SUMMARY
Maidan started out as a (mostly) peaceful protest movement against Ukraine's sudden abandonment of an association agreement with the European Union, just five days before it was due to be signed, on 21 November 2013. Mostly taking place in Kiev/Kyiv and other major cities, especially in the pro-West Central and Western Ukraine, protesters initially demanded EU integration and structural reforms in order to reduce corruption and increase living standards.
These protests quickly became widespread (with over half a million participants in Kiev/Kyiv). Further, they became permanent, with protesters organising themselves in order to be able to manifest around-the-clock. The largest protest was a sit-in occupation of Maidan Nezalezhnosti (independence square) in Central Kiev/Kyiv, and was known as Euro-Maidan. Other movements occurred in the mainly pro-European West, in cities such as Lviv and Ternopil, with other protest activities taking place throughout the country and in other forms (such as Automaidan, protesting by using private cars to slow official traffic; Cybermaidan, protesting over the internet and social media etc.).
Coordination was done by various leaders of the opposition, containing a wide spectrum of political views, parties and persons, from liberals (Klitschko and Timoshenko) to socialists (Lutsenko) to right-wing extremists (Right Sector). Initially, demands were the continuation of EU integration and the release of popular opposition leader and former PM Yulia Timoshenko from prison. By late November 2013, a loose organization was established, the Maidan People's Council, while demands shifted to the resignation of the pro-Russian, anti-EU Presidency and Prime Minister, and their replacement with opposition (Maidan) figures.
As the protesters put significant pressure on the government, authorities began to institute measures to break the protests and clear Maidan. On the night of 30 November 2013, the government began a crackdown, violently evicting parts of Maidan. While no deaths occurred, this triggered the organization of Maidan's self-declared military, the "self-defense force" under the command of Andrei Parubiy. This self-defense force together with other supporters of pro-European integration were the main protagonists in the fighting in February 2014 as described in the Ukraine: Government conflict.
