The Euromaidan Revolution: How Ukraine’s 2014 grassroots rebellion changed history

Eleven years ago, on 21 November 2013, protests erupted in Kyiv’s central square in response to then-President Viktor Yanukovych’s reversal of Ukraine’s EU integration in favor of cheap Russian gas and integration into a customs union with Russia.

How did the protests start? How did self-organization work at Maidan? And how did a popular uprising manage to win over the President and make him flee the country? Find out in Ursula Ruedenberg’s radio program Ukraine 242 with Euromaidan Press journalists Alya Shandra and Bohdan Ben.

What is Euromaidan and how it started

Euromaidan gets its name from Maidan, the central square in Kyiv, where the demonstrations started. Maidan is conflated with Euro, referring to Europe, since the desire to sign Association Agreement and ultimately become part of the EU instead of Russia’s led EAEU Customs Union was the driving force behind this revolt.

Yet, this went far beyond foreign policy. Known as the Revolution of Dignity, the Euromaidan represented the people’s struggle for human rights and personal dignity in the face of state violence. It embodied a fight for genuine democracy and national self-respect, marking Ukraine’s true return to sovereign statehood. For the first time since Soviet occupation, Ukrainians began reclaiming their country from the weak post-Soviet system that had left them vulnerable to Russian interference and oligarchic control. The year 2014 proved to be a watershed moment in this transformation.

The question of whether Euromaidan truly constituted a revolution is worth examining, as revolutions typically imply fundamental change. What we’ve witnessed in Ukraine is actually a gradual but unstoppable transformation. The seeds of this change were planted in 1991, nurtured by freedom of speech, investigations into the historical truth about Russian and Soviet oppression, and a revival of Ukrainian culture.

The 2004 Orange Revolution further advanced this process by protecting elections from freud attempt and empowering Ukraine’s civil society and middle class. However, it was the 2014 Euromaidan that dramatically accelerated these changes, bringing civil society representatives into positions of power and establishing robust public oversight of government institutions.

Euromaidan arose from a profound need for change. Multiple factors had set the stage: the suppression of businesses, discrimination against the Ukrainian language and increasingly pro-Russian policies. The breaking point came when President Yanukovych and his officials ordered the brutal dispersal of peaceful protesters – mere students.

These university students had chosen to spend the night on Maidan in an act of desperation. They were protesting for European integration and against Yanukovych’s corrupt, pro-Russian policies. When they were violently dispersed, it crossed a line that Ukrainians could no longer ignore. The news that “children were beaten” echoed through Ukrainian households, becoming a point of no return. Parents could not and would not tolerate police violence against their children. It mobilized the entire country.

What Euromaidan changed

The term Revolution of Dignity does reflect what this movement was all about. Human dignity, to be able to express yourselves, to be able to stand for your ideals and your positions. But also, it was about national dignity because, during centuries of the Russian empire and the Soviet Union, Ukrainians never experienced their national institutions and their cultures as well as language.

After the Revolution of Dignity, Ukrainians finally managed to really take power in their own state. So to speak, it was necessary that then-president Yanukovych pursued his pro-Russian and corrupt policies for several years so that a strong majority of people, including some who voted for him, would eventually choose a pro-Ukrainian and pro-European stance rather than some kind of alliance with authoritarian Russia.

After the Euromaidan, the Ukrainian language, Ukrainian culture, and democracy, which is closely linked to Ukrainian history, became mainstream in Ukraine, replacing previous post-Soviet politics and culture.

Beyond the reelection of parliament and president, Euromaidan catalyzed fundamental reforms across Ukrainian society.

The most significant changes consisted of anti-corruption, procurement, and transparency reforms. The country established several key anti-corruption institutions: the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) for investigations, the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, and the High Anti-Corruption Court for handling high-profile cases.

These bodies were complemented by the innovative Prozorro state procurement system, which mandated open auctions for all state purchases. Defense procurement was aligned with NATO standards by establishing two new bodies: the Defense Procurement Agency and the State Operator of the Rear. Transparency also improved dramatically with the introduction of mandatory public declarations of property and income for state officials, overseen by the National Agency on Corruption Prevention.

Meanwhile, decentralization reform shifted significant fiscal responsibilities from central to local governments, empowering regional communities.

The revolution also marked a decisive break with Ukraine’s Soviet past. This transformation was symbolically represented by the widespread removal of Lenin monuments – Soviet-era fixtures in nearly every Ukrainian city and town. While the rejection of Soviet historical narratives had begun in 1991, it accelerated significantly after 2014 with state support.

Ukraine began distancing itself from Russian traditions, choosing to commemorate World War II victims on 8 May rather than holding Soviet-style victory parades on 9 May. Similarly, the country’s two main churches officially adopted 25 December for Christmas celebrations, departing from the Russian Orthodox tradition of 7 January observance under the Julian calendar. And these are merely a few examples of many.

Perhaps most significantly, the revolution energized Ukrainian culture. Many artists, inspired by the country’s transformation, began working in the Ukrainian language and exploring Ukrainian themes, moving away from the broader post-Soviet market. This cultural revival was matched by growing consumer demand for Ukrainian products, reflecting a deeper shift in national identity and pride.

How Euromaidan achieved its victory

Maidan could end up in detentions and people being dispersed by police, but it didn’t because the protesters were ready to stand up and even die for their rights.

