in Ukraine, ten years after the revolution, the spirit of Maidan is still there

On November 21, 2013, hundreds of Ukrainian demonstrators gathered on Maidan Square, in the center of the capital Kiev, to challenge the anti-European policy of President Viktor Yanukovych. Ten years later, the spirit of this revolution still lives in Ukrainian minds.

It was ten years ago, to the day. The first demonstrations on Maidan Square, in the heart of kyiv, pro-European demonstrations which led to the end of pro-Russian power. An anniversary celebrated Tuesday, November 21, by President Volodymir Zelensky of “first victory” in the war against the Russian invader. But with the war, martial law, the ban on gatherings so as not to offer a target to the enemy, Ukrainians did not gather en masse to celebrate ten years of their revolution.

Yet this revolution lives within them. Sacha is 30 years old. When he sees the images again, the jubilation, the hope, he smiles: “I was there from the first days of the Maidan revolution. We came with my friends, there were lots of young people. We could no longer stand being led by a pro-Russian power, the corruption… We wanted be close to the European Union and its way of life.” Every day he demonstrates. His parents bring food and warm clothes. He throws stones, facing the police, under sniper fire. As the months go by, the revolution grows: “I understood that we had passed the point of no return, and that if we went back, we were going to lose.”

“We had the same goal”

Then comes February, the flight of pro-Russian president Yanukovych: “I remember, we shouted ‘Hurray’, glory to Ukraine!’ We didn’t ask ourselves what happened next, we just wanted Yanukovych to go away.” Sacha lives in Irpin, a martyred town, crushed by bombs at the start of the war, its bridge destroyed to prevent access to kyiv. Above the door of his apartment, the trace of the hole caused by a shrapnel. Through the reconstructed window, we see the forest opposite, burned, the building below destroyed. From those days, Sacha remembers helping people evacuate by car: “It was like a movie, I was driving around with the doors open shouting: ‘Hurry up, get in!’ I was driving at 100 miles an hour, zig-zagging to avoid the barricades.” The spirit of Maidan has never left Sasha: “I learned on this square that we were united. Whether you came from the east or the west of Ukraine, we had the same goal: to live in a better Ukraine, to build a better and safer future for our future children and the generations after.”