right behind me is the independent square in kiev also called the maidan the site of the euromaidan protests in the winter of 2013. that's when the country was gripped by a wave of civil unrest people were protesting against their then president viktor yanukovych a man who wanted to take ukraine away from european integration and push it closer to russia the people of ukraine launched a revolution against this they ousted their president lies were lost here's the story of the euromethane how it changed ukraine and how its people remember it eight years on this was the moment that triggered the breakup of ukraine bullets flying all around and hitting unarmed protesters by the time it was over at least 50 people had died eight years have passed and the boards around me keep the memories of those deadly times alive i'm at the center of kiev's medan square the site of the euro medan protests and look around me there are boards everywhere and they tell the stories of uh those protests they tell the stories of the revolution of dignity and how ukrainians suffered during the euro medan protest there were snipers in all these buildings surrounding the medan and protesters were fired upon lives were lost it was an inflection point for ukraine the country was on failure a pro-european trajectory ukrainians wanted a tight integration with the european union but suddenly the planned agreement was cuttled the pro-russian president of ukraine viktor yanukovych backed out of the eu-eastern partnership program at the last moment the citizens of ukraine were up in arms the euromethane protests led to his ouster the ukrainian government was overthrown yanukovich fled to russia this was in february 2014. one week later russian president vladimir putin ordered an invasion of crimea it was a major loss for ukraine a part of their territory was taken away by force the crimean peninsula and uh close to the center of this medan are pictures of those who were killed during the revolution of dignity the russians orchestrated a referendum armed men oversaw a vote where 97 of the people of crimea supported a so-called reunification with russia there were no international observers the west rubbished the referendum imposed sanctions on russia and threw it out of the g8 but for ukraine the problem was not over russian-backed separatists in the donbass region demanded independence from ukraine the war in donbass has claimed more than 14 000 lives since 2014 and negotiations over donbass mediated by the europeans collapsed last year the message from moscow is clear cave joining the nato is a red line for them but for the people of ukraine this is not just about politics and security equations this is about self-determination this is about their revolution of dignity the maidan has become a symbol of revolution a reminder of the time when ukrainians tried metal to walk out of the shadow of erstwhile soviet union when ukrainians try to assert their sovereignty and that shift came at a very heavy price for ukraine people lost their loved ones but they also found their voice and they're speaking in that voice today and they're saying that if the russians come this time they're prepared to fight this is palkish reporting from kiev ukraine for we on world is one vyond is now available in your country download the app now and get all the news on the move
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