Thousands of Ukrainians gathered in their capital Kiev on Monday to mark three years since the Euromaidan revolution, despite warnings of potential violence by government opponents, according to reports:
Police and national guard units closed roads in central Kiev from the early hours, a court building was evacuated due to a bomb threat and explosives experts destroyed a suspicious device close to the Maidan square. It was here on November 21st, 2013, that demonstrators first protested against the unexpected decision of Ukraine’s then president, Viktor Yanukovich, to scrap a historic trade and political pact with the EU in favour of closer ties with Russia.
Many pro-democracy and civil society activists point to concrete achievements of the reform agenda (left), notably three new anticorruption institutions.
But Ukrainians’ frustrations toward their government are mounting. Polls indicate abysmal levels of trust in elected leaders, analysts suggest:
Many Ukrainian politicians in power today were in power before the revolution. And anti-corruption initiatives such as a recent online database for politicians to declare their personal assets have done little more than highlight for the Ukrainian people—whose average annual salary is $3,178—the extravagant lifestyle enjoyed by the country’s political elite.
