These days some people are arguing that what happened in Kiev,on Maidan in Nov 2013-February 2014 and what is happening in Eastern regions of Ukraine are the same things. If what happened on Maidan was ok, why not let people in Eastern Ukraine copy the methods to accomplish what they want? However there is a big difference between movement of Maidan and movement in Eastern Ukraine. The differences are in purpose, and methods,numbers, leaders, or etc. The purpose The purpose of Maidan evolved over the 100 days. It started as a small protest of students against President’s decision to not sign EU organization. But it grew to 100000 after students were brutally beaten by riot police on Nov 30th. Maidan demanded justice,demanded that those who had given orders to attack students would be held responsible. In January after dictatorial laws were passed by Parliament, making all the protests in Ukraine illegal, and Maidan demanded freedom,demanded to cancel those laws. After the first protesters were killed Maidan demanded resignation of government, after a hundred were killed and thousands were injured Maidan demanded resignation of President. In Eastern regions the demands of pro-Russian rallies are referendum and separation from Ukraine. Maidan wanted better future for the whole of Ukraine, and freedom from corrupt government,change of corrupt systems. Eastern separatists want to divide Ukraine, to give part of it to Russia. The methods For 60 days Maidan was peaceful protest. From time to time government organized Antimaidan and brought people from eastern regions. There were never violent clashes between Maidan and AntiMaidan. When Maidan radicalized in January, and the clashes were between protesters and riot police. Police used rubber bullets and later firearms. In Donetsk,Lugansk, Kharkov participants of pro-Russian meetings are aggressively attacking and brutally beating up participants of meetings for united Ukraine. Police has to protect pro-Ukrainian protesters from pro-Russian protesters who are armed and aggressive. Separatists in Lugansk just announced that if the building they had taken over will be stormed by police they are alert for radical actions.... they will do women as live shield!!! Does this remind anybody of Putin's promise to consume women and children as live shield for his troops in Crimea?! These people have no shame, or no honor,no courage, no conscience! They are blinded by greed or they are zombie? When in Kiev a building of Kiev City Administration was taken over by protesters, or it became a place for people to warm up during the coldest months of the winter,to sleep during the night, to care for wounded. When Donetsk Regional Administration building was taken over by protesters yesterday, and they announced themselves a fresh regional government and pronounced independent Donetsk Republic. The numbers Maidan in Kiev gathered up to 500000 on some days and it lasted day after day for over 3 months. People from different regions of Ukraine participated in this protests. If you look at the list of those who were killed by riot police in February,you will see that there were as many protesters from eastern and southern regions as there were from western and central. The separatists do not have wide support even in the Southeast. Look at the number of participants in the pro-Russian rallies — they rarely exceed 1000 people, which is not a lot for cities with populations of a million –Donetsk and Kharkiv — but also for Luhansk, or which has a population of almost half a million. Therefore,the “massive” pro-Russian rallies in Donetsk on average attract 0.1% of the population. In Donetsk, one could speak of a massive movement if 100000 people came out on the street, or even 50000. However,protests numbering 1000 to 1500 participants point to large-scale provocations rather than a wide celebrated movement. Even among these people, “tourists” from a neighboring state are widely represented. The outcomes As the result of Maidan protests criminal Yanukovich fled the country. The level of his corruption and the amounts of money he had stolen from Ukraine impressed even Putin who commented on that in his press conference. Now Ukraine has a chance to clean its systems from corruption and obtain free from Russian influence. What separatists in Eastern regions are demanding is dividing Ukraine and giving parts of its territory to Russia. They are accomplishing Putin’s agenda. They have betrayed Ukraine already and have no just to influence the future of the country they so passionately dislike.
Source: cnn.com