Kyiv – Ukrainians on Sunday remembered and honored the lives of dozens of people that have been gunned down by the federal government throughout the nation's 2014 common rebellion — known as the Maidan revolution — that pressured Russian-backed then-President Viktor Yanukovych out of energy eight years in the past. However on a day that many spent laying flowers on the memorials of those that died combating towards Russian affect over Ukraine, a brand new menace of a Russian invasion loomed giant.
"It is a massive stress that we face, however we've got been at warfare with Russia for the final eight years," 23-year-old Iuliia, who gathered with different demonstrators at Maidan Sq., advised CBS Information. "For me, it was a great sacrifice and an indication that individuals have been prepared to combat for his or her freedom, their nation, and their proper to stay the way in which they need… it was actually significant again then and it is nonetheless significant immediately," she stated.
"I believe that the Ukrainian individuals has made its resolution, and I do not suppose that Russia is able to overturn it," 34-year-old Artem, who participated within the Maidan protests, advised CBS Information. He was wrapped in a Ukrainian flag.
"The one query that is remaining is the worth that Ukraine and the world goes to pay," he added. "And I hoped that the worth that individuals paid eight years in the past right here could be adequate. But it surely's not adequate. We see individuals dying within the east of Ukraine… I hope that the world will be capable of stand united with Ukraine in opposition to Russian aggression, to its imperial ambitions. We have to get collectively and to face robust."
A symbolic time for the specter of Russian invasion
The Maidan rebellion, also called the "Revolution of Dignity," lasted for months. After Yanukovych, bowing to strain from Russia, declined to signal a preferred commerce settlement with the European Union, hundreds took the streets. Some 25,000 individuals camped out in Maidan, Kyiv's central sq., the place they have been overwhelmed and shot at by police and authorities safety forces. Dozens of activists have been killed.
In February 2014, after a number of days of lethal protests, Yanukovych fled the nation. New elections have been known as, and essentially the most violent models of the safety forces have been disbanded.
"It is symbolic that Putin determined to begin it throughout these dates," Svitlana Zalishchuk, a distinguished Maidan rebellion activist and former politician, advised CBS Information. "It is as if he says: 'Okay, you gained the revolution, however right here is the army state of affairs, and we'll see who's going to win now.'"
Zalishchuk curated a Fb web page that grew to become a predominant supply of data for protesters throughout the rebellion.
"Putin is mocking the anniversary of the Revolution of Dignity. He intentionally is doing that, form of to point out that you just shouldn't have this present day, you shouldn't have this anniversary and it isn't over," she stated. "The selection you made in 2014, you suppose that you're already on the proper path, however you did not pay the worth. And let's have a look at the place it goes, the trail you selected."
However Zalishchuk stated that, as in 2014, the Ukrainian individuals wouldn't be simply defeated.
"When Putin is renegotiating the world order, the West nonetheless is negotiating the de-escalation in Ukraine. And that is the issue in the meanwhile. As a result of it isn't nearly Ukraine, clearly, it is about Putin. He desires to have this casual veto proper on world decision-making. He desires to take a seat on the world desk and saying what selections international locations ought to make, particularly his neighbors or post-Soviet Union international locations," she advised CBS Information.
"We made our selection in 2014," she stated. "We selected democracy over the over dictatorship. We selected freedom of speech and freedom of elections. We selected European values. And we additionally proved that we will defend them."