On November 22, 2013, thousands of Ukrainians demonstrated in the capital city of Kiev against the government's announcement the day before that it had abandoned the Association Agreement with the European Union and was suddenly turning "east" on its "westward" path towards the EU. On the same day, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan held talks in the St. Petersburg suburb of Strellina, followed by *** with the Russian-Turkish High-Level Cooperation Council meeting and met with journalists. At the press conference, Putin said that the European Union had pressured and intimidated Ukraine following its decision to suspend the signing of the associated countries agreement with the EU.
The crowd of protesters at Independence Square in the center of the Ukrainian capital Kiev on November 24, 2013, has grown to tens of thousands of people and is considered the largest protest in recent years. Waving Ukrainian flags and European Union flags, they demanded that the government make Ukraine a member of the EU at the earliest possible date. Several opposition leaders are also in the protest ranks. Many riot police were deployed at the scene to prevent incidents of violence. However, skirmishes broke out between the protesters and the police as they tried to break through the cordon around the government building. In an attempt to control the situation, police threw tear gas canisters at the protesters. Meanwhile, about 10,000 people took part in the day's pro-government march.
On November 29, 2013, the two-day EU Eastern Partnership Summit concluded in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius, at which the EU initialled associated state agreements with Georgia and Moldova to strengthen their political and economic ties. However, at the summit, the EU has never been able to persuade Ukraine to change its position and formally sign the associated countries agreement with the EU. Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych told reporters after the summit that his country's plan to strengthen ties with the EU had not changed, but that he was making fine-tuning in his strategy and that Ukraine needed to solve its economic problems first.
Opinion is that the change in Ukraine's position is directly related to the pressure exerted by Russia. Ukraine is heavily dependent on Russia for its economy and energy, and Russia has warned that it will take protective measures to limit imports of Ukrainian products if Ukraine signs an associated countries agreement with the European Union.
On November 30, 2013, "Berkut" special forces dispersed protests in the square in central Kiev.
Fyodor Lukyanov, editor-in-chief of the magazine Russia in Global Politics, believes that the dispersal of the Ukrainian opposition in Kiev's Independence Square marks the beginning of the struggle for the 2015 Ukrainian presidential elections, RIA Novosti reported.
Yatsenyuk, chairman of the Ukrainian parliamentary opposition party Fatherland, said at a press conference on the same day that the Ukrainian opposition's decision to set up the National Resistance Headquarters was aimed at preparing for a national general strike, RIA Novosti reported.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Vitaly Lukyanenko expressed anger at the incident in which members of the Protectorate dispersed rallies in favor of integration with Europe in the center of Kiev that night, his press secretary Vitaly Lukyanenko told RIA Novosti, RIA Novosti reported.
The EU plenipotentiary in Ukraine, Jan Tombinsky, and US Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt met with Ukrainian Interior Minister Zakharchenko and Foreign Minister Kozar on the same day and during the meeting expressed concern over the use of violence in the city center of Kiev in the dispersal of peaceful petitioners, RIA Novosti reported.
Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians demonstrated in the center of the capital Kiev on Dec. 1, 2013, protesting against the government's suspension of the Associated State Agreement with the European Union, demanding the ouster of President Viktor Yanukovych and calling for a national strike. A number of state institutions were stormed during the day's protests.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry expressed concern over the violence that occurred during the dispersal of peaceful demonstrators in central Kiev on the morning of the 30th and hoped for a peaceful resolution of the current situation, RIA Novosti reported.
Hundreds of thousands of people flocked to Independence Square and Europa Square in downtown Kiev to hold protest demonstrations that day, despite the fact that the Kiev District Court agreed to the city government's application to ban rallies in the city's main squares and streets from now until January 7, 2014, Ukrainian state news agencies reported.
Some pro-European Ukrainians have entered the city hall of Kiev, the capital, as thousands of opponents continue to occupy the center of the city to demand the resignation of President Viktor Yanukovych, according to French TV news station France 24.
