The Maidan Uprising

Available for over a year

In November 2013, a mass protest began in Kyiv’s central square that would have a profound impact on Ukraine for years to come. The target was President Viktor Yanukovych and his culture of corruption. Nine years earlier, he’d been thrown out of office after rigging an election, but after 3 years back in power, he’d built up a vast personal estate on the outskirts of the city with golf course, private zoo and a full-size replica of a Spanish galleon. But his perceived ties with Russia were the real problem and they stood in the way of a historic economic agreement with Europe that had been 20 years in the making. Thousands filled Kyiv’s central Square – the Maidan. On social media, they called their protest the “Euro-Maidan” and it was a name that stuck. But what started as a peaceful protest turned shockingly violent. Sticks and stones became Molotov cocktails, stun grenades and tear gas, rubber bullets were replaced by the real thing. Kirsty Wark is joined by five people who were there. Hanna Hopko was a representative of the Maidan Public Sector. She addressed the crowds and attended to the wounded in St. Michael's Cathedral. Valentin Nalivaichenko was a former Head of the secret service. Arseniy Yatsenyuk was the leader of one of the opposition parties who became a leader of the protests (and later Ukraine’s Prime Minister). Yaroslav Hrytsak was a historian who observed the protests at first hand and was often interviewed on radio and television and Gabriel Gatehouse was a BBC Correspondent who covered the protests from the start. Presenter: Kirsty Wark Producer: Nina Bielova Series Producer: David Prest A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4