After Viktor Yanukovych, who was then president, fled Ukraine in February 2014, Russian flags began appearing around the Lenin statue in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city.
Russia's War Against Ukraine
The Economist: Ukraine’s second city shows no risk of rebelling, but it is far from secure

Workers dismantle a flagpole, after its was damaged by a blast early on April 7, 2015 in Kharkiv.