At the epicenter of the “Dignity Revolution” in 2014, which saw the overthrow of President Yanukovych’s government, Kyiv’s Independence Square, now known to the world as Maidan, continues to celebrate the memory of his dead. Every February 20, Ukraine remembers them through ceremonies. Day to day, the townspeople continue to celebrate their sacrifice through touching improvised memorials in the street.
This report was funded with support from the Transat International Journalism Fund-The duty.
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Formerly one of the gates of Kiev, until it was ransacked by the Mongol hordes in the 13th century, then “place of the October revolution” under the Soviet yoke, it was in 1991, after the fall of the USSR, that the place becomes the “Place of Independence”, Maïdan Nezalejnosti in Ukrainian. Later, it will become the global symbol of the Orange Revolution in 2004 and Euromaidan in 2014. Valerian Mazataud Le Devoir
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In its center, perched at the top of a 63 meter high column, sits the Slavic goddess Berehynia, protector of the home and the nourishing earth and now a new symbol of Ukrainian nationalism. Valerian Mazataud Le Devoir
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Following the fall of President Yanukovych in February 2014, and the end of the demonstrations in August 2014, the old barricades and the shields improvised by the demonstrators have become places of spontaneous meditation to which everyone is free to add elements. Valerian Mazataud Le Devoir
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More moving are the simple faded posters stuck to trees on Instytutska Avenue, where snipers fired on protesters in late February 2014. Left: Viktor Chmilenko, shot on February 20, 2014 at the age of 61 years old. Right: Yuriy Paskhalin, shot on February 19, 2014 at the age of 30. Valerian Mazataud Le Devoir
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Between February 18 and 23, 2014, several snipers whose origin and motives have still not been clearly determined opened fire on the crowd, killing 103 demonstrators and 13 police officers, on Instytutska Avenue. A portion of this avenue was then renamed “The Alley of the Hundred Heavenly Heroes”. Stone steles and objects that belonged to the demonstrators, such as simple construction helmets used to protect themselves from tear gas canisters and stones, commemorate the disappeared. Valerian Mazataud Le Devoir
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The Ecumenical Temple of Archangel St. Michael and New Ukrainian Martyrs of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. First a simple prayer tent on Maidan, the wooden temple was then built in three days by protesters in March 2014 and has since commemorated the memory of the fallen. Valerian Mazataud Le Devoir
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Sunday morning ceremony in the temple. Valerian Mazataud Le Devoir
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On July 1, 2014, the Ukrainian Parliament passed a law to create “The Order of One Hundred Heavenly Heroes”, awarded posthumously to the dead of Maidan. Valerian Mazataud Le Devoir
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Sober black stone stelae commemorate the “hundred celestial heroes” on Instytutska Avenue and opposite the temple of the Archangel Saint Michael. Valerian Mazataud Le Devoir
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Since November 2021, the graphic novel Dad, by author Oleksandr Komiakhov, has occupied Maidan. Visitors can navigate through the pages reproduced in giant format and follow the story of the “Dignity Revolution” of 2014. Valerian Mazataud Le Devoir
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A museum and a place of permanent meditation in memory of the victims of Euromaidan should see the light of day. Valerian Mazataud Le Devoir
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