Apr 30 2024 29 mins
Journalists Alya Shandra and Bohdan Ben describe what happened on the ground during the Euromaidan Revolution of Dignity. Both participated in this historic grassroots peoples rebellion in 2014 that solidified Ukraine's pivot away from Russia towards Western Europe. Euromaidan with its preceding Orange Revolution is one of the most successful grassroots popular revolts in modern times. As a result. the then-president of Ukraine fled the country, leading to the formation of the government we know, today.
Last week, in the first half of our conversation, Alya Shandra and Bohdan Ben described the political situation and events leading up to Euromaidan. This week, they describe what happened once the mass movement became unstoppable. According to them, the revolution was sparked when violence was used against the Euromaidan protestors.
Alya and Bohdan frame the meaning of the Euromaidan revolution of dignity as the pivotal moment for Ukrainian society in two irreversible ways: the country completely turned away from Russia towards what they perceived as western democracy, and participatory citizenship became cemented in their culture, enabling Ukrainians to fight the current war.