There’s an endless list of went wrong after 2004, when the nation’s leadership won the support of hundreds of thousands of people who stood up against an authoritarian government that – with brazen impunity that still permeates official Kyiv – tampered with the presidential vote that year.
It’s enough to say that Yulia Tymoshenko and Yuriy Lutsenko, among the revolution’s key leaders who motivated the crowds then, are now in prison on charges the world considers to be politically motivated. Such a pathetic ending came after their dismal performance in power, Tymoshenko as prime minister and Lutsenko as interior minister, when the Orange government failed to change the way that the nation is governed, and instead shamelessly clashed with each other publicly.
Ex-President Viktor Yushchenko went from being a hero to arguably the most despicable of the Orange leaders. Fittingly, the Orange era came to an end in 2010 when Viktor Yanukovych, the biggest villain of the momentous event — who advocated using force against the peaceful protesters and who to this day denies that election fraud took place – was elected as president. The clearest conclusion would be to proclaim that the denouement included lost opportunities — economic, political and social.
When the revolution broke out even the most cynical commentators, who claimed the uprising was nothing more than new crooks overthrowing the old ones, couldn’t help but see the beauty and sincerity of the people who came out on the street to safeguard their political choice. The Ukrainian people managed to avoid violence when supporters from opposing political camps faced each other. It was also a rare moment when being Ukrainian seemed to be the coolest thing in the world, as people in the far corners of the world sat glued to their TVs, watching images from Kyiv’s Independence Square in awe.
It might be too optimistic to say that Ukrainians have proven that once their limit of patience is reached, they can miraculously unite and defend themselves against corrupt and debased scoundrels who have ruled this country for too much of its history. Or maybe not.
