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= World History Project, Guy Mount: The Ukrainian Revolution, Crimean Annexation, and Their Effects on Us Today =

Brief Summary of the Euromaidan
As clouds hovered above Independence Square—Maidan Nezalezhnosti—in the capitol city Kyiv, Ukraine, young and old filled the cobblestone block beginning on November 21, 2013 as protesters rallied in response to the Ukrainian government’s—what might seem sudden—resolution against signing the charter that would secure Ukrainian membership in the European Union (EU)—a charter that had been through “over forty rounds of negotiations” for years. This decision came in in stark contrast to President Victor Yanukovych’s 2009 campaign claim: “I remain committed to a balanced policy, which will protect our national interests both on our eastern border - I mean with Russia - and of course with the European Union…Ukraine's integration with the EU remains our strategic aim."

This protest—and many others like it around the Eastern European nation—sparked the beginning of what is now known as the Euromaidan Revolution—also referred to as the 2014 Ukrainian Revolution and the Revolution of Dignity. As the protests continued to significantly escalate in the following months after the initial uprising in November, Yanukovych and his opposition signed into place an interim government on Friday, February 21 in which Yanukovych was removed from office. The European media outlet RBK later revealed that he and some close associates elected to flee Ukraine and sought residence in Moscow at the then Ukraine Hotel.

Preceding Factors of the Euromaidan
While media coverage can portray Yanukovych’s refusal to join the EU as the sole reason behind the EuroMaidan protester’s outrage, scholars disagree and cite this change in policy as the tipping point behind Ukrainian’s disapproval of their past president. In his 2015 book The Conflict in Ukraine: What Everyone Needs To Know, Dr. Serhy Yekelchyk, Professor of History and Slavic studies at the University of Victoria, goes as far to claim that “Very few protester knew the details of the proposed Association Agreement, but “Europe” served as a popular shorthand slogan implying democracy, rule of law, and economic opportunity—all the things ordinary citizens found lacking in Yanukovych’s Ukraine.”

Yekelchyk’s position on the causality of the EuroMaiden
Yekelchyk’s theory on the causality of the Revolution of Dignity hinges upon the idea that Yanukovych’s aim to reestablish 1994-2005 Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma’s vision for a Ukrainian oligarchic state. Yekelchyk cites examples such as Yanukovych’s “controlling Russian the national media, helping the oligarchs to loot the country’s economy, and maintaining a political balance between Russia and the West without getting close to either.” He also goes on to state that this model went according to plan “too much so—by practically pushing Ukraine into bankruptcy.'’ Embezzlements eventually escalated to the point that when the government took on generous contracts for infrastructure in preparation for the 2012 European Cup, they became unable to even cover the costs of the massive potholes created by such projects. He theorizes that “Nobody was trying to find a solution [to the $15 billion deficit], because the government was hoping for a bailout from wither the West or Russia.” While making arrangements for the EU, Yekelchyk’s associates were simultaneously communicating with Russia, “which threatened trade sanctions and in the end apparently promised the US$15 billion.” Ukraine then pulled out of their EU negotiations and released a statement announcing the cooperation of Ukrainian trade laws with the Russian-led customs union.

However, Yekelchyk hypothesizes that amidst the greed of the oligarch regime, Yanukovych underestimated the Ukrainian popular discontent with his leadership and its effects on the economy on everyday life. Thus, the protests on November 21st were the voices of Ukrainians who had long been complacent amidst their dissatisfaction.

Opinions of other scholars
In contrast to Yekelchy’s position, Leonid Peisakhin, Assistant Professor of Political Science at New York University Abu Dhabi, proposes that Yanukovych was not ignorant of public perception during his presidency. Peisakhin reveals in his 2015 editorial for the Keenan Cable Euromaidan Revisited: Causes of Regime Change In Ukraine One Year On,

“In its monthly nationwide monitoring of public opinion in November 2013, concluded on 25 November, the presidential administration fielded detailed questions to evaluate the state of public opinion on Ukraine’s relations with Russia and the EU. The basic takeaway from that exercise was that the government had a great deal of leeway to do as it deemed fit. The public remained deeply divided over Ukraine’s geopolitical course. While 45 percent supported the signing of a trade accord with the EU, 35 percent opposed that initiative. In response to a direct question about the impact of non-signing of the Association Agreement on respondents’ attitudes toward Yanukovych, 53 percent said that their attitude toward the president would not change, 13 percent reported that it would improve, and only 22 percent stated that their opinion of Yanukovych would worsen.”

