Ukraine is approaching tenth anniversary of the Maidan Revolution immersed in a war for its independence that many see as a continuation of those street protests brutally repressed by the Police that ended up overthrowing the last pro-Russian president of UkraineViktor Yanukovych.
“What we see today is the continuation of our fight for our historical memory, for our cultural identity, for our freedom and for our future,” historian Igor Poshivailo tells EFE, a few days before the tenth anniversary of the beginning, on December 21. November 2013, of the revolt that would force Yanukovych to flee the country.
The largest demonstrations took place in Independence Square in the center of kyiv, popularly known as the Maidanwhich means square or public space in Ukrainian.
The trigger for the protests was President Yanukovych’s failure to fulfill his promise to sign an Association Agreement with the European Union (EU).
Under intense pressure from the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, Yanukovych rejected signing with Brussels and opted to remain under the patronage of the Kremlin. Millions of Ukrainians saw Yanukovych’s move as a quasi-definitive setback to his aspirations to live in a democratic and prosperous Western-style society.