Russian efforts to boost influence over Ukraine at its neighbor’s election this month are making little headway. Ties between the one-time allies remain at a nadir after protesters in Kyiv unseated the country’s Kremlin-backed leader in 2014 and Vladimir Putin annexed Crimea before fomenting a war in which he still denies involvement. That’s left Ukraine focused on Western integration, and Russia still keen to derail it.
EuroMaidan Revolution
Bloomberg: Russia’s bid to win a firmer foothold in Ukraine is falling flat
Smoke shrouds Maidan Nezalezhnosti on the afternoon of Feb. 19, 2014 as protesters man hastily built barricades to defend their encampment. In front of the barricades the square is littered with debris from the part of the camp destroyed as police advanced on the previous evening and night. The Trades Union House, which had served as the protesters’ headquarters since the start of the uprising, was gutted in a blaze that started after the police attacked, and smoke from the still smoldering building contributed to the haze hanging over Kyiv’s central square.
