On 21 November 2013, the Azarov government derailed the signing of the EU Association Agreement. As a result, the first protesters began gathering in central Kyiv. Later, on 30 November, students were beaten at Euromaidan. This became the start of the Revolution of Dignity, which permanently transformed Ukrainian society and launched political changes in the country. The Ukrainian Association of Professional Photographers is publishing photographs by Viacheslav Ratynskyi, who documented the key events of the Revolution.
“Ukraine Is Europe”
In November 2013, Ukraine was supposed to sign an Association Agreement with the European Union. But on 21 November 2013, then-President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych refused to sign it.
On 21 November 2013, Ukrainians began protesting on Kyiv’s Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square) for their country’s European future. People united because Viktor Yanukovych and the Cabinet of Ministers wanted to halt preparations for signing the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU. The mass protests and rallies on the country’s main square grew into the Euromaidan movement, also known as the Revolution of Dignity. Eventually, the protests spread across the entire country.
The refusal to sign the Association Agreement was a great disappointment for Ukrainian students: they felt deceived, as Europe would have been closed to them. That evening, Ukrainian journalist Mustafa Nayyem wrote on his Facebook page: “Alright, let’s be serious. Who is ready to come to Maidan by midnight today? Likes don’t count—only comments under this post saying ‘I’m ready.’ As soon as we reach more than 1,000, we’ll start organizing.”
That night, students came to Maidan. They chanted: “Ukraine is Europe!” At 4 a.m. on 30 November 2013, Yanukovych sent the Berkut special police unit to Maidan to disperse the students. The violence against young people triggered a wave of resistance, and many others joined the students.
Maidan became not only a place of protest but also a kind of city. “Field” kitchens operated there, musicians performed, and artists painted. There was also a library, an open university, and a piano. People set up tents, lit fires, and cooked soup in iron cauldrons. Volunteers cleared snow and ice.
“Dictatorship Laws”
On 16 January, Viktor Yanukovych’s government passed the so-called “dictatorship laws,” which stripped people of their rights to free speech and assembly. Everyone present at Maidan was automatically labeled a criminal. Berkut used tear gas, rubber bullets, stun grenades, and water cannons against protesters in subzero temperatures. Protesters went missing. The body of one activist, Yurii Verbytskyi, was found mutilated and frozen in a forest…
On 19 January, after the Maidan Veche, starting around 3 p.m. and later, numerous clashes took place between protesters and security forces on Hrushevskoho Street in Kyiv. People tried to reach the Verkhovna Rada building. Vitali Klitschko attempted to stop the violent confrontation, but he failed. Protesters faced stun grenades, rubber bullets, batons, water cannons, Molotov cocktails, and stones; protesters used firecrackers, Molotov cocktails, stones, and slingshots. They burned five pieces of special equipment, whose remains were used as a base for a barricade. That same day, Vitali Klitschko met with President Yanukovych, resulting in an agreement to hold another “round table.” However, the planned talks never took place.
On the night of 21 January, special units launched an assault on protesters’ barricades, while at the same time titushky carried out pogroms. Some of the titushky were detained by protesters. Around 8 a.m., priests stood between the protesters and the special units, which helped stop the fighting for almost a day.
Over the course of a month, negotiations between the authorities and protesters took place with varying success. In particular, on 28 January, Prime Minister Mykola Azarov resigned “in order to create additional opportunities for a socio-political compromise, for the sake of a peaceful settlement of the conflict.”
In line with an agreement between the president and the authorities, the Verkhovna Rada repealed 9 of the 11 laws that restricted civil liberties and had been passed on 16 January under a “manual voting” procedure.
On 31 January, Viktor Yanukovych signed an act repealing the dictatorship laws adopted on 16 January, as well as an amnesty law adopted on 29 January.
On 18 February, when the Verkhovna Rada was to consider possible changes to the Constitution, protesters approached the parliament building. Given the peaceful nature of the march, most were without batons, stones, or Molotov cocktails. Special units met the demonstrators with water cannons and gas. At the same time, the column was attacked from the flank by significant forces of security personnel and titushky, splitting the demonstrators into several separate parts. This led to a renewed confrontation between the insurgents and the security forces. Fighting took place, including with the use of firearms. Several people on both sides were killed.
