Euromaidan
Participation and organization
Surveys by the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation and the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology distinguished Kyiv's mass rallies from its permanent protest camp. The surveys interviewed 1,037 people on 7–8 December 2013, 515 on 20 December and 502 on 3 February 2014. Membership in any political party was reported by 3.9, 14.9 and 7.7 percent, respectively. These figures measure party membership among respondents at those Kyiv gatherings; they do not measure far-right sympathies or establish a nationwide ceiling for the whole protest movement.[1]
Sociologist Volodymyr Ishchenko distinguishes participants' numbers from their organizational influence. His analysis of 3,721 reported Maidan protest events, supplemented by 102 interviews, describes Svoboda and Right Sector as prominent in different forms of protest. The event database records reported group participation, rather than counting each group's individual supporters. Ishchenko acknowledges media selection and description biases and argues that small electoral shares can coexist with substantial resources and street mobilization.[2]
Government proposal and the Nuland–Pyatt call
On 25 January 2014, Viktor Yanukovych offered Arseniy Yatsenyuk the premiership and Vitali Klitschko the deputy premiership for humanitarian affairs. The Nuland–Pyatt call concerned this proposed government under Yanukovych’s presidency, rather than selecting a replacement president.[3][4]
That January arrangement never took office. After Mykola Azarov’s resignation, Serhiy Arbuzov chaired the caretaker Cabinet. Yatsenyuk’s appointment as prime minister came later, after Yanukovych’s departure. The comparison table separates the proposed roles from the later appointments and elections.[5]
Parliamentary votes and the 2014 elections
On 22 February 2014, parliament declared that Yanukovych had abandoned his constitutional duties and called an early presidential election for 25 May. The vote was 328 in favor, none against and no abstentions: unanimous among those who voted. Six registered deputies did not vote. The 328 votes represented 72.9 percent of the constitutional 450 seats.[6]
Parliament assigned the presidential duties to its chairman, Oleksandr Turchynov, on 23 February, by 285 votes. It appointed Yatsenyuk prime minister on 27 February, by 371 votes. The presidency and premiership were different offices held by different people.[7]
In the 25 May 2014 presidential election, Petro Poroshenko won in the first round with 54.70 percent. Yanukovych’s Party of Regions had not been banned and backed Mykhailo Dobkin, who received 3.03 percent. The 26 October parliamentary election returned the Opposition Bloc, which included former Party of Regions politicians, with 9.43 percent of the party-list vote and 29 seats.[8][9]
The OSCE-led observers assessed the presidential election as genuine and largely consistent with international commitments, and credited the parliamentary election with competitive contests and real choice. Russia’s occupation of Crimea and armed violence in parts of Donetsk and Luhansk prevented polling there.[10][11]
Commentary and further reading
“ The way you can immediately tell someone is totally hooked on Russian fascist propaganda is their unshakable belief that Victoria Nuland is one of the most powerful people in the world. They think she single handedly overthrew Yanukovych and installed Poroshenko. Clown shit.
- — Oz Katerji, [1]
- Pekka Kallioniemi, “In today’s #vatniksoup and another edition of “You pronounced this nonsense, not me”, I’ll talk about an event called the Revolution of Dignity AKA Maidan Revolution. It was a wave of demonstrations in Ukraine that took place in 2013 and 2014.” (thread) (pdf)
- Oleksandra Povoroznyk, “I’m not even gonna list everything this person (or, probably, group of good old balding comrades sitting around in a government building somewhere in Moscow) is hilariously wrong about, but I do want to make this point very clear: Maidan was not a coup.” (thread) (PDF)
- Oleksandra Povoroznyk, “It’s 9 years since the beginning of the Maidan revolution, which began as a protest led mainly by students and journalists, and ended up changing the fate of our country. This is what the early days felt and looked like: November drizzle, ironic posters and earnest students.” (thread) (PDF)
- Oleksandra Povoroznyk, “Alright, I know this definitely won’t get the “but Maidan was a coup!” crowd to stop with that bs, but I do want to remind all of you fine people on twitter what life before Euromaidan was like.”
- Neil Abrams, “According to tankies, the 2014 Euromaidan revolution, in which Ukrainians rose up and ousted kleptocratic dictator Viktor Yanukovych, was a “coup” by the U.S. acting in cahoots with Ukrainian Nazis. Was it?” (thread) (pdf)
- Mariia Kramarenko, “The beginning. 26th of November 2013. Student from my university Kyiv-Mohyla Academy gathered to march through the streets of #Kyiv. We went to Taras Shevchenko park in front of Taras Shevchenko university to call other students to join the strike. After people headed to #Maidan.” (thread) (pdf)
- Stas Olenchenko, “Exactly 9 years ago today, I was in a pub with my uni pals when we heard the news that then-president Yanukovych would not sign the association agreement with the EU, crushing Ukraine’s European hopes and locking us to Russia.” (thread) (pdf)
- Mykhailo Lavrovskyi, Don’t know what to answer on the Russian propaganda about calling the Revolution of Dignity in Ukraine a coup?
Kremlin propaganda
deaths
See also
References
- ↑ Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation and Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, Від Майдану-табору до Майдану-січі: що змінилося?, 6 February 2014, survey methods and table on membership in parties, organizations and movements.
- ↑ Volodymyr Ishchenko, Denial of the Obvious: Far Right in Maidan Protests and Their Danger Today, Vox Ukraine, 16 April 2018, methods, interview table and discussion of organizational resources.
- ↑ Justice Minister Olena Lukash’s announcement of the president’s offer, reported in Yanukovych offers premier’s post to Yatseniuk, Interfax-Ukraine, 25 January 2014; Ukrainian report reproducing her statement, Ukrainska Pravda, same date.
- ↑ Ukraine crisis: Transcript of leaked Nuland–Pyatt call, BBC News, February 2014 (accessible reproduction); the speakers’ exchanges, distinct from the accompanying commentary.
- ↑ Olena Lukash’s statement after the 27 January talks, reported in Parliament will probe into government’s responsibility, Yatseniuk not ready to head cabinet, Interfax-Ukraine, 28 January 2014; Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, Mykola Azarov introduces Serhiy Arbuzov as acting Prime Minister, 29 January 2014.
- ↑ Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Resolution on the President’s self-withdrawal and early presidential elections, 22 February 2014, No. 757-VII; full resolution; official voting record, 22 February 2014, 17:11:55. For the constitutional composition of parliament, see the OSCE/ODIHR October 2014 election report, section IV.
- ↑ Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Plenary meeting on February 23, 2014, vote assigning presidential duties to the parliamentary chairman; Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, Prime Minister of Ukraine and composition of Government appointed, 27 February 2014, parliamentary votes and full government composition.
- ↑ Central Election Commission of Ukraine, Official notification of the results of the 25 May 2014 presidential election, published in Uryadovyi Kurier; Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Observation of the early presidential election in Ukraine (25 May 2014), Doc. 13543, especially paragraph 38 on Dobkin’s support from the Party of Regions.
- ↑ Central Election Commission of Ukraine, Results of the nationwide party-list vote, 26 October 2014; Inter-Parliamentary Union, Ukraine: parliamentary elections of 26 October 2014, election results and party composition.
- ↑ OSCE/ODIHR, Despite Violence and Threats in East, Ukraine Election Characterized by High Turnout and Resolve to Guarantee Fundamental Freedoms, 26 May 2014; final report, 30 June 2014.
- ↑ OSCE/ODIHR, Ukraine: Early Parliamentary Elections, 26 October 2014, Final Report, 19 December 2014, executive summary and sections III–IV; English report.
