Ukraine truce in tatters
Story highlights Moscow planned move against Ukraine before protests, Ukraine's President says German leader says implementing a ceasefire is not easy but is still the best chance for peace Continued violence mars a ceasefire deal intended to end the conflict
Some 49 people died and close to 100 more suffered gunshot wounds in what was the bloodiest day of violence in demonstrations against the country's then Russian-leaning leader.
Soon enough, however, President Viktor Yanukovych would flee the country, prompting Ukrainian activists to declare "victory in the Maidan" and promise a new day for a country long torn between its neighbors, Europe to the west and Russia to the east.
How things have changed. Today, the country is a powder keg driving spiraling tensions between the West and Moscow. A ceasefire between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists is in shambles. Debaltseve, a town at the heart of the battle, is devastated.
"Now, it is finally clear that we struggled on Maidan not against Yanukovych. He was just a cruel and obedient marionette," President Petro Poroshenko said Friday at a ceremony marking the one-year anniversary of the bloodshed.
"Moscow was preparing to the liquidation and tearing Ukraine apart long before the victory of Maidan. They were expecting the fall of Yanukovych and accelerated the course of events," Poroshenko said to the families of protesters who died a year ago.
Poroshenko's speech was just part of a day of commemorations at the Kiev square. The ceremony was to feature music, poetry, the lighting of candles and finally a concert Friday evening. The President was to present awards to the families of activists who died.
According to Ukrainian prosecutors, 77 people died during the 2014 protests, which were sparked by Yanukovych's decision to scrap a trade deal with the European Union and instead turn toward Russia.
Forty-nine of those deaths came on February 20, 2014, when, according to protesters, government snipers opened fire on them.
The street protests, which led to the ouster of pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych, triggered a chain of events that never could have been predicted.
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Ukraine truce in tatters