By the morning of 19 February, the number of dead had already reached 25, including: 9 members of the security forces; and 16 civilians and members of Maidan self-defense.
Overall, the Revolution of Dignity lasted 94 days, and up to 4 million Ukrainians took part. The most tragic days were 18–20 February, when, during large-scale clashes in central Kyiv, the Trade Unions Building was set on fire and snipers killed 107 protesters. Every year on 20 February, Ukraine commemorates the Day of the Heroes of the Heavenly Hundred.
The main geopolitical consequence of the Revolution of Dignity was the beginning of Ukraine’s exit from Russia’s sphere of influence in the economic and political domains, as well as a reduction of dependence in the cultural sphere. Ukraine’s non-aligned status was abolished, meaning it was no longer barred from joining international collective security and defense structures.
“A Clear Line—Before 2013 and After”
Photographer Viacheslav Ratynskyi photographed the Revolution of Dignity every day for three months. He arrived at Maidan on 21 November 2013 during the first protest actions, witnessed confrontations between protesters and security forces, and saw the aftermath of the shootings of the Heavenly Hundred. The photographer was wounded twice during clashes.
“Once, a stun grenade exploded at my feet, and a bit later my nose was cut by a fragment of a rubber bullet. That was during clashes at the corner of Shovkovychna and Instytutska streets, and I climbed onto a residential building’s balcony to see the full picture and shoot from above. When it hit my nose, I remember being properly scared—after all, it was right by my eyes. Of course, compared with the injuries activists sustained that same day, my scratches were nothing,” Viacheslav Ratynskyi recalls.
From late November 2013 through spring 2014, Viacheslav Ratynskyi photographed in central Kyiv every day. In addition to shooting clashes and provocations by the security forces of the time, Ratynskyi also documented the everyday life of the protesters.
On the day of the first shootings of the Heavenly Hundred, Ratynskyi went home for the first time in several days to get some sleep. Still, he kept following events via a livestream. There he saw reports that people had been shot in central Kyiv.
“I hadn’t slept for two or three days. But I still got up quickly and went back to Maidan. I saw them carrying down the bodies of the dead. Beyond the tragedy itself, I was struck by the protesters’ actions. They didn’t scatter—on the contrary, they built new barricades and rallied even more. Everyone had some kind of job. I have, for example, a shot of a man who is simply collecting ash off the asphalt—sweeping Maidan—because he can’t stand idle,” Ratynskyi says.
Ratynskyi’s last photographs of the Euromaidan events were taken outside central Kyiv. The frames show men of different ages: in old military uniforms and in helmets that even rubber bullets can pierce. The men are training at a former police range near the capital. These men are new recruits to the National Guard. A month later, they would become the first volunteers to go to Donbas.
“I remember how uncomfortable it was for the guys from Maidan Self-Defense who enlisted in the National Guard to train. Former police officers had been their enemies just yesterday, and now they had become instructors. The activists felt awkward, but still listened to the security forces’ advice,” Viacheslav Ratynskyi shares. — “For me personally, there is a clear line—before 2013 and after. The Revolution of Dignity changed all of us.”
This material was produced with the support of The Fritt Ord Foundation.
Viacheslav Ratynskyi is a Ukrainian reporter and documentary photographer. He was born in Zhytomyr. For the past nine years, he has lived and worked in Kyiv. He is a graduate of the Faculty of Journalism at Ivan Franko National University of Lviv. His work has been published in many Ukrainian outlets (Ukrainska Pravda, Hromadske, Novoe Vremya, Fokus, Forbes, Ukrainskyi Tyzhden, Reporters, and others), as well as a number of international outlets (Time, The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Telegraph, Daily Mail, The New York Times, El Pais, Radio Free Europe, BBC, Reuters, Der Spiegel).
Photographer’s social media:
Facebook
Instagram
Worked on the piece:
Topic researcher, text author: Vira Labych
Literary editor: Yuliia Futei
Photo editor: Olha Kovalova
