EuroMaidan Revolution
Oksana Bashuk Hepburn: Putin’s meddling in Ukraine sinister
An anti-government protester talks to an elderly woman on the Maidan (Independence square) in Kiev, on February 15, 2014. Ukraine's political situation has been volatile since a massive protest movement erupted in November when Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovych rejected a key EU trade pact in favour of closer ties with Russia, angering pro-EU parts of the population. The movement has since evolved into an outright drive to oust Yanukovych, while protesters still occupy Kiev's central Independence square. AFP PHOTO / MARTIN BUREAU
The determination of Ukraine's protesters to stand for democracy is like a chapter of the popular Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Dictator Snow, in real life, is a composite of President Viktor Yanukovych and his mentor-dictator, Russia's President Vladimir Putin. As in the book, they precipitate to-the-death human struggles -- games -- in order to maintain control over an already oppressed population.