“I think this is really something that gets misunderstood when people in democracies praise peaceful protests. In autocracy, sometimes that’s not possible. Sometimes if your protest is only peaceful and you’re not willing to die for your ideals, then you will just be squashed. And some protesters on Euromaidan were willing to die for their ideals. And this is why it succeeded,” Alya Shandra says, recalling her experience during Euromaidan.

The sustained mobilization, lasting through months of harsh winter weather, reflected not just the protesters’ determination but also significant social changes that had taken root in Ukrainian society. Crucially, the emergence of a confident middle class, young cultural elites, and civil society leaders during President Yushchenko’s era (2004-2009) created a social foundation for civil resistance.

This growing new part of Ukrainian society that hadn’t experienced Soviet repressions had developed both the means and the self-assurance to demand their rights, marking a profound shift from the post-Soviet mentality of passive acceptance.

A critical aspect of Euromaidan’s success was its reach beyond Kyiv’s central square. While the Maidan was the epicenter of the revolution, every major city across Ukraine developed its own protest movement, with citizens gathering regularly on Sundays and often during weekdays. These local demonstrations served a dual purpose: they not only expressed regional solidarity but also strategically blocked local police bases, preventing riot police from being deployed to disperse the main protest in Kyiv.

In the revolution’s later stages, these local movements began taking control of police bases and government administration buildings, effectively stripping power from the president’s grasp at a grassroots level.

Maidan was a very self-organized and horizontal movement. The protest sites featured open microphones where any citizen could speak for three minutes, sharing their vision for Ukraine’s future. In Kyiv, the central location evolved into a vibrant civic ecosystem, including the innovative “Maidan University” – first housed in a large tent, then relocated to an occupied building, where Ukrainians gathered to discuss their country’s future through lectures and public forums.

The physical infrastructure of the protest was equally horizontal. A network of tents and occupied buildings provided shelter, with protesters sleeping side by side in sleeping bags on building floors. Local residents opened their homes to demonstrators from other cities, creating a nationwide network of solidarity.

Numerous field kitchens and charitable initiatives supported the movement’s sustainability, including a notable contribution from a borscht festival organizer who prepared massive quantities of the traditional soup daily. Volunteers prepared and distributed sandwiches throughout the square, maintaining the protesters’ energy and resolve.

“I was trying to go every day. And my problem was, at first, that I couldn’t find a task for myself,” Alya recalls her experience during the revolution, which eventually led to the creation of this outlet Euromaidan Press. “So I didn’t just want to wander around. At first I found myself a sandwich making job in the kitchen. Later I saw a call for translators and this is how I actually ended up where I work right now.

Euromaidan Press emerged during the Euromaidan revolution to tell the story of Euromaidan to Western audiences because Russian disinformation was just flooding the media… My hope was then that this revolution will end and I will have a break, but it never ended because as soon as Euromaidan won, Russia invaded Crimea, it invaded Donbas and started a war. And here we are 11 years later.“

The nightly confrontations between protesters and riot police became a crucial test of the movement’s resilience. The survival of Maidan often hinged on the hundreds of determined individuals who stood their ground in the square against overwhelming odds. As Alya later reflected, it seemed almost miraculous that civilians could withstand the sea of Berkut riot police. The confrontations took on an almost existential quality – protesters felt they were engaged in an ultimate battle between good and evil, with Ukraine’s future hanging in the balance.

The government’s persecution of activists led to the emergence of numerous grassroots protection networks. When injured protesters were admitted to hospitals, some medical staff would alert authorities, leading to arrests or even killings. In response, volunteer teams organized rescue operations to extract activists from hospitals. A field hospital was established directly on Maidan to treat injured protesters, becoming one of many movement initiatives.

The movement’s defensive core was the “Self-Defense of Maidan,” which positioned itself between police forces and the protest camp. Initially equipped with homemade wooden shields, they gradually acquired metal shields, ski helmets, and protective padding. This “ragtag army” was quietly strengthened by former security service professionals who sympathized with the cause, providing training and organization to the volunteer defenders.

The protest reached its tragic climax on Instytutska Street in February when government snipers killed approximately fifty protesters over two days. Rather than crushing the movement, this violence galvanized it. As one young commander, Parasiuk, declared in a powerful speech:

“We don’t accept any compromises. If Yanukovych does not go away, then I’m saying that my comrades and I have some weapons. We will go and use them. We’re not going to back down. You will not intimidate us.”

This decisive “by any means necessary” moment marked the revolution’s final phase. The following day, Yanukovych fled the country.

Ursula Ruedenberg is manager of Pacifica Radio’s Affiliate Network Division. She has been co-producing and distributing Ukraine 2 4 2 since the beginning of Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine 2 4 2 is a weekly program featuring interviews with experts and key people on the ground in Ukraine and worldwide, responding to events and issues since the Russian invasion.

Ruedenberg also led the creation and on-air launch of KHOI Community Radio in Ames Iowa and served as the station manager and program director from 2011 to 2021. Prior to her work in radio, she worked as a public artist and directed a community-based mural program for the City of New York.

Pacifica Network is a global network of more than 200 community-based radio and Internet stations working for democracy. Their mission is providing independent programming and building cooperation between local independent grassroots media groups for network-wide content production, journalism, technology, and good management practices.

Pacifica Foundation established the concept of independent community radio in the United States in 1949 and led as a developer of independent journalism. It owns five radio stations, itself, in New York City, Washington DC, Houston, and Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Bay Area. The Pacifica Radio Archives is one of the most extensive and important historical sound archives in the United States.

For information about the network or network membership, please contact Ursula Ruedenberg at ursula@pacifica.org.

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