Day of Dignity and Freedom in Ukraine

The celebration of the Day of Dignity and Freedom in Ukraine takes place on November 21 This date is associated with two revolutions, which took place in 2004 and 2013 In 2004, popular uprisings began on November 22, 2004 to protest the rigging of the presidential election results Then the victory was given to Yanukovych, not Yushchenko The opposition saw obvious fraud in the voting results, which were made public to the general public This sparked protests across the country, and a tent city was set up on Independence Square in Kyiv In 2013, on November 21, the Cabinet of Ministers, headed by Azarov, stated that it did not want to develop the vector of European integration of Ukraine This led to peaceful protests, with groups of young people taking to the streets with flags and posters One of these protests in Kyiv was brutally dispersed by security forces The students suffered minor injuries, which led to outrage among Kiev residents Residents of the city considered the incident a personal insult, so they decided to demand comments from the authorities regarding what happened Therefore, already on the next day off, Kyiv residents decided to come out en masse to the main square of the city to declare their dissatisfaction with the policies of the president and the government Calls to take to the streets were spread on social networks, by word of mouth, and through leaflets Thousands of people came to the main square, some of them were armed with iron chains and took cobblestones and paving slabs in their hands This entire arsenal was intended for the security forces who offended peacefully protesting students People demanded that the president deal with the situation of the dispersal of the peaceful protest of students and the resignation of the chief of the Kyiv police But the government and the president did not pay enough attention to the situation; instead, they brought out the Berkut security unit to guard government buildings The situation was heating up, and already in February there was a coup d’état and a change of power in the country Hundreds of people were killed, and security forces also suffered losses The holiday of November 21 was introduced by Petro Poroshenko by decree; this day became a day of remembrance of the events of two democratic revolutions The holiday immortalized the patriotism and courage of those citizens who could not remain indifferent when a gross violation of rights and freedoms occurred in the country People came to Independence Square to defend the European choice of the people of Ukraine, as well as the national interests of the state