The protesters entered Independence Square at midday and unfurled a giant European Union flag in the center of the square, displaying the Ukrainian flag alongside it. About 400 people gathered peacefully in front of the Ukrainian government building and confronted each other with a line of police officers armed with iron shields. Some protesters also tried to storm the barricades around the Ukrainian presidential office that day, but were prevented from doing so by police. Clashes erupted when special police threw concussion bombs into the crowd, ****injuring at least 100 police officers. In addition, protesters smashed the doors and windows of the Kiev city hall and the city council building and stormed inside the office buildings, and the trade union building in Kiev was also occupied by the opposition.
Kiev's General Directorate of Internal Affairs said on the same day that the situation in Kiev was under police control and that law enforcement officers had exercised restraint during the operation.
Ukraine's Prosecutor General Viktor Pshonka said in a statement on the same day that the rally in the center of Kiev of people who support integration with Europe was legal, and that the task of the law-enforcement protectors on the square should be to safeguard the rights of the citizens who are rallying, RIA Novosti reported.
Ukrainian Parliament Chairman Vladimir Rybak called on the government and opposition to sit down at the negotiating table from Monday following the riots in Kiev, RIA Novosti reported.
At least 40 Ukrainian and foreign media journalists were injured during the rally in central Kiev, the Ukrainian magazine Telekritika reported.
December 2, 2013
Ukrainian authorities:
This comes after some 150 workers of the state's strongest services were injured in a mass riot in front of the Ukrainian government building. Ukraine and deployed 60 soldiers in an attempt to control the situation. Ukraine's First Deputy Prime Minister Arbuzov has said the government does not intend to submit its resignation and is ready to continue working despite the worsening political situation in the country.
Ukraine's Channel 5 television reported that 100 fighters from the "Berkut" special forces and 50 staff members from other forces were among the 150 wounded.
Kiev's General Directorate of Internal Affairs told the media that the number of injured state employees exceeded the previously announced 120, but a more accurate figure has yet to be confirmed. According to RIA Novosti, the press center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Ukrainianland reported on the same day that the clashes in the center of Kiev on the 1st caused nearly 140 staff members of the institutions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine to seek medical assistance, and 75 law-enforcement officers were injured and admitted to the hospital, of which five were in serious condition.
In addition, the Kiev city government said at the same time that 165 protesters were injured in the clashes, 109 of whom were hospitalized.
According to the Ukrainian Interior Ministry, more powerful personnel will be mobilized to Kiev by the Interior Ministry's internal defense forces due to the protests in the capital.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Azarov, meeting with foreign diplomats, said the Ukrainian government saw the blockade of the country's government offices as a sign of an attempted coup, but that the authorities were showing restraint.
Ukrainian opposition:
In the morning, 5,000-6,000 opposition figures blocked government buildings and the National Bank in downtown Kiev.
Ukrainian opposition leaders and government representatives took part in a "round table" in the Ukrainian parliament. The opposition made demands for the resignation of the president and the government.
Ukrainian "Liberal Party" leader Oleg Gagnibok said in Kiev. Addressing a rally of the opposition on Independence Square in the center of Kiev, Gagni Bok said that the three opposition parties, Fatherland, Democratic Union for the Reform of Ukraine and Liberal Party, would not take part in the parliamentary session until Azarov's Cabinet stepped down. Freedom Party" will not take part in the work of the parliament.
Ukrainian opposition party "Strike" leader Vitaly Klitschko said the opposition would not allow the government led by Nikolai Azarov to start functioning.
In the evening, a large number of protesters still gathered in the Independence Square in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, where opposition leaders took turns shouting at the demonstrators, demanding that the government step down.
December 3, 2013
Ukrainian authorities:
Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, faced with massive anti-government demonstrations in the country, has begun to seek a resumption of talks with Brussels to quell the wave of civil protests. Also accusing some politicians of turning popular rallies into political extremism that will have negative results, he called on protesters to follow the law and announced a visit to China on the 3rd as originally planned to seek loans and investment. Sources said Yanukovych has called European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso to prepare a delegation to discuss the associated states agreement.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Azarov apologized on behalf of the government for the rough treatment of protesters by law protectors on Nov. 30, 2013, in downtown Kiev. He said neither President Yanukovych nor he himself took the decision to forcibly disperse the demonstrators. He said that what happened will be dealt with seriously and the government will make personnel changes. At the same time, he said that the Ukrainian government sees the attack on state government bodies as a sign of an attempted coup, and that the Ukrainian government is still acting with restraint. Speaking in Parliament, said that the EU should be aware of Russia's position on Ukraine's alignment with the EU and that Kiev will sign an associate membership agreement with the EU once the three sides reach a *** understanding. In a meeting with foreign diplomats, said that the emergence of mass protests in Ukraine became uncontrollable and that protesters were using illegal means. In a televised address broadcast on Ukraine's STB television on the same night, it was said that the government would not allow the national economy to fall into disaster.
