yanukovych tries to sign anything with Russia about the Customs Union it will lead to a bigger wave of protests."

Later, The Economist's senior editor Edward Lucas, citing his own diplomatic sources, reported on his Twitter that Yanukovych had allegedly signed a pact with Russia which included terms whereby Ukraine would receive $5 billion and a natural gas price reduction in exchange for an agreement to join their Customs Union at a later date.

Upon hearing the news, opposition leaders expressed fury, and demanded that the alleged documents be made public immediately. The governments of Russia and Ukraine categorically denied any Customs Union talks took place during the meetings, however, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov did confirm (on 7 December) that the two sides discussed financial aid and credit, and were also now "significantly" closer in talks over natural gas prices.

At the same time, Yatsenyuk claimed to have information that the planned 17 December Ukrainian-Russian strategic partnership agreement would involve Ukraine's joining of the Customs Union, but added that Ukraine's parliament would be unlikely to ratify it.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry stated on 10 December that "No documents were expected to be signed and, naturally, no documents were signed during the Sochi meeting"; it also informed that a Ukrainian delegation would attend a 13 December CIS Economic Council in Moscow were "Special attention will be given to the aspects of the realization of the treaty of a free trade zone of October 18, 2011".

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EUROMAIDAN. 21–29 November 2013

Майшев — Sun, 26 Jan 2014 12:14:26 GMT

Euromaidan started in the night of 21 November 2013 when up to 2,000 protesters gathered at Kiev's Maidan Nezalezhnosti and began to organize themselves with the help of social networks.

After he heard of the Ukrainian government decree to suspended preparations for signing of the Association Agreement on 21 November 2013,opposition party Batkivshchyna faction leader Arseniy Yatsenyuk called, via Twitter for protests (which he dubbed as #Euromaidan) on Maidan Nezalezhnosti. The blog of Yuri Andreev on Korrespondent.net asked people to gather on Maidan Nezalezhnosti that day at 22:30.

Approximately 2,000 people converged in the evening of 22 November on Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square) to protest the decision of the Ukrainian government to suspend the process of integration of Ukraine into the European Union.
In the following days, the opposition and pro-EU parties led the protests.

A larger rally took place on 24 November, when 100,000 to 200,000 people gathered on Kiev's Maidan Nezalezhnosti. The pro-EU demonstrators carrying Ukrainian and EU flags chanted "Ukraine is Europe" and sang the national anthem as they marched toward European Square for the rally.

News agencies claimed this to be the largest protest since the Orange Revolution of 2004. After a small group of protesters attempted to storm the Cabinet of Ministers building, police used tear gas to disperse them. According to the General Prosecutor's Office, 200 were injured on the 24th, including both police and students.

On 25 November jailed former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko began a hunger strike in protest of "President Yanukovych's reluctance to sign the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement".

A 26 November 2013 statement by Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov saying "I affirm with full authority that the negotiating process over the Association Agreement is continuing, and the work on moving our country closer to European standards is not stopping for a single day" did not appease protesters who blockaded the government building during the cabinet session during which Azarov made the above mentioned statement.

The same day the city of Kiev installed a heating tent (hot tea and sandwiches were served) at Maidan Nezalezhnosti, where about 2,000 students were rallying. According to Kyiv Post this was part of an "Ukrainian authorities' attempt to portray themselves as allies with the demonstrators who, in many cases, are calling for the government to resign if it doesn't sign an assocation agreement with the European Union this week". The same day it was reported that social media accounts of protesters were being hacked and disreputable messages being posted in place of rally news and commentary.

On 26 and 27 November 2013 Lithuanian Parliament Speaker Loreta Graužinienė and Polish Sejm Member Marcin Święcicki spoke to the protesters at Maidan Nezalezhnosti. Musical acts like Ruslana put on performances for demonstrators on Maidan Nezalezhnosti.