Peisakhin uses this initiative taken by Yekelchy to reveal the President’s understanding of Ukrainian values. Conversely, he believes that the President’s downfall was rather attributed to civilian abuse at the hands of police, who armed in riot gear “attacked and beat several dozen peaceful and unarmed student protesters who were spending the night on the Maidan.” This lead to KISS surveys revealing that 69% of the following month’s protester’s and 61% of February protesters voiced their concerns in primary response to this human rights violation.

The Beginnings of the Russian Annexation:
Crimea is a peninsula that belonged to Ukraine, yet borders Russia. In February and March of 2014, Russia invaded and annexed the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine. This event is just a section of the wider Russo-Ukrainian War. This began on the 22nd of February 2014, with Putin having a meeting in which he stated that Russia must work on returning Crimea to Russia. As stated above the Crimean Peninsula is a section of land that connects both Russia and Ukraine. Within four days of this meeting, masked Russian troops without insignia took over Crimea’s parliament. On March 6, the Crimean parliament voted to secede from Ukraine and join the Russian federation. However, the voting seemed to be rigged because there were masked soldiers outside of the voting stations. As a result, 97 percent voted for Ukraine to rejoin Russia. The interim government of Kyiv rejected the result, but Russia signed and viewed Crimea as their own. The pro-Russian militia then began seizing buildings, which caused Turchynov, the president at the time, to impose a deadline for them to leave. This deadline passed and nothing occurred, this could have possibly affected how Russia would respond to these threats in the future. Russia then proceeded to arm troops just across the Russia-Ukraine border, which caused Turchynov to call on the United Nations to help restore peace between the nations. On April 15, the Ukrainian military successfully retook the Kramatorsk airfield. However, the next day six Ukrainian armored personnel carriers were surrendered to Russia. This caused Ukraine to make emergency calls to the United States, EU, and Russia. Although the parties at Geneva agreed to defuse the conflict, the Russian military, and pro-Russian militia expanded their zone of control. During this time one Ukrainian city council representative, as well as eight Organization for Security and  Co-operation in Europe members were abducted. On May 2nd, Ukraine restarted its offensive program, where they killed and arrested many separatists. Violence also erupted in Odessa, which caused dozens of pro-Russian demonstrators to be killed when the building they occupied caught fire.

Ukraine and their Response:
On May 9th Putin celebrated Victory Day in Crimea, and it was revealed that the real voter turnout was between 30 and 50 percent. This caused the Ukrainian security forces to continue their battles with the pro-Russian militias. Finally, the Ukrainian police force reported 100,000 pre-completed yes votes. This caused Putin to say that he respected the will of the voters. As these battles continued, Ukraine prepared for its presidential elections. Voting was disrupted in multiple regions: Luhansk and Donetsk, due to pro-Russian gunmen at polling stations. Despite this Petro Poroshenko won in a landslide. When Poroshenko was sworn in on June 7th, he immediately created a proposal to recreate peace in the controlled regions. But just one week later Ukraine suffered its largest single-day loss. This caused Poroshenko to call a halt to the military operations, creating a temporary truce. He then sent the former president Kuchma to negotiate with the Russian rebel leaders. Within the next weeks, the Ukrainian military recaptured Slovyansk and Kramatorsk, but this came with the cost of 19 Ukrainian soldiers. Battles continued as a civilian aircraft was hit by a missile, skyrocketing the civilian death numbers. The Ukrainian military pushed back the pro-Russian militia. Russia denied involvement, but in August it was confirmed that a squad of Russian paratroopers was captured in Ukraine.

On February 12, 2015, the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, France, and Germany all met and agreed on a peace plan which would remove all foreign troops from all Ukrainian territories. Over the next few years, Poroshenko’s public approval rating lowered going into the 2019 presidential elections. Poroshenko declared martial law in multiple regions, which was the first time this step had been taken since the independence of Ukraine from the Soviet Union. The United Nations and General assembly called on Russia to withdraw their forces from Crimea, yet Russia ignored this. In 2019, Zelensky won the Presidential election, and although it seemed as though things were going to be better, his election continued Russian aggression. Fast forward to 2021, and the territory of Crimea is still occupied by Russia. This conflict has been going on for nearly a decade.

