Ukraine

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==2013-2014 protests and government overthrow==
 
==2013-2014 protests and government overthrow==
Ukraine was about to sign an Association Agreement with the EU, but the government suspended preparations for it, causing a wave of large scale protests that became known under their Twitter hashtag, "EuroMaidan" (from "Europe" and "Maidan Nezalezhnosti"/"Independence Square", the main square of Kiev). The situation escalated - every attempt at suppressing the protests caused them to intensify, with clashes with riot police and Berkut special police forces, occupation of government buildings, to the point of gunshots, snipers and killed protesters and opposition activists. Ultimately, the government of Victor Yanukovych was removed by a parliamentary vote and he fled without formally resigning his post. Since then, he has reappeared in Russia, maintaining that he is still the legitimate <s>ruler</s> President of Ukraine and that his removal was an illegal ''coup d'état''. You can bet some Ukraininan hryvnias what's the position of Russia...
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Ukraine was about to sign an Association Agreement with the EU, but the government suspended preparations for it, causing a wave of large scale protests that became known under their Twitter hashtag, "EuroMaidan" (from "Europe" and "Maidan Nezalezhnosti"/"Independence Square", the main square of Kiev). The situation escalated - every attempt at suppressing the protests caused them to intensify, with clashes with riot police and Berkut special police forces, occupation of government buildings, to the point of gunshots, snipers and killed protesters and opposition activists. Ultimately, the government of Victor Yanukovych was removed by a parliamentary vote and he fled without formally resigning his post. Since then, he has reappeared in Russia, maintaining that he is still the legitimate <s>ruler</s> President of Ukraine and that his removal was an illegal ''coup d'état''. You can bet some Ukrainian hryvnias what's the position of Russia...
  
 
===Crimea and Russia===
 
===Crimea and Russia===
[[File:Ukraine census 2001 Russian.svg|thumb|Map showing prevalence of Russian as a "mother tongue", according to the '''2001''' census. The Crimean Peninsula is at the bottom right, the tiny part with 90% prevalence is the "city with special status" Sevastopol.]]
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[[File:Ukraine census 2001 Russian.svg|thumb|Map showing prevalence of Russian as a "mother tongue", according to the '''2001''' census. The Crimean Peninsula is at the bottom right, the tiny part with 90% prevalence is Sevastopol.]]
Ukraine was not undivided in its opposition to Yanukovych's government. As a general rule, the protests received more support in the western parts of Ukraine, while the more pro-Russian eastern parts, which also contain more ethnic Russians, saw counter-protests in support of Yanukovych, occupation of local government buildings by pro-Russian protesters and even open calls to <s>sedition</s> joining Russia. It got only worse after Yanukovych's flight. The situation was exacerbated by the Ukrainian parliament trying to repeal a controversial 2012 law on regional languages<ref>How controversial? It caused a fistfight in the parliament. {{see-wp|Legislation on languages in Ukraine}}}}</ref> that in effect had made Russian the official language in regions recognized as predominantly Russian. The acting President vetoed the repeal, but the damage was already done.
+
Ukraine was not undivided in its opposition to Yanukovych's government. As a general rule, the protests received more support in the western parts of Ukraine, while the more pro-Russian eastern parts, which also contain more ethnic Russians, saw counter-protests in support of Yanukovych, occupation of local government buildings by pro-Russian protesters and even open calls to <s>sedition</s> joining Russia. One of the peaks of pro-Russian sentiments is the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the "special status" city of Sevastopol, which includes a major sea port and a Russian naval base.
  
One of the peaks of pro-Russian sentiments is the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the "special status" city of Sevastopol, which includes a major sea port and a Russian naval base. Pro-Russian groups with camouflage uniforms and military weapons seized Crimean parliamentary buildings and installed a pro-Russian prime minister.
+
The situation got worse with Yanukovych's flight and re-emergence in Russia. Inter-ethnic tensions were exacerbated by an attempt by Ukrainian parliament to repeal a controversial 2012 law on regional languages<ref>How controversial? It caused a fistfight in the parliament. {{see-wp|Legislation on languages in Ukraine}}}}</ref> that in effect had made Russian the official language in regions recognized as predominantly Russian. The acting President vetoed the repeal, but the damage was already done.
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Meanwhile, armed pro-Russian groups seized Crimean parliamentary buildings and installed a pro-Russian prime minister. Sevastopol got a new, Russian mayor.
  
