14 DAY TRIAL // Ukraine has been rattled with protests in the last few days, citizens stating their will to get closer to the EU and distance themselves from Russia's influence zone. Thousands of protesters took the streets of Kiev opposing President Viktor Yanukovich's decision to suspend talks with the European Union and beheaded Lenin's statue to prove their point.
The biggest Ukrainian protest since the Orange Revolution, which toppled the government nine years ago, started around December 1, when the country's citizens decided they had enough of the Russian collaboration and wanted to follow the footsteps of other Eastern European countries that joined the EU.
To state their outrage against the current government and the years of close ties with the Russian regime, protesters took down the statue of Vladimir Lenin from Kiev's Bessarabska Square, waving the Ukranian flag and cheering for a new future. The statue was taken down and smashed to pieces with hammers and shovels to show the people's strong hate against the soviet bonds.
As all the recent protests and revolutions that took place in the world recently, demonstrators took to Twitter and other social media means to make their opinions heard, posting pictures for the whole world to see. One particular photo that went viral was showing a man playing the Ukraine flag decorated piano to riot the police.
Police reports say that more than 100,000 people gathered in the square enduring the horrible cold to oppose the recent political decisions that the government took. Kiev just suspended talks with the EU, angering citizens that believed the Union was their best chance for a modern, prosper country.
The United Nations publicly announced the problems in Ukraine and urged President Yanukovych to solve the “grave concern” without violence. Ukraine's leader chose to meet Russia's President Vladimir Putin to discuss bilateral relations with Russia, in spite of the people's will. Adding to this, Yanukovych’s constant refusal to free Ukraine's former Prime Minister and opposition leader, Yulia Tymoshenko, brought more and more disgust towards the regime.
“This is a decisive moment when all Ukrainians have gathered here because they don't want to live in a country where corruption rules and where there is no justice,” Vitaly Klitschko, leader of the opposition party and world heavy-weighting bosing championship said, according to Daily Mail.
Protesters are accusing their president of attempting to recreate the Soviet Union without the country's will. The EU deal was turned down for being considered too expensive for a developing country like Ukraine, after a strategic partnership with Russia would be much more adequate. Ukraine is considered a key asset for Moscow's interests and Russia is not willing “to give it up to the EU.”
The Independence Square, the core of the protest, was filled with EU flags and portraits of the opposition leader currently jailed, Tymoshenko, besides other placards shaming the current leadership.
The protesters chanting “Revolution” all over the country are not willing to let go of their cause and refuse to be “under Russia's thumb.” After taking down Lenin's statue, the only parts remaining from the former dictator's tribute were his legs and some angered citizens were yelling “Yanukovych you're next!”