Summary:
In conclusion, over the course of a few months, the Russian military and pro-Russian militia took control of the Crimean Peninsula which belonged to the country of Ukraine. They did it unfairly, as they cast a vote for the annexation of Crimea, but there were armed pro-Russian gunmen present. Although Putin agreed that it was done unfairly he did not pull the troops out of Crimea. There were many attempts at creating peace between the two nations, yet this conflict continued over the next eight years, as it led to the current war between Russia and Ukraine.

Works Cited:
=== “The Election of Volodymyr Zelensky and Continued Russian Aggression.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., https://www.britannica.com/place/Ukraine/The-election-of-Volodymyr-Zelensky-and-continued-Russian-aggression. === Pifer, Steven. “Crimea: Six Years after Illegal Annexation.” Brookings, Brookings, 9 Mar. 2022, https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2020/03/17/crimea-six-years-after-illegal-annexation/.

The Role Crimea Plays in Today's Conflict
The role Crimea plays in Today’s Ukrainian conflict is important for Putin’s success. Putin’s stronghold in Crimea is helping him in the Russo-Ukrainian War as a point where Russia can deploy their troops in the Southern region of Ukraine. Putin’s endgame is to have Ukraine as a proxy state that will function as an autonomous government under the overarching rule of the Russian Federation. One reason why Putin sees Ukraine as necessary is that he supposedly wants Ukraine to “prosper” which in his opinion would only be possible “in partnership with Russia.” Putin is against countries having their own voice in determining whether they want to be a part of some organization or group. Putin gave no choice for Crimeans, so he wants to repeat the same for the rest of Ukraine. Crimea was the template for how all the former Soviet states were supposed to act in response to a very powerful country, such as Russia, invading their land. Therefore, one is to believe Putin never saw Crimea as the only territory to recapture from the days of the Soviet Union. In fact, in the essay, he wrote in 2021, he said that “Russians and Ukrainians were one people – a single whole.” Moreover, he goes on in his essay to describe how the Bolsheviks stole Russian land by handing over territories to the Ukrainian government. Furthermore, these claims have been bolstered by the fact that Russia has invaded the Donbas region of Ukraine for eight years. Only till now, in the year 2022, has Putin finally decided to launch his full-scale attack into the country of Ukraine. Even though the Russians are focusing their efforts in other parts of Ukraine like the Donbas region, Crimea still offers a strategic advantage giving Russia access to every port city on the coast of the Black Sea. However, Putin has yet to use this advantage to launch any sort of amphibious invasion into the city of Odessa, for example. In addition, after Putin’s failed attempt at recapturing Kiev, Putin is focusing on other regions of Ukraine which could mean that he will transfer a bunch of his troops to places like Crimea. Ironically, Russia continues to support the false narrative that Ukraine is headed by neo-Nazis to further justify its ill-justified invasion into the rest of Ukraine.

Some Changes and Constants Putin has Made or Kept from his Strategy in Crimea
Putin is following the strategy he used in Crimea to other conquered territories in today’s conflict which is to bully the citizens of Ukraine into submission. There are numerous arrests made in every territory that Putin has so called “liberated” because the people of Ukraine do not want to be ruled by an authoritarian government. In addition to the other false assumptions that Putin made in his essay, he claimed that the people in Eastern Ukraine, where “millions” of his pro-Russian citizens reside, would accept him like Austria or the Sudetenland did for Hitler. However, only the contrary is found to be the case. There are still a good number of protests rising from the common citizens of Ukraine. Unlike Crimea, military force was not enough to suppress the riots and protests occurring in Russian controlled territories. Crimea seemingly was supposed to be the example of how all the “millions of pro-Russian” citizens in Ukraine were supposed to accept their occupation of a tyrannical government. But Russia should understand that they are receiving fierce resistance and all the while Russia is bombing cities. No Ukrainian wants to follow a leader who turns their homeland into rubble. At the end of Putin’s essay he writes, “it is up to its citizens to decide.” The citizens of Ukraine appear to have decided and they want democracy rather than tyranny.

