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Independent
December 4, 2013
Russian President Vladimir Putin said protests in Ukraine against its decision to abandon a European Union integration pact are an attempt to bring down its legitimate rulers.
Protesters blockaded the main government building, seeking to force President Viktor Yanukovych from office with a general strike after hundreds of thousands demonstrated against his decision to abandon the pact, which was scheduled to be signed last week.
Weekend demonstrations, which saw violent clashes with the police, drew as many as 350,000 people – the biggest public rally in the ex-Soviet state since the “Orange revolution” against sleaze and electoral fraud.
During a visit to Armenia, Mr Putin told reporters: “This is not a revolution but a very well prepared protest that in my view wasn’t prepared for today but… for the (Ukrainian) presidential election campaign in March 2015. This is an attempt to shake the current and, I want to emphasise, legitimate authorities in the country.”
Mr Putin said the protesters seemed “very well prepared and trained militant groups” – hinting that outsiders had been involved in training the demonstrators, an accusation he made against participants in Ukraine’s “Orange revolution” which overturned a stolen election nine years ago.
Yanukovych’s decision to abandon a trade pact with the EU and instead seek closer economic ties with Russia has stirred deep passions in a country where many people yearn to join the European mainstream and escape Moscow’s orbit.
The resulting unrest has hammered Ukraine’s financial markets, underlining the fragile state of the economy. The central bank was forced to intervene to prop up the hryvnia and threatened more action, underlining Kiev’s vulnerability as it seeks more than $17bn (£10.3bn) next year to meet gas bills and debt repayments.