Ukraine's ruling party, the Party of Regions, accused the opposition of planning a scenario in which events move in the direction of force to seize power.
Ukrainian parliament:
After a debate, the Ukrainian parliament voted down a motion of no confidence in the government proposed by the opposition. According to Ukrainian regulations, the minimum threshold for a no-confidence motion against the government to pass in parliament is 226 votes, but the motion received only 186 votes in favor. MPs from the Ukrainian ****production party and the ruling Party of Regions did not participate in the vote.
Ukrainian opposition:
The leaders of Ukraine's three main opposition parties, the Fatherland Party, the Strike Party and the Freedom Party, announced at a press conference on the same day that the Third would introduce a motion of no confidence in the government in parliament, and also called for early presidential elections. There will also be a general strike in pro-Western western Ukraine. But Ukrainian Prime Minister Azarov, meeting with foreign ambassadors in the country, said the occupation of government buildings and obstruction of government operations would not be fruitful, and that it would be impossible to overthrow the legitimate government and the democratically elected president.
Opposing demonstrators:
Thousands of demonstrators came to protest in front of the Ukrainian parliament building on the same day, calling for the government to step down. Massive protests also continued in the capital, Kiev, and a number of other cities.
Injuries:
Kovalenko, the head of Ukraine's Interior Ministry's central hospital, said the riots in Kiev left more than 90 police officers hospitalized with varying degrees of trauma, RIA Novosti reported. Speaking in the Verkhovna Rada (parliament) on the same day, Ukrainian Prime Minister Azarov said that 162 police officers were injured in the Kiev riots.
December 4, 2013
Ukrainian Prime Minister Azarov said at a government meeting that the grounds for protests in Ukraine had been exhausted and that the executive bodies were functioning smoothly.
Week-long protests and demonstrations in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev are likely to come to a standstill as a result of the Ukrainian government's victory in a vote of no-confidence, according to the U.S.-based Christian Science Monitor.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Azarov warned the protesters on the same day that they would have to bear the constitutional and legal consequences if they continued to besiege the government building in Kiev, according to the Qatari website Al Jazeera. Meanwhile, the Russian side emphasized the need to maintain calm and stability in Ukraine. The members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) condemned the Ukrainian government's "disproportionate use of force to suppress peaceful demonstrators in the country." Meanwhile, Russia has emphasized the need for calm and stability in Ukraine.
Three former Ukrainian presidents, Kravchuk, Kuchma and Yushchenko, expressed their support for the pro-European actions in an open letter on Dec. 4, 2013, local time, according to AFP.
Ukraine's Interior Ministry said on its own Facebook page that more than 50 criminal proceedings had been carried out following the protests. "53 facts of violations were registered from November 30 to December 3, 2013," the announcement said. The announcement states, "During the investigation it was established that all the facts of violation of the law took place mainly in the vicinity of administrative buildings: the Ukrainian House, the trade union building, the Kyiv city hall, and also near the Leninsky monument."
December 5, 2013
Ukrainian opposition:
Russian newspaper Gazeta reported that the leader of the Ukrainian opposition party, the Freedom Party, Oleg Dyanybko, declared at an opposition rally, "We will establish an independent regime in Kiev, starting tomorrow. We will establish an independent regime in Kiev from tomorrow, with local autonomy for Kiev."
Ukrainian opposition leader Petro Tymoshenko, who remains in prison, called on the United States and the European Union to impose sanctions on Yanukovych and his family after a demonstration in the Ukrainian capital was violently dispersed, French television news station France 24 reported. Tymoshenko's lawyer, Sergey Vlassenko, relayed her statement, saying that sanctions against Yanukovych and his family were the only language the sitting Ukrainian president could understand. Vlassenko noted that Yanukovych and his family have accounts and real estate in Europe, and hoped that the European side would launch an anti-corruption investigation against Yanukovych and his family. In addition, the lawyer noted that Tymoshenko, who has taken her hunger strike to the 10th day, is very weak, but he claimed that people cannot break her psychologically.
Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Tymoshenko, who began her hunger strike in prison on Nov. 25, 2013, to protest the authorities' suspension of the European integration process, has said she has submitted a proposal to the opposition leader on continuing the mass protests, RIA Novosti reported.
Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has appealed to the Ukrainian opposition leader to adopt a peaceful approach in the form of a letter conveying a concrete plan of action, according to Russia's Interfax news agency.
Ukrainian authorities:
According to RIA Novosti, the acting head of Kiev's Main Directorate of Internal Affairs, Valeriy Mazan, citing a court ruling, told journalists that the protesters have five days to lift the blockade of the Ukrainian government building in central Kiev. If the protesters do not stop surrounding the government building, Kiev police will take stern action.
Ukrainian authorities have said they are already willing to give the opposition a chance for peaceful dialog, and they will discuss sensitive issues such as early presidential elections, according to the website of Russia's ****Youth Pravda.
Also according to foreign media reports, in a television interview, Ukraine's First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Arbuzov said he would not accept the protesters' main demands for the resignation of the Cabinet and an early presidential election.
Ukraine's Interior Ministry said on its own Facebook page on the same day that more than 50 criminal proceedings had been carried out in the wake of the protests, according to RIA Novosti. "From November 30 to December 3 this year 53 facts of violations were registered," the announcement said.
Russian media reported that the head of the health department of the Ukrainian city government in Kiev, Vitaly? The total number of people injured in clashes at demonstrations in central Kiev since Nov. 30, 2013, has reached 305, but no fatal cases have been recorded, Moholyov said.
December 8, 2013
Ukrainian opposition:
Protesters smash Lenin statue
Protests by the Ukrainian opposition have intensified since the beginning of the 8th day, when they gave the Ukrainian government a 48-hour ultimatum to dissolve the government, arrest the interior minister, and release the arrested demonstrators; and the same day, the so-called "Million Man March" was held in Kiev's Independence Square. On the so-called "Million Man March" rally held in Independence Square in Kiev on the same day, the demonstrators destroyed the statue of Lenin in the city center, blocked off the neighborhood where the government building is located, and set up tents near the presidential office to implement an "indefinite blockade". Some analysts say that the current situation in Ukraine is somewhat like the eve of the "Orange Revolution". The Ukrainian police said these provocations are a sign of preparation for a coup d'état. Ruling party lawmakers have accused the Americans of advising the opposition.
Ukrainian authorities:
Investigation into power grab
Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) began an investigation into illegal acts aimed at seizing state power, the Security Service said in a release on the same day, according to RIA Novosti.
December 9, 2013
Arrest of participants in Lenin statue vandalism
Oliga Birek, head of the press service of Ukraine's Main Directorate of Internal Affairs in Kiev, told RIA Novosti. Birek told RIA Novosti that police had opened a criminal case under the "mass disorder" clause over the pulling down of a statue of Lenin in central Kiev.
Ukrainian police began arresting participants in the vandalism of the Lenin statue the same day. Valeri, a member of parliament for the Ukrainian opposition Strike Party (Democratic Alliance for the Reform of Ukraine), made the announcement on the same day, the Ukrainian state news agency reported. He warned the public that those who "knocked stones off the statue" are also under arrest by the police. According to Ukrainska Pravda, at around 18:00 local time on August 8, a group of masked young men attached a thick rope to the only statue of Lenin in Kiev and then pulled it down with great force. The people present then began vandalizing the fallen statue. After the statue-smashing incident, all major Ukrainian opposition parties issued statements saying they had nothing to do with the incident, according to the Russian newspaper Al-Monitor.
Klitschko, the leader of the Strike Party, said the vandalism was not organized by the Strike Party and that the party had "not made any decision" on the Lenin statue. Fatherland MP Andrey claimed that the main demand of the opposition is against the government, not against the statue of Lenin. "The leader of the Ukrainian Freedom Movement, Tiyaniboko, called the vandalism of Lenin's statue a "senseless suicide".