Response from the Free World in Today's Russo-Ukrainian Conflict Compared to Crimea
Lastly, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization seems to be doing something different with the invasion of Ukraine that they did not do with Crimea in that they are offering a ton of firepower to resist the unwanted Russians. Since Putin senses that he will not be able to get away easily from conquering Ukraine as he once thought, his imperialistic mindset might die down. Moreover, since everyone in the world, except for China, India, and some other smaller governments, hates Putin he will have a much tougher time recovering economically from his already weak economy. The annexation of Crimea only provoked western nations to give Putin a slap on the wrist. Putin and his people are now suffering more than what they would like to due to the cost of war, the sanctions, the ostracization from the world, civil unrest, and the other myriad number of consequences that go with being a warmongering country.

Conclusions Concerning Putin's Invasion
As the war drags on, Putin has made many threats which increase the seriousness of the war outside the borders of Russia and Ukraine which is the possibility of nuclear weapons being deployed. From Putin’s essay he made no mention of such use of nuclear weapons, however, he has made clear that he wants Ukraine. Putin is straying more and more from his template Crimea into a mass murderer which is a caricature too familiar in history.

Russia's Political and Historical Ties to the Ukrainian Region
Russia’s political and historical ties to the Ukrainian region refer to the political and history.

Relations between the Russian Federation and Ukraine. The political and historical relationship between Russia and Ukraine is very special. This particularity is the key to grasping the development of Ukrainian-Russian relations and determines the limit of cooperation and conflict between Ukraine and Russia. In 1654, the Ukrainian Cossack leader Khmelnitsky signed the Pereiaslav Agreement with the Russian Empire, and Ukraine and Russia officially merged. Ukraine joined the Soviet Union in 1922 (Western Ukraine joined in 1939). On July 16, 1990, the Ukrainian Parliament passed the "Declaration of State Sovereignty of Ukraine". Independence was declared on August 24, 1991. After Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, political relations between the two countries have deteriorated significantly. On February 24, 2022, Ukraine announced to sever diplomatic relations with Russia due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Political conflict between Russia and Ukraine has a long history
Ukraine and Russia have been allied for a long time, especially during Soviet times, forming deep and close ties. The complex interest relationship will not be interrupted by the independence of the two countries. Currently, Russia remains Ukraine's energy supplier and commodity sales market. For Ukraine, political stability and economic development largely depend on Russia.

However, the conflict between Ukraine and Russia is difficult to eliminate: the two peoples have been unequal since their alliance. Ukraine has not achieved independent state status and has paid taxes to the tsarist government in the past. Unequal ethnic relations have given rise to various contradictions. So far, it has had a negative impact on the development of Ukrainian-Russian relations. After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, Ukraine's suspicion and vigilance towards Russia cast a heavy shadow on the development of Ukrainian-Russian relations.

Black Sea Fleet Incident
Before the disintegration of the Soviet Union, Russia used the Black Sea Fleet to control the entire Black Sea region, thereby restricting the expansion of Western Europe to the east. However, after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the division of the Black Sea Fleet's property involved the national sovereignty and security interests of Russia and Ukraine. Therefore, the ownership of the Black Sea Fleet has become Russia and Ukraine. extremely sensitive issues in political life. The two countries hold their own opinions and do not give in to each other.

Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation
Crimea is the only autonomous republic in Ukraine. It used to be under Russian jurisdiction, but on February 19, 1954, Crimea was annexed from Russia to Ukraine to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the Ukrainian-Russian merger. When the Soviet Union disintegrated in 1991, Crimea joined Ukraine as an autonomous republic. Although Russia is inconvenient to openly claim territorial claims to Ukraine, it is also unwilling to give up Crimea. Because, since the 18th century, Crimea has been the base of Tsarist Russia's control of the Black Sea coast, the Mediterranean and the Balkans. Crimea's geographic location makes it key to controlling the Black Sea region. Maintaining its influence over Crimea is an important factor for Russia to maintain its status as a great power and restrict Ukraine from political, economic and military aspects. To this end, the Crimean crisis broke out in 2014. Russia dispatched troops in February 2014 and seized the internationally recognized Ukrainian territory of Crimea on March 18, and subsequent actions in southeastern Ukraine sparked a series of political unrest.

Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022
On February 24, 2022, with the full-scale war between the two countries, the political relationship between Russia and Ukraine completely collapsed. The two countries subsequently announced their respective severance of diplomatic ties. The invasion was the largest war in Europe since World War II. Russia has declared the recognition of the Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic as independent states. Subsequently, the Russian government sent troops to enter. The war was in full swing on February 24, 2022, when Russian ground forces invaded Ukraine aggressively from multiple directions. In response, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky issued martial law and mobilization orders. In the first six weeks of the war, 4.3 million refugees left Ukraine and another 7.1 million were internally displaced, the UN refugee agency said. The invasion marked a major escalation in the Russian-Ukrainian war.

The Pereiaslav Agreement and the merger of Russia and Ukraine
In the 9th century AD, the Kievan Rus, an East Slavic nation, rose from the plains of Eastern Europe and became a wonderful flower in the history of European civilization. In the 11th century AD, during the reign of Yaroslav, Kievan Rus entered its heyday. This glorious history has left a deep imprint on the Russian and Ukrainian peoples, so much that today Russia and Ukraine consider themselves the historical successors of Kievan Rus. The prosperous Kievan Rus gradually declined from the 12th century due to feudal separatism. The development of Kievan Rus was interrupted by Mongol expeditions in the 13th century. Northeast Rus was occupied by Mongolia and gradually evolved into a Russian nation. The southwest was not subsequently conquered by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Poland and finally formed the Ukrainian nation.

In 1654, to defend against Polish colonists. Ukrainians accepted the right of the Russian tsar to rule and protect Ukraine on behalf of Ukraine. After that, the two sides signed the " Pereiaslav Agreement" on the merger of Russia and Ukraine. The agreement stipulates that Ukraine recognizes the supreme power of the Tsar and enjoys almost all the rights of an independent state. Although this document is an important legal document expressing the historical relationship between Russia and Ukraine. But most Ukrainian scholars believe that, legally speaking, this is a "political alliance" between Ukraine and Russia, and after the merger of Russia and Ukraine, the tsarist government abolished Ukraine's system of self-government. Tsarist Russia Russified Ukraine by various means. The first is the assimilation of language and thought. The second is education assimilation. Ukrainians generally believe that the signing of the " Pereiaslav Agreement" was "a serious mistake and a strategic mistake of the Ukrainian state, which resulted in the loss of national and national independence of the Ukrainians".

Soviet-era Ukraine
After the February Revolution of 1917, the rule of the tsarist government was overthrown. Ukraine became part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. During the nearly 70 years of Soviet life, Ukraine, like the rest of the Soviet Union, has experienced many major changes and wars. Ukrainians suffered great persecution.The Ukrainian famine of 1932-1933: In order to transform the Soviet Union from a backward agricultural country into a modern industrial country, the Soviet Union began to industrialize on a large scale in 1928, then at the expense of agriculture. This resulted in severe damage to Ukrainian agricultural production, culminating in an unprecedented famine in Ukraine in 1932-1933. Three million people lost their lives as a result. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the famine in Ukraine has evolved from a historical issue between Russia and Ukraine to a sensitive political issue.

Post-independence Ukraine and Russia
After independence, Ukraine and Russia are facing many problems, which have cast a shadow over the relationship between the two countries. When Russia advocated the establishment of the Commonwealth of Independent States, Ukraine directly rejected it. The Ukrainian Parliament issued a statement on December 20, 1991: "Because of its legal status, Ukraine has it as an independent state, bound by international law. Ukraine opposes the transformation of the CIS into a state structure with its own jurisdiction and administration. approach.” Regardless of Yeltsin’s intentions, Ukraine’s stance on independence is firm. Throughout the 1990s, Kyiv also repeatedly refused to sign various mutual security agreements with other CIS member states. Kyiv and Moscow are deeply at odds over the future of the Soviet armed forces, control of its nuclear arsenal and plans for the disposal of the Black Sea Fleet. Although differences persisted, by the end of the 1990s Ukraine had resolved border and territorial issues with Russia, established its own army, navy and air force, and established diplomatic and legal access to European politics, economics and politics, and Laid the foundation for safety.

