Ukraine’s Year-Long History After Euromaidan

Fire smoke and protesters on Maidan Nezalezhnosti square in Kiev. February, 22.

On February 21, President Yanukovych announced snap presidential elections and return to the 2004 constitution with Ukraine moving toward a parliamentary republic. The national leader also called for the formation of a government of national trust.

On February 22, the Verkhovna Rada declared that Yanukovych “removed himself from his constitutional duties through unconstitutional means” and scheduled snap parliamentary elections for May 25. On February 23, the parliament appointed Verkhovna Rada Chairman Oleksandr Turchynov as acting President.

On February 27, the Ukrainian parliament appointed the so called ‘government of national trust’ with Arseniy Yatsenyuk as the prime minister.

On February 28, Viktor Yanukovych said during a press conference in Rostov-on-Don that he would never recognize the Ukrainian parliament’s decision to oust him from office.

On March 11, the Supreme Council of Crimea endorsed a declaration in support of the region’s independence from Ukraine and its goal to join Russia. On March 16, a referendum on the region’s future took place. The overwhelming majority (96,77 percent) voted in favor of rejoining Russia.

Based on the referendum results and the declaration of independence, the Supreme Council of Crimea ruled on March 17 that the peninsula would become independent from Ukraine.

In April, Ukrainian authorities started a military operation against Donbas residents who were discontent with the February coup d’etat.
Above: Volunteer Corps member returns to his home in the town of Semyonovka near Slovyansk after it was damaged by a night-time Ukrainian artillery attack

In June, Russia’s Rostov Region declared a state of emergency in 15 districts (adjacent to Ukraine) in order to help thousands of Ukrainian refugees fleeing from the war-torn Luhansk and Donetsk Regions.

Above: A resident of Slavyansk being photographed with a supporter of federalization by the barricades near the City Council building in Slavyansk in the Donetsk Region.

Above: Children at a tent camp for refugees from eastern Ukraine in Sevastopol.

On May 2, Euromaidan supporters destroyed and burnt a tent camp of their opponents in Odesa. People hid in the House of Trade Unions; Euromaidan bandits hurled Molotov cocktails into the building and also shot at the windows. The attackers set fire to the central doors of the building. Flames engulfed the lobby and moved upwards, but firefighters came too late. The people locked inside had no other way but jump out the windows and fall to their death. The attackers rushed inside, shot and beat the people, strangled them and killed the injured ones. At least 48 people died.

The Donbas region did not recognize the legitimacy of the new government in Kiev. The regions of Donetsk and Luhansk held referendums to determine their status on May 11.

The voting in Ukraine’s southeast passed amid Kiev’s large-scale military operation involving armor and artillery. The operation resulted in a massive killing of civilians.

On May 12, Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics declared sovereignty.

On May 25, Ukraine held snap presidential elections. Twenty-one candidates contested the highest position. Billionaire Petro Poroshenko, a self-nominated candidate, won the race with 54,7 percent votes.

On May 25, famous boxer Vitaly Klitschko won the mayor’s seat in Kiev. However, the media paid equally much attention to Darth Vader, a leader of Ukraine’s Internet party.

On July 17, a Malaysia Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur crashed in Ukraine’s eastern region of Donetsk, killing all 283 passengers and 15 crew members on board. According to the preliminary report by the Dutch Safety Board, the Malaysia Airlines flight broke up in the air probably as the result of structural damage caused by a large number of high-energy objects that penetrated the aircraft from the outside.

On August 22, nearly 300 trucks with humanitarian aid from Russia crossed the Ukrainian border after long customs checks and arrived in Luhansk.

According to UN estimates, at least 5,695 people were killed and 14,122 wounded since mid-April 2014. As well, Rossiya Segodnya reporter Andrei Stenin died while performing his duties in August.
Above: Cross installed at Rossiya Segodnya photojournalist Andrei Stenin's death scene by his colleagues, in the Donetsk Region.

On November 2, the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics held leadership and parliamentary votes.
Above: Residents of the Lugansk region cast their votes at the early election of head of the Lugansk People's Republic in the village of Volodarsk.

Above: The parties made several efforts to come to an agreement, with Russia and OSCE brokering the peace process. It resulted in a continued reduction of shelling in the autumn; however, the situation broke down again after the New Year.
Volunteers from the Sich battalion are ready for dispatch to the area of hostilities in southeastern Ukraine.

On February 10, volunteer mobilization began in the Donetsk People’s Republic. The DPR authorities underscored several times that no draft cards would be disseminated.

The leaders of Russia, Germany, France and Ukraine met in Minsk on February 11 to discuss Ukraine crisis reconciliation in the “Normandy format”.

The talks, lasting 16 hours, produced a set of measures including ceasefire in Donbas starting at midnight on February 15, withdrawal of heavy arms, all foreign armed groups and mercenaries, creation of a buffer zone, as well as Ukraine’s decentralization through a constitutional reform.
Above: Guard of honor near the Presidential palace in Minsk, Republic of Belarus.