Revolution of Dignity
On the evening of the 18th of February 2014, thousands of protesters marched from Independence Square toward the Verkhovna Rada in Kyiv. They carried shields and helmets as they pushed through police barricades near the Central Officers' Club of Ukraine. At 10:33, street fights shifted to Shovkovychna Street where snipers began targeting civilians. Protesters threw Molotov cocktails at a burning barricade made of dump trucks while police fired stun grenades and live ammunition. By midday, 48 protesters had been shot dead on Instytutska Street alone. Two other Berkut officers died during the clashes that afternoon. The Trade Unions Building became a field hospital for wounded protesters before riot police set it on fire around 22:00. Two people died when the building burned including a programmer who worked there. A journalist named Tetyana Chornovol was among those killed or injured during these violent hours.
Most of the 108 civilian deaths occurred between 18 and the 20th of February during the most severe violence since Ukraine regained independence. Police snipers fired from rooftops while Berkut special forces advanced from ground level. On the 20th of February, Interior Minister Vitaliy Zakharchenko authorized the use of live ammunition against protesters. Radio Liberty published video footage showing police using Kalashnikov rifles and sniper weapons. By June 2016, 55 people had been charged in relation to the killings including 29 former members of the Berkut unit. The Office of the Prosecutor General said efforts to bring perpetrators to justice were hindered because many suspects fled the country. Evidence has been lost or destroyed over time. The civilians killed are known as the Heavenly Hundred and commemorated each year on the 20th of February as Day of the Heavenly Hundred Heroes.
President Viktor Yanukovych signed an agreement with opposition leaders on the 21st of February promising constitutional changes and early elections. That evening he secretly fled Kyiv without informing parliament of his whereabouts. His armored car left Donetsk where border guards met armed men offering money for flight clearance. He flew by helicopter from Kharkiv to Berdiansk then to Crimea before departing late on the 23rd of February via Russian military aircraft. Parliament voted 328-0 to remove him from office on the 22nd of February representing about 73% of all members. Acting president Oleksandr Turchynov became interim leader after the vote. Yanukovych claimed the parliamentary decision was illegal and called it a coup d'état similar to events in Nazi Germany. An arrest warrant was issued for him on the 24th of February while criminal proceedings opened regarding mass killings of civilians.
Pro-Russian protests began in parts of southern and eastern Ukraine following Yanukovych's removal. Russia occupied Crimea and annexed it while separatists seized government buildings in Donetsk and Luhansk. On the 1st of March, thousands protested against the new government in cities including Kharkiv, Odesa, Simferopol, and Mariupol. Leaked emails revealed that the Russian state funded separatists through Kremlin advisers Vladislav Surkov and Sergey Glazyev. By early December 2013, unknown activists painted statues red and black resembling the Ukrainian Insurgent Army flag. A monument dedicated to Soviet forces who fought in World War II was vandalized in Dnipropetrovsk with nationalistic slogans. The European Union imposed visa bans and financial asset freezes on officials responsible for violence in Ukraine. Russia deployed troops to Ukraine on the 1st of March after its parliament approved Putin's request.
The new Yatsenyuk government formed on the 27th of February 2014 as a coalition of Batkivshchyna, UDAR, Svoboda, Economic Development, and Sovereign European Ukraine factions. Ehor Sobolev was nominated to lead the Committee on Lustration which excluded most officials from the Yanukovych administration. The law affected up to a million people according to Volodymyr Yavorsky of the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group. On the 25th of February acting Interior Minister Avakov signed a decree dissolving the Berkut unit. In March Russia announced that the Crimean Berkut would preserve its name when incorporated into their interior ministry. Eight former officials tied to Yanukovych's Party of Regions committed suicide after Euromaidan. Newsweek approached the General Prosecutor's Office about these deaths in summer 2015 but received initial replies stating all information was state secret. Parliament dismissed several ministers including Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara and Health Minister Raisa Bogatyrova on the 23rd of February.
European Union mediators Radosław Sikorski, Laurent Fabius, and Frank-Walter Steinmeier negotiated the agreement settlement of political crisis in Ukraine on the 21st of February. The First Yatsenyuk Government signed the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement with DCFTA on the 21st of March 2014. In May 2014 the International Monetary Fund disbursed US$3.2 billion to stabilize Ukraine. The European Union required Ukraine to secure this aid package to obtain about 1.6 billion euros pledged under the recently signed agreement. The United States imposed visa bans on 20 Ukrainian officials considered responsible for ordering human rights abuses. The European Union introduced a financial asset freeze against those responsible for violence. Russia offered $15 billion in loans plus cheaper gas prices while the EU only provided €610 million in loans. Russian propaganda described the events as a coup to legitimize their coming actions.
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Common questions
Who were the Heavenly Hundred and when did they die?
The civilians killed during the 2014 revolution in Ukraine are known as the Heavenly Hundred. Most of the 108 civilian deaths occurred between the 18th of February and the 20th of February.
When did President Viktor Yanukovych flee Kyiv and where did he go?
President Viktor Yanukovych secretly fled Kyiv on the evening of the 21st of February 2014. He traveled by helicopter from Kharkiv to Berdiansk then to Crimea before departing late on the 23rd of February via Russian military aircraft.
What happened on the 18th of February 2014 during the Revolution of Dignity?
On the evening of the 18th of February 2014, thousands of protesters marched from Independence Square toward the Verkhovna Rada in Kyiv. By midday, 48 protesters had been shot dead on Instytutska Street alone while snipers targeted civilians.
How many people died during the violence in Ukraine in 2014?
Most of the 108 civilian deaths occurred between the 18th of February and the 20th of February during the most severe violence since Ukraine regained independence. Two other Berkut officers also died during the clashes that afternoon.
Who negotiated the agreement settlement of political crisis in Ukraine on the 21st of February?
European Union mediators Radosław Sikorski, Laurent Fabius, and Frank-Walter Steinmeier negotiated the agreement settlement of political crisis in Ukraine on the 21st of February. President Viktor Yanukovych signed this agreement with opposition leaders promising constitutional changes and early elections.