On 27 November it was reported that the Kharkiv Polytechnical Institute staff allegedly checked class attendance, threatening truant students who attend the pro-EU rallies in Kiev with expulsion. In other universities, administrators have forbidden students from joining pro-EU protests, posting political commentary to social media networks, and wearing Ukraine-EU ribbons. According to Euronews the protesters in Kiev numbered ten thousand people, many of them students.

Maidan Nezalezhnosti flooded with pro-EU protesting people. 27 November 2013. Kyiv, Ukraine.
At noon of 28 November (the eighth day of protests) about 3,000 people gathered on Maidan Nezalezhnosti; no party symbols were reported, only Ukrainian flags and European Union flags. The crowd grew to 4,000 by the evening while it was again entertained by popular Ukrainian artists.

On 29 November 2013, it became clear that Ukraine did not sign the Association Agreement at the Eastern Partnership Summit in Vilnius. The number of protesters in Kiev swelled to 10,000.

In Lviv, protesters numbered some 20,000. As in Kiev the Lviv protesters locked hands in a human chain, symbolically linking Ukraine to the European Union (organizers claimed that some 100 people even crossed the Ukrainian-Polish border to extend the chain to the European Union). Euronews reported that protesters in Kiev believed the rally should go on and were calling for the second Azarov Government's and President Viktor Yanukovych's resignation.

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EUROMAIDAN in Ukraine. Comparison with the Orange Revolution

Майшев — Sun, 26 Jan 2014 12:06:45 GMT

The pro-European Union protests are Ukraine's largest since the Orange Revolution of 2004, which saw Yanukovych forced to resign over allegations of voting irregularities. Although comparing the 2013 events in the same East-West vector as 2004, with Ukraine remaining "a key geopolitical prize in eastern Europe" for Russia and the EU, The Moscow Times noted that Yanukovych's government was in a significantly stronger position following his election in 2010.

The Financial Times said the 2013 protests were "largely spontaneous, sparked by social media, and have caught Ukraine's political opposition unprepared" compared to their well-organized predecessors. In an interview with opposition leader Yuriy Lutsenko, when asked if whether the current opposition was weaker than it was in 2004 he argued, that it was stronger because the stakes were higher, "I asked each [of the opposition leaders]: "Do you realize that this is not a protest? It is a revolution [...] we have two roads – we go to prison or we win".

Paul Robert Magocsi illustrated the effect of the Orange Revolution on Euromaidan, saying "Was the Orange Revolution a genuine revolution? Yes it was. And we see the effects today. The revolution wasn't a revolution of the streets or a revolution of (political) elections, it was a revolution of the minds of people, in the sense that for the first time in a long time a Ukrainians, and people living in territorial Ukraine saw the opportunity to protest and change their situation. This was a profound change in the character of the population of the former Soviet Union."

Lviv-based historian Yaroslav Hrytsak also remarked on the generational shift, "This is a revolution of the generation that we call the contemporaries of Ukraine's independence (who were born around the time of 1991); it is more similar to the Occupy Wall Street protests or those in Istanbul demonstrations (of this year). It's a revolution of young people who are very educated, people who are active in social media, who are mobile and 90 percent of whom have university degrees, but who don't have futures."

According to Hrytsak: "Young Ukrainians resemble young Italians, Czech, Poles, or Germans more than they resemble Ukrainians who are 50 and older. This generation has a stronger desire for European integration and fewer regional divides than their seniors".

In a Kyiv International Institute of Sociology poll taken in September, joining the European Union was mostly supported by young Ukrainians (49.8% of those aged 18 to 29), higher than the national average of 43.2% support. A November 2013 poll by the same institute found the same result with 50.8% aged 18 to 29 wanting to join the European Union while 39.7% was the national average of support.

An opinion poll by GfK conducted October 2–15 found that among respondents aged 16–29 with a position on integration, 73% favored signing an Association Agreement with the EU, while only 45% of those over the age of 45 favored Association. The lowest support for European integration was among people with incomplete secondary and higher education.

