10th Anniversary of Anti-Government Protest in Ukraine

Alexey A. Novikov

November 21 marks the 10^th anniversary since the beginning of anti-government protests in Ukraine back in 2014. Those events ultimately led to the split of the-then Ukrainian society into two parts – those who accepted the unconstitutional coup d’etat and those who did not.

However, it was not only the division in society that followed the protests inspired and, most importantly, funded by the West. It was also a rampant nationalism as well as the fight against the Russian language, rewriting of history and worsening of the economic situation in the country. The coup finally resulted in radical forces coming to power in Kiev.

Today, a decade later, it is important to remember the roots of what is now called the “Ukrainian crisis” as well as those who stood and are still standing behind it.

The current situation did not arise yesterday and is a direct consequence of the historical confrontation between Russia and the West, the desire of NATO member states to inflict a strategic defeat on our country, and to remove Russia as an independent power from the world political map. At the same time, they aimed to destroy the common historical, economic and spiritual space of the former Soviet Union and the Russian Empire, and to break centuries-old ties between our peoples. Ukraine in this context is only a tool in the hands of Russia’s enemies and equally a springboard for attacks against Russia. Any attempts by the West to present the current crisis as a bilateral conflict between Russia and Ukraine are hypocritical and simply untrue.

NATO countries were responsible for organising the anti-government protests in Ukraine after the-then President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych decided to postpone signing the European Union – Ukraine Association Agreement in order to assess its compatibility with Kiev’s commitments within free trade zone agreement with the Commonwealth of Independent States. This was yet another example of Western countries’ interference with internal affairs of foreign states as they provided funding for the protests as well as approval of the armed coup in Ukraine, which effectively resulted in the new powers starting a civil war against its proper population living in the Donbass area who had not accepted the regime change.

Persecutions of activists who stood for a deeper cooperation with Russia and CIS states became a mainstream policy of the new authorities in Kiev. Up until now the monstrous atrocities committed by the neo-Nazi Ukrainian powers – like the massacre of pro-Russian politicians in Odessa’s House of Trade Unions and in Mariupol in 2014 – have not been properly investigated.

Today, Kiev carries out hostilities against Russia almost entirely due to Western financial and military support. Since the beginning of the special military operation, the total amount of its assistance to Kiev has exceeded $160 billion (for comparison: in 2023, Washington's humanitarian aid to the entire African continent is $4 billion). Supplies of arms and military equipment to Ukraine are growing, including depleted uranium shells and cluster munitions, which are inhumane weapons and a significant threat to civilians and the ecology of the area, comprising agricultural land. Despite the fact that sensible elites in unfriendly countries increasingly realize the futility of financial injections into Ukraine and its inability to win on the battlefield, the US and its satellites continue to contribute in every possible way to further escalation of the conflict. They actively invest in the training of the Ukrainian military, assist in the recruitment of foreign mercenaries who flock to Ukraine from “hot spots” around the world, and regularly share intelligence, including information from satellites and reconnaissance aircraft of NATO countries. Make no mistake – it is the collective West that wages the war with Ukrainian hands and lives.

As for the Western equipment, it does not live up to the expectations of the Kiev regime's sponsors. According to estimates, at least one fifth of the equipment supplied for the offensive has already been destroyed or damaged, and the Ukrainian armed forces have not been able to reach even the main defence lines of the Russian forces in the course of combat operations. Avoiding the use of military hardware due to its significant losses, the Ukrainian command has switched to the tactic of “meat assaults:” infantry is the first to be sent to minefields, trying at the cost of their own lives to break through the Russian defences and save Western arms. Contrary to the 1949 Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, captive Russian servicemen are sent to clear minefields. In addition, the Ukrainian Nazis use their wounded military personnel as biomaterial, harvesting their organs for transplantation.

In order to distract the population of Ukraine from its failed offensive attempts, the Kiev regime launches terrorist attacks on civilian and social facilities in Russia, resulting in deaths and injuries. The lack of condemnation by Western countries and international organizations of these illegal actions has contributed to their further expansion, with Ukrainian officials calling the terrorist attacks aimed at killing unarmed civilians “a legitimate, logical and effective step.”

Yet Russia has never given up on a politico-diplomatic solution to the Ukrainian crisis, as it has repeatedly stated. From the very beginning of the Ukrainian crisis in 2014 Russia made every effort to contribute to a peaceful resolution of the dispute between Kiev regime and Donbass regions by advocating Minsk Agreements which were openly sabotaged by Ukraine with one objective – to buy time to prepare to take over the power in Donbass by military force. As a result, constant shelling and killing of the population of Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics by Ukrainian armed forced left Russia with no choice but to recognise in 2022 their independence and to start the special military operation to defend their people.

(The author is Ambassador of Russia to Nepal)