Though Ukraine became independent when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, it remained largely dependent on Moscow in the ensuing decades. The Orange Revolution in 2004 promised new beginnings. But the post-revolutionary government ultimately succumbed to infighting and scandals, paving the way for Viktor Yanukovych, who won the presidency in 2010. Yanukovych's rampant corruption and his failure to deliver on a promise to bring Ukraine closer to the European Union brought demonstrators to the streets again in late 2013. Those pro-Western protests became the Maidan revolution, which ended with MYanukovych fleeing in February 2014.
Russia's War Against Ukraine
The Economist: Ukraine in graphics
Praviy Sektor (Right Sector) fighters train at their headquarter in a small village near Pokrovskoe, eastern Ukraine on June 3.