Janyary 2014. Now a growing number of Ukrainians in the eastern and southern Ukraine, who are dissatisfied with the authority Yanukovych.

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EUROMAIDAN in Ukraine. Background. Popular opinion in Ukraine about Association Agreement before Euromaidan

Майшев — Sun, 26 Jan 2014 11:54:35 GMT

On 30 March 2012 the European Union (EU) and Ukraine initialed an Association Agreement however, the EU leaders later stated that the agreement would not be ratified unless Ukraine addressed concerns over a "stark deterioration of democracy and the rule of law", including the imprisonment of Yulia Tymoshenko and Yuriy Lutsenko in 2011 and 2012

In the months leading up to the protests Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych urged the parliament to adopt laws so that Ukraine would meet the EU's criteria.

On 25 September 2013 Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine's parliament) Volodymyr Rybak stated that he was sure that his parliament would pass all the laws needed to fit the EU criteria for the Association Agreement since, except for the Communist Party of Ukraine, "The Verkhovna Rada has united around these bills".

Mid-August 2013 Russia changed its customs regulations on imports from Ukraine. Ukrainian Industrial Policy Minister Mykhailo Korolenko stated on 18 December 2013 that because of this Ukraine's exported had dropped by $1.4 billion (or a 10% year-on-year decrease through the first 10 months of the year).

The State Statistics Service of Ukraine reported in November 2013 that in comparison with the same months of 2012 industrial production in Ukraine in October 2013 had fallen by 4.9 percent, in September 2013 by 5.6 percent and in August 2013 by 5.4 percent (and that the industrial production in Ukraine in 2012 total had fallen by 1.8 percent).

On 21 November 2013 a Ukrainian government decree suspended preparations for signing of the association agreement.
The reason given was that the previous months Ukraine had experienced "a drop in industrial production and our relations with CIS countries". The government also assured "Ukraine will resume preparing the agreement when the drop in industrial production and our relations with CIS countries are compensated by the European market".

According to Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov "the extremely harsh conditions" of an IMF loan (presented by the IMF on 20 November 2013), which included big budget cuts and a 40% increase in gas bills, had been the last argument in favor of the Ukrainian government's decision to suspend preparations for signing the Association Agreement.

On 7 December 2013 the IMF clarified that it was not insisting on a single-stage increase in natural gas tariffs in Ukraine by 40%, but recommended that they be gradually raised to an economically justified level while compensating the poorest segments of the population for the losses from such an increase by strengthening targeted social assistance.

The same day IMF Resident Representative in Ukraine Jerome Vacher stated that this particular IMF loan is worth US$4 billion and that it would be linked with "policy, which would remove disproportions and stimulated growth".

President Yanukovych did attend the 28–29 November 2013 EU summit in Vilnius (where originally it was planned that the Association Agreement would be signed on 29 November 2013) but the Association Agreement was not signed.
Both Yanukovych and high level EU officials did signal that they wanted to sign the Association Agreement at a later date.

Ukrainians have shown preference to extending economic ties with the EU. According to an August 2013 study of a Donetsk company Research & Branding Group[95] 49% of Ukrainians supported signing the Association Agreement, while 31% opposed it and the rest had not decided yet. The strongest support (74%) was in the Western oblasts of Ukraine, following by the Central oblasts (57% supporters), while the support for the Agreement was weaker in the Southern oblasts (38% support vs 45% oppose) and Eastern oblasts (29% support vs 43% oppose). In a GfK poll conducted October 2–15, 2013, 45% of respondents believed Ukraine should sign an Association Agreement with the EU, whereas only 14% favored joining the Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia, and 15% preferred non-alignment. Another poll conducted in November by IFAK Ukraine for DW-Trend showed 58% of Ukrainians supporting the country's entry into the European Union.

On the other hand a November 2013 poll by Kyiv International Institute of Sociology showed 39% supporting the country's entry into the European Union and 37% supporting Ukraine's accession to the Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia.

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