Protests shake Ukraine
Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians took to the streets of Kiev in an effort to force President Viktor Yanukovych to resign.
A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Thank you for signing up to TheWeek. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians took to the streets of Kiev this week, besieging key government buildings and battling riot police in an effort to force President Viktor Yanukovych to resign. Protests erupted when Yanukovych abruptly scrapped political and free trade accords he had spent years negotiating with the European Union, focusing instead on strengthening ties with Russia. Moscow had threatened Ukraine with economic punishment over the prospective EU deal. Prime Minister Mykola Azarov, who survived a no-confidence vote in parliament, urged demonstrators to enter into talks with his government. “We will give you a hand,” said Azarov. “If we see a fist, we have enough force.”
Blame this mess on Vladimir Putin’s ambition to rebuild the Soviet Union, said Joerg Forbrig in CNN.com. The Russian president derailed Ukraine’s deal with the EU because he wants the country and other former Soviet republics to join a rival Moscow-led “Eurasian Union” that could compete with the U.S. and China. Without Ukraine’s huge market, mineral resources, and proximity to the EU, Putin knows his neo-Soviet project is dead.
The Ukrainian government was in a no-win situation, said Alex Spillius in The Telegraph (U.K.). The EU deal could have saved Ukrainian businesses more than $670 million a year in import duties. But it could have led Russia to block $16 billion in annual Ukrainian exports and hike the price of natural gas. The EU’s carrots “simply couldn’t match Putin’s sticks.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Yanukovych had his own reasons for canning the deal, said The Washington Post in an editorial. EU anti-corruption officials would have probed the fortune his family has acquired during his presidency. Still, he was fairly elected and remains popular in Ukraine’s Russian-speaking east, so his fate should be settled through elections next year, not a repeat of 2004’s Orange Revolution. If he’s ousted through street protests, Ukraine could be doomed to “the endless turmoil that has afflicted other nations that removed elected leaders, including Thailand and Egypt.”
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.
Sign up to our 10 Things You Need to Know Today newsletter
A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
-
Bribery indictment
Cartoons
By The Week Staff Published
-
The daily gossip: Hollywood writers and studios reach tentative agreement to end strike, Taylor Swift attends Chiefs game amid Travis Kelce dating rumors, and more
The daily gossip: September 25, 2023
By Brendan Morrow Published
-
Disaster averted
Cartoons
By The Week Staff Published
-
Trump surrenders in Georgia election subversion case
Speed Read
By Catherine Garcia Published
-
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries chosen to succeed Pelosi as leader of House Democrats
Speed Read
By Brigid Kennedy Published
-
GOP leader Kevin McCarthy's bid for House speaker may really be in peril
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Are China's protests a real threat for Beijing?
opinion The sharpest opinions on the debate from around the web
By Harold Maass Published
-
Who is Nick Fuentes, the white nationalist who dined with Trump and Kanye?
Speed Read From Charlottesville to Mar-a-Lago in just five years
By Rafi Schwartz Published
-
Jury convicts Oath Keepers Stewart Rhodes, Kelly Meggs of seditious conspiracy in landmark Jan. 6 verdict
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
A look at the White House's festive and homey holiday decor
Speed Read
By Brigid Kennedy Published
-
Bob Iger addresses 'Don't Say Gay' bill, says inclusion is part of Disney's values
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published