 
In 2014, Russia invaded the southeastern region of Crimea — using the excuse of [[irredentism]] — after Victor Yanukovych (who was elected in 2010) was overthrown in a [[revolution]] for the [[Corruption|same-old reasons]].<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/02/22/to-get-why-so-many-people-hate-viktor-yanukovych-take-a-tour-of-his-ridiculously-luxurious-mansion/ And being a galleon enthusiast.]</ref> It doesn't really make any sense in the long-term for the Kremlin,<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2014/03/06/is-crimean-independence-or-annexation-a-good-outcome-for-russia/ Is Crimean independence or annexation a good outcome for Russia?] ''Washington Post''</ref> leading some to speculate that the Russian president, [[Vladimir Putin]], may be losing it.<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/08/world/europe/russias-move-into-ukraine-said-to-be-born-in-shadows.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0 Russia’s Move Into Ukraine Said to Be Born in Shadows], ''The New York Times''</ref><ref>[http://www.newrepublic.com/article/116852/merkel-was-right-putins-lost-his-mind-press-conference Putin's Press Conference Proved Merkel Right: He's Lost His Mind], ''The New Republic''</ref>
 
In 2014, Russia invaded the southeastern region of Crimea — using the excuse of [[irredentism]] — after Victor Yanukovych (who was elected in 2010) was overthrown in a [[revolution]] for the [[Corruption|same-old reasons]].<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/02/22/to-get-why-so-many-people-hate-viktor-yanukovych-take-a-tour-of-his-ridiculously-luxurious-mansion/ And being a galleon enthusiast.]</ref> It doesn't really make any sense in the long-term for the Kremlin,<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2014/03/06/is-crimean-independence-or-annexation-a-good-outcome-for-russia/ Is Crimean independence or annexation a good outcome for Russia?] ''Washington Post''</ref> leading some to speculate that the Russian president, [[Vladimir Putin]], may be losing it.<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/08/world/europe/russias-move-into-ukraine-said-to-be-born-in-shadows.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0 Russia’s Move Into Ukraine Said to Be Born in Shadows], ''The New York Times''</ref><ref>[http://www.newrepublic.com/article/116852/merkel-was-right-putins-lost-his-mind-press-conference Putin's Press Conference Proved Merkel Right: He's Lost His Mind], ''The New Republic''</ref>

Revision as of 17:30, 16 March 2014

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe, near the ill-defined border with Asia. Once part of the Soviet Union, now it's a potential candidate member of the European Union, although the usual Eastern Bloc levels of corruption and economic underdevelopment would be a large hurdle before that even without the internal and external political clustefuck that developed in 2013-2014.

Due to a quirk of geography, most of the natural gas Russia sells to Europe passes through Ukraine. Sometimes Russia tries to punish Ukraine for being in arrears on their gas payments by cutting the flow of gas to Ukraine, but then Ukraine makes up the shortfall from the gas that was supposed to go to Germany, forcing Russia to cut off the gas altogether in the middle of the winter. And France just laughs, because 90% of their energy comes from nuclear power.

Ukraine also has the dubious distinction of having to redo their 2005 presidential election because of widespread fraud; during this campaign the eventual winner, Viktor Yushchenko, suffered one of the most acute cases of dioxin poisoning ever recorded.[1] Russia was blamed for all of this, as is the usual in Ukraine.[2]

Contents

2013-2014 protests and government overthrow

Ukraine was about to sign an Association Agreement with the EU, but the government suspended preparations for it, causing a wave of large scale protests that became known under their Twitter hashtag, "EuroMaidan" (from "Europe" and "Maidan Nezalezhnosti"/"Independence Square", the main square of Kiev). The situation escalated - every attempt at suppressing the protests caused them to intensify, with clashes with riot police and Berkut special police forces, occupation of government buildings, to the point of gunshots, snipers and killed protesters and opposition activists. Ultimately, the government of Victor Yanukovych was removed by a parliamentary vote and he fled without formally resigning his post. Since then, he has reappeared in Russia, maintaining that he is still the legitimate ruler President of Ukraine and that his removal was an illegal coup d'état. You can bet some Ukrainian hryvnias what's the position of Russia...

Crimea and Russia

Map showing prevalence of Russian as a "mother tongue", according to the 2001 census. The Crimean Peninsula is at the bottom right, the tiny part with 90% prevalence is Sevastopol.

Ukraine was not undivided in its opposition to Yanukovych's government. As a general rule, the protests received more support in the western parts of Ukraine, while the more pro-Russian eastern parts, which also contain more ethnic Russians, saw counter-protests in support of Yanukovych, occupation of local government buildings by pro-Russian protesters and even open calls to sedition joining Russia. One of the peaks of pro-Russian sentiments is the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the "special status" city of Sevastopol, which includes a major sea port and a Russian naval base.

The situation got worse with Yanukovych's flight and re-emergence in Russia. Inter-ethnic tensions were exacerbated by an attempt by Ukrainian parliament to repeal a controversial 2012 law on regional languages[3] that in effect had made Russian the official language in regions recognized as predominantly Russian. The acting President vetoed the repeal, but the damage was already done.

Meanwhile, armed pro-Russian groups seized Crimean parliamentary buildings and installed a pro-Russian prime minister. Sevastopol got a new, Russian mayor.

In 2014, Russia invaded the southeastern region of Crimea — using the excuse of irredentism — after Victor Yanukovych (who was elected in 2010) was overthrown in a revolution for the same-old reasons.[4] It doesn't really make any sense in the long-term for the Kremlin,[5] leading some to speculate that the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, may be losing it.[6][7]

See also

External links

Footnotes

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