Ukraine in Dire Straits, by IWP alumnus Vilen Khlgatyan

For a few months now anti-Yanukovych and pro-EU protests have rocked Kiev and other cities in Ukraine. The protests rose to a qualitatively new level when controversial anti-protest laws were passed in mid-January, followed by the deaths of two protestors by unknown shooters. The troika leading the opposition (Vitaly Klitschko, Arseny Yatsenyuk, and Oleg Tyagnibok) have at times appeared to be losing control of the protests, and jumping at any chance to regain some semblance of leadership. A number of the opposition’s demands were met in the past two weeks, most significantly the resignation of the Prime Minister Mikola Azarov and his entire cabinet, and the parliament’s repeal of the anti-protest laws. Top government posts were offered to Klitschko, Yatsenyuk, and Tyagnibok, all of whom refused. However, the opposition still wants President Viktor Yanukovych to resign, and early elections to take place; currently one is scheduled for next year. The opposition is also seeking an unconditional amnesty and wants a return to Ukraine’s 2004 constitution to limit the powers of the president. Smelling blood and seeing light at the end of the tunnel, the protestors are not about to relent with their political demands. 

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