Aftermath of the Ukrainian Revolution
Former Ukrainian President Victor Yanukovich, who was pro-Russia, killed one hundred and six protestors and injured hundreds more during the Ukrainian Revolution. The deceased from this protest became known as the “Heavenly Hundred” and became the focal point to the revolution. But, this was just the spark that caused major distrust, agitation, and disturbance among the citizens of Ukraine. Economic troubles, unjust promises, and corruption are the three major effects and aftermath of the Ukrainian revolution.

Economic Turmoil
Only 15 percent of Ukranians lived below the poverty line in 2014, but that number has risen dramatically years after the revolution. The World Bank reported that 25 percent of all Ukranians lived below the poverty line in 2019. The main reason for this is the recession that immediately followed the revolution that made Ukraine’s currency completely deprecated. Kiev broke economic connection with Moscow, losing a market for its agricultural products and severing decades-long relations with Russian manufacturing, military, and aerospace businesses. Ukraine’s economy is being kept alive from monstrous loans from the International Monetary Fund. The IMF, located in Washington, DC, works to “foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world”.

But, Ukranians were not in distress solely from their economic woes. Ukrainian officials and leaders failed to keep their promises that they made to their citizens after the revolution took place in 2014.

Unsought Justice
After Poroshenko was elected president after promising to break away from Russia and Moscow’s rule, he pledged to convict and punish the group that killed the “Heavenly Hundred”. Over half of the murderers fled to Russia after being identified. Some of the  judges who convicted the protestors at the end of Yanukovich’s rule have been fired, but most of the judges (about ⅚) are still working. Despite Yanukovich being sentenced to thirteen years in jail for high treason, the former president lives peacefully in southern Russia. High level corruption and treason remains a sensitive and untouched part of Ukraine’s justice system. While they have made other small commodities easier, like permits and background checks, officials and advisors that participated in the treason that took place in the revolution remain undiscussed. This leads me to the third and final aftermath of the Ukrainian Revolution, corruption across Ukraine.

Corruption
Former Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Tymoshenko accused Poroshenko of using money from the government to buy votes for one thousand Ukrainian hryvnas (about thirty seven dollars). Private polling companies orchestrated door to door surveys that instead of asking for who they were voting for, would advocate and push for Poroshenko and then be identified as followers. Then Poroshenko’s followers were asked to apply for welfare after receiving their one thousand hryvnas which came from huge, multimillion financial plans that the government gave out to regional authorities. Despite Tymoshenko suing Poroshenko’s campaign managers, a courthouse in Kiev refused to begin an investigation. On the other hand, Tymoshenko is not the holiest and purest leader herself. She also failed to deliver her promises and was accused of “political squabbling” and found herself number one on the “populists and liars in Ukraine’s politics”. Both of these former presidential runners failed to win because of their ties to political corruption and false promises and Volodymyr Zelensky won the election in 2019 and has been president since.

Ukraine will remain a point of contention between Russia and the West. The United States has tried to make Ukraine a democratic society so that each Ukrainian citizen is free to make his or her own choices. This has been a priority for the United States and will continue to be. Ukraine, being rich in natural resources and human capital, is critical to the success and failures of the rivalry between Russia and the West. Alina Polyakova, President and CEO of the Center for European Policy Analysis says that “an unstable Ukraine means a Europe that is less secure and less able to defend itself from future threats”. This is one of the main reasons the United States is continuing to support Ukraine’s democratic tendencies. [1] Ibid.

[2] Ibid. [1] https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/188792/5-kennan%20cable-Peisakhin.pdf [1] Ibid.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Yekelchyk, 103.

[4] Ibid

[5] Ibid [1] ISBN: 9780190237288 pg. 102 [1] https://www.geopoliticalmonitor.com/ukraines-euromaidan-revolution-a-final-breakaway-from-russia/

[2] https://www.rferl.org/a/was-yanukovychs-ouster-constitutional/25274346.html

[3] https://web.archive.org/web/20140227154300/http://top.rbc.ru/politics/26/02/2014/907430.shtml [1] https://www.geopoliticalmonitor.com/ukraines-euromaidan-revolution-a-final-breakaway-from-russia/

[2] http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8391317.stm

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/2/22/ukraine-at-crossroads-five-years-after-revolution-of-dignity

https://www.brookings.edu/testimonies/five-years-after-the-revolution-of-dignity-ukraines-progress-russias-malign-activities/

World History Project--The 2014 Ukrainian Revolution and its effects on Russia's annexation of Crimea