this Ukrainian revolution wasn't born out of thin air. I'm more interested in how it got started and who stood to benefit the most from it.
Here's the cliffnotes:
- The west of Ukraine was historically a part of Poland while the south and east historically a part of Russia, it was made into one state during the Soviet era and Crimea was annexed into Soviet Ukraine by Nikita Khrushchev. It remained intact after the Soviet collapse but the differences remained although not to the the extent that the state would fall apart right away.
- President Yanukovich won a close election. Pro-West opposition feels slighted, Yulia gets locked up, pro west opposition even more pissed.
- Putin wants to make a Eurasian bloc to rival the EU and Ukraine is the most important piece to that.
- EU offers 8 bil deal, Putin offers 15 bil, Yanukovich declines potential EU membership to stick with Russia. This was what started the protests.
- From November to the beginning of this week the opposition cranked up the heat on the President and wanted him out. On Feb 21st, Yanukovich agrees with the opposition to form a coalition govt with members of the opposition and hold new elections at a determined date.
- Just hours after that agreement was made, the goons pretty much declared themselves in charge and chased Yanukovich out of Kiev and eventually out of Ukraine.
- By the end of this past week, the two sides are on the brink of war unless the new regime does some major backtracking.