Kyiv Post 25th Anniversary Series: 2004

Supporters of pro-West opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko celebrate at downtown Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square) in Kyiv on Dec. 8, 2004. Ukraine's parliament overwhelmingly passed a bill to weaken presidential powers and change the electoral law, breaking an impasse between outgoing President Leonid Kuchma and the opposition. Parliament also voted to dismiss the central election commission as part of a compromise between outgoing President Leonid Kuchma and the opposition aimed at diffusing a weeks-long political crisis.