About this episode
The episode discusses the Euromaidan protests in Ukraine, their causes, and their historical significance.
In the winter of 2013-14, protests erupted in Kyiv, Ukraine. Their goal was to oppose President Viktor Yanukovich’s rejection of the EU Association Agreement. Many protesters saw the Agreement as a meaningful step for Ukraine to enter the European orbit. And the protests might have fizzled. But the massacre of over 120 people by police snipers on 20 February, 2014, inspired hundreds of thousands more to enter the streets, seize government buildings, and occupy city centers. The protests quickly spread throughout Ukraine. The Euromaidan proved a historical turning point. The Yanukovich regime fell, Russia seized Crimea, and pro-Russian forces seized Donbas city centers. What were the short and long term causes of this revolution? Was it a revolution? What were its participants' aspirations? And how did the euphoric desire for a democratic, European Ukraine devolve into a mad spiral short of civil war? Longtime friend of the pod, William Risch was in Kyiv in those initial days. Now he’s combined his experiences with research to produce a new critical history of the Euromaidan. The Eurasian Knot spoke to Bill about the maidan, the chaos of those days, and its legacies in Ukraine and…
People in this episode
Host: The Eurasian Knot
Guest: William Jay Risch
Topics covered
- protests
- Ukraine
- Euromaidan
- democracy
- history
- politics
Keywords
- Euromaidan
- Ukraine
- Viktor Yanukovich
- protests
- democracy
- William Risch
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: Ukraine's Euromaidan: From Revolutionary Euphoria to the Madness of War
Places: Ukraine, Kyiv
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