Day of Dignity and Freedom: events that changed the history of Ukraine
Kyiv • UNN
On November 21, Ukraine celebrates the Day of Dignity and Freedom in honor of the Orange Revolution of 2004 and the Revolution of Dignity of 2013. The holiday was reinstated in 2014 after being canceled by Viktor Yanukovych.
The Day of Dignity and Freedom is a holiday in Ukraine, celebrated annually on November 21 in honor of the beginning of two revolutions: the Orange Revolution (which began on November 22, 2004) and the Revolution of Dignity (a protest by students and public activists that began on November 21, 2013), writes UNN.
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It is the successor to the Day of Freedom holiday, which was celebrated on November 22 in honor of the Orange Revolution from 2005-2011, until it was canceled by a decree of President Viktor Yanukovych. On November 13, 2014, the next President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, signed a decree according to which the Day of Dignity and Freedom is celebrated in Ukraine on November 21.
Protest against the falsification of the 2004 presidential election
On November 21, 2004, the second round of the presidential election took place. At night, the Central Election Commission declared Viktor Yanukovych the winner. In protest against massive falsifications, people from all over Ukraine began to gather on Maidan Nezalezhnosti from the morning of November 22.
The Orange Revolution was peaceful. Confrontation with law enforcement and bloodshed were avoided then.
On December 3, the Supreme Court declared the election results invalid and ordered a repeat vote.
On December 26, the so-called third round took place, in which Viktor Yushchenko won. In 2005, November 22 was declared Freedom Day. The holiday was canceled by Yanukovych in 2011 after his victory in the presidential election.
Euromaidan, dispersal of students, Revolution
On November 21, 2013, the government, then headed by Mykola Azarov, decided to suspend the process of preparing for the signing of the association agreement between the European Union and Ukraine.
A spontaneous Euromaidan arose in the center of Kyiv. Supporters of Ukraine's European integration began to hold their peaceful protests in many settlements of Ukraine.
On November 29, Yanukovych in Vilnius still did not sign the association agreement. On the night of November 30, law enforcement officers forcibly dispersed students on Maidan Nezalezhnosti using special means. This led to an intensification of protests in the capital's center.
The first phase of the Revolution of Dignity was relatively peaceful, although on December 11 there was an attempt to push protesters away from Maidan Nezalezhnosti.
On January 16, the Verkhovna Rada adopted the so-called dictatorial laws. Clashes took place in the center of Kyiv between protesters and law enforcement officers and "titushky."
On January 22, protesters Serhiy Nigoyan and Mykhailo Zhyznevsky were killed by sniper bullets. A year ago, law enforcement officers reported that Yuriy Verbytsky was the first victim on Maidan.
On the evening of February 18, law enforcement officers again launched an assault, which marked the beginning of the bloodiest phase of the Revolution of Dignity.
The fiercest street battles took place in the center of Kyiv on February 20. Yanukovych, through the mediation of European ministers, agreed that law enforcement officers would withdraw to their permanent deployment locations, protesters would surrender their weapons within 24 hours, and early presidential elections would be scheduled.
However, people on Maidan opposed such agreements. Yanukovych fled to Kharkiv, and then to Russia. Most of his entourage also fled there.