On Maidan anniversary, Zelensky hails ‘first victory of today’s warfare’ | EUROtoday

Issued on: 21/11/2023 – 11:50

1 min

The pro-European protest motion — during which round 100 civilians died in violent clashes with safety forces within the capital — in the end led to the ouster of Kremlin-backed President Viktor Yanukovych.

“The first victory in today’s war took place. A victory against indifference. A victory of courage. The victory of the Revolution of Dignity,” Zelensky mentioned in an announcement marking the 10-year anniversary of the months-long protest motion.

The Maidan protests erupted in late 2013 when Yanukovych ditched an affiliation settlement commerce cope with the European Union and subsequently sparked a separatist battle within the east of the nation.

Zelensky praised his nation’s progress in direction of gaining European Union membership since Russian forces launched a fully-fledged invasion in February 2022.

“Year after year, step by step, we do our best to ensure that our star shines in the circle of stars on the EU flag, which symbolises the unity of the peoples of Europe. The star of Ukraine,” he mentioned.

The EU’s govt beneficial earlier this month opening formal membership talks with Ukraine and Moldova and instructed that the bloc’s 27 member states ought to grant Georgia candidate standing.

The Kremlin nevertheless described the Maidan protests as an try to topple the federal government with the backing of international powers.

“It was a coup. It was an overthrow of the authorities that was sponsored from abroad. Things need to be called by their names,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov advised reporters on Tuesday.

He mentioned Russia’s aim was to proceed with its invasion of Ukraine, after final 12 months saying the unilateral annexation of 4 Ukrainian territories, over which it nonetheless doesn’t have full army management.

The United Nations in the meantime mentioned on Tuesday that greater than 10,000, together with greater than 560 youngsters, had been killed and over 18,500 wounded since Russia invaded.

The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine famous that the actual determine was more likely to be “significantly” larger, given problems in verifying deaths.

(AFP)