Euromaidan was the largest democratic mass movement in Europe since 1989, ousting Ukraine's president and triggering the Russo-Ukrainian war.
Key Facts
- Start date
- 21 November 2013
- End date
- 22 February 2014
- Protester deaths (climax)
- ~100 people
- Police deaths (climax)
- 13 people
- Yanukovych removed
- 22 February 2014
- Primary protest site
- Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square), Kyiv
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
President Viktor Yanukovych abruptly refused to sign the EU–Ukraine Association Agreement in November 2013, opting instead for closer ties with Russia and the Eurasian Economic Union. Ukraine's parliament had broadly supported the agreement, but Russian pressure led Yanukovych to reverse course, igniting public anger over both the geopolitical turn and entrenched government corruption, abuse of power, and oligarchic influence.
Beginning 21 November 2013, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians occupied Independence Square in Kyiv and staged protests across the country. Demonstrators built a fortified camp with barricades, kitchens, and first-aid posts, defended by volunteer self-defense units. Clashes escalated through January and February 2014, culminating in fierce fighting on 18–20 February that killed nearly 100 protesters and 13 police officers.
On 21 February 2014, Yanukovych signed a power-sharing agreement with the opposition, then fled Kyiv; parliament removed him from office the next day and installed an interim government. The uprising was swiftly followed by Russia's annexation of Crimea and pro-Russian unrest in eastern Ukraine, which escalated into the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war.