Photoreport: War and Maidan

Pavel Dobrovolski / "EuroBelarus"

Maidan now has a hundred-day history. It was coming to nothing; people were waiting, only answering back from time to time. Nevertheless, Maidan won, even if this victory is not final.

Since the very start Viktor Yanukovich made a number of mistakes, foolish blunders and, according to the State Attorney’s Office, committed a number of crimes.

This is the short chronology of Maidan:

It is the forceful dispersal of a scarce protest group, consisting mostly of students, and protests in support of Eurointegration that initiated Maidan. The people didn’t accept the violence; and on December 1 the number of protesters grew up to hundreds of thousands.

First blood was shed in January. People, who went through Maidan, exclude the possibility that someone except Yanukovich and members of the top brass, who were subject to him, shot at people.

The same is true for the massacre on February 18-20. The authorities immediately rejected their fault and laid all the blame on extremists from the “Right sector” party. But only those who was against Maidan since the beginning believed them.

The whole world was surprised with the events of February 21: law enforcement agencies abandoned their positions, Yanukovich hurriedly fled to Russia and stated that Ukraine witnessed coup d’état. After that even his fellow-fighters refused to have anything to do with him, and his impeachment was approved in Verkhovna Rada.

However, Kremlin didn’t accept the change of power in Kiev. Russian media openly persecute new Ukrainian authorities, and hysteria about the oppression of the Russian-speaking population is going on. Did Euromaidan win? It seems like everything has just started.

EuroBelarus Information Service publishes the photos made by our reporter from February 8 till February 24 at Maidan – during its peacetime and wartime.

Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square). On February 18-20 military establishment almost managed to eliminate Maidan. During these days dozens of people died and hundreds of Maidan supporters were wounded. Nevertheless, the protesters stood up to the military and demanded that Verkhovna Rada announces impeachment to Yanukovich.

Institutskaya Street. It is there where the most violent fights in the Ukraine’s contemporary history took place. More people in Kiev last time were killed only in the World War II.

Since February 21 mourning days for the dead at Maidan have been announced. People bring flowers and candles to barricades. At the territory enclosed with barricades people have eradicated dozens of spontaneous memorials.

Verkhovna Rada. It is here where the fate of the country stands to be decided. The deputies signed at impeachment to Yanukovich, freed Timoshenko, formed a new government, appointed the interim president and caretaker prime minister. The last days of February are especially tense for Rada. State buildings and airports are occupied in Crimea. There is high danger of Russia’s military intervention.