Orange Revolution ends

last updated 8 January 2015

Kiev, Ukraine

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko was forced to accept his archrival, Viktor Yanukovich, as prime minister last week, ending four months of political stalemate. It was Yanukovich’s fraudulent win in the 2004 presidential election that sparked the Orange Revolution, a series of pro-Western, pro-democracy demonstrations led by Yushchenko. Yanukovich stepped down and Yushchenko was elected in his place. In the intervening year and a half, though, the government’s attempts at reform had mixed results, and many voters grew disillusioned. This spring, the pro-Russian Yanukovich made a comeback in parliamentary elections, and he will now lead a new government.