Yatsenyuk, the leader of Ukraine's opposition Fatherland party, said his party's headquarters in Kiev had been raided, according to foreign media reports.
According to Russia's Moskovsky ****Yugoslavia newspaper, Ukrainian MP and Party of Regions member Oleg? Tsarev made a request in a tweet to the Ukrainian security and diplomatic services to ban some foreign citizens from entering Ukraine. According to him, these people are involved in and try to influence the political process in Ukraine.
The Ukrainian government said the country's President Viktor Yanukovych has agreed to engage in a dialog with the opposition and will hold discussions with the country's three ex-presidents on the political crisis Ukraine is currently facing on the 10th of local time, according to foreign media reports.
December 11, 2013
Ukrainian opposition:
Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Petro Tymoshenko, who is serving a prison sentence, has said she does not agree that the opposition should enter into talks with the authorities, and she has called for Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych to have to step down, according to RIA Novosti.
The Ukrainian opposition has rejected Yanukovych's initiative for dialog and insisted that he step down.
Ukrainian opposition leaders and Catherine Ashton, the European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, held a discussion on the complex situation in Ukraine that lasted nearly an hour, according to RIA Novosti.
Ukrainian Authorities:
Ukrainian authorities cleared the city center of Kiev of crowds protesting in the early hours of local time and clashed with protesters, according to Russian media reports. A release on the official website of the Kiev city government said 30 people sought medical attention after the day's clearing, 15 of whom were hospitalized for treatment, including protesters and police personnel.
December 12, 2013
Ukraine's First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Arbuzov and European Commissioner Stefan Filer held a joint press conference in Brussels, where Arbuzov said Ukraine would soon sign an integration agreement with the European Union, according to RIA Novosti.
December 13, 2013
Ukraine's First Deputy Prime Minister Serhiy? Serhiy Arbuzov said on the same day that Ukraine will soon sign an agreement on trade and cooperation with the European Union under the condition that it gets the EU's promise to provide more aid.
Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, Prime Minister Vladimir Azarov and the leaders of Ukraine's three main opposition parties held a roundtable meeting to seek a solution to the current political crisis. The meeting was attended by some representatives of society, in addition to top authorities and opposition leaders. At the meeting, all parties expressed their views on the current situation.
December 14, 2013
Tens of thousands of supporters of the Party of Regions of Ukraine (PRU) from all over the country held the national flag and the flag of the Party of Regions at 12:00 p.m. local time and rallied in support of the president's general policy at the European Square in the center of the capital Kiev.
December 15, 2013
About 200,000 anti-government demonstrators and pro-European Union protesters gathered at Independence Square for a powerful rally in Kiev, Ukraine, local time. The popular protests against the government's suspension of the Associated States Agreement with the European Union, now in its fourth week, are said to be intensifying, with protesters clashing with police.
Tens of thousands of people in Ukraine have marched to urge President Viktor Yanukovych to "repair relations with the EU" as soon as possible, Reuters reported.
Ukraine's interior ministry press service chief Oleg Birek said the country's opposition was not ready for the demonstration, according to foreign media reports. Birek said the country's opposition and government supporters were holding simultaneous events in Kiev. In contrast, U.S. Senators Murphy and McCain addressed the opposition crowd on the same day, saying the United States supports Ukraine's integration with the European Union.
December 16, 2013
Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych met with U.S. Senators John McCain and Christopher? Murphy emphasized that Ukraine's approach to European integration remains unchanged.
The political "crisis" in Ukraine was one of the main topics of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's "luncheon" with his EU counterparts. According to foreign media reports, the EU foreign ministers met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and *** had lunch, where they reiterated the EU's continued willingness to sign an agreement with Ukraine and said that the associated states agreement with Ukraine would not jeopardize Russia's interests.
Mikhail Bagrebinsky, director of the Center for Political Studies and Conflict Theory in Kiev, believes that the political crisis in Ukraine could be eased by early 2014 if political figures such as Prime Minister Nikolai Azarov and Interior Minister Vitaly Zakharchenko are removed from the Ukrainian government, according to RIA Novosti.
December 17, 2013
Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych may request a $5 billion loan from Russia as well as a cut in the price of natural gas to $200 to $300, the Ukrainian opposition said, according to RIA Novosti.