The monument to the legendary founders of Kyiv, the three brothers Kyi, Shchek, and Khoriv, and their sister Lybid, reclaimed by the pro-European protesters on EuroMaidan as a symbol of their struggle. Photo by Serhy Yekelchyk
Barricades on Kyiv's Independence Square during EuroMaidan with the Independence Monument and Ukraina Hotel in the background. Photo by Serhy Yekelchyk
A barricade of old tires prepared for burning on Kyiv's main avenue, Khreshchatyk Boulevard. Photo by Serhy Yekelchyk
The traditional Maidan New Year's Tree, pictured above, was taken over and "redecorated" with nationalistic symbols and political statements. Photo by Rudy Hightower, December 2013
Independence Square received most of the initial media attention. But protesters also took over Kyiv City Hall. They continued to peacefully allow people to enter and exit the building. Photo by Rudy Hightower, December 2013
One of the best selfies the Origins staff has seen, Rudy Hightower posed here in front of the barricades on Khreshchatyk Boulevard. Barricades were built of tires, doors, pallets, ice and snow, among other things. The barricades were manned 24/7. Photo by Rudy Hightower, December 2013
Barricades were erected in both directions of Khreshchatyk Boulevard and on its feeder streets. This photo gives a good impression of the scope of the structures. Photo by Rudy Hightower, December 2013
Ukrainian men and women wore hardhats and facemasks to protect from government forces and from the weather. Photo by Rudy Hightower, December 2013
Tent cities representing all areas of Ukraine endured the cold to stay at EuroMaidan for weeks. Medical services remained available from volunteers inside the barricade and city ambulance services located outside the barricades. Photo by Rudy Hightower, December 2013
When Rudy Hightower, of OSU's Glenn School of Public Affairs, visited Ukraine in December of 2013, Ukranians had already erected tent cities. Showing their dedication, protestors had been living in tents and on the street then for two months. Keeping warm was accomplished in any way possible. Photo by Rudy Hightower, December 2013
The Rally in Independence Square on 22 December 2013 had an estimated 100,000 people. The rallies the previous two weekends had 200,000 and 300,000 supporters, respectively. Photo by Rudy Hightower, December 2013
Political statements and posters were posted for the public all over EuroMaidan, including on tents and billboards. Photo by Rudy Hightower, December 2013
Though in much smaller numbers than in Kyiv, protesters filled the main walking street in the Black Sea port city of Odessa. Photo by Rudy Hightower, December 2013
Protesters filled the main walking street in the Black Sea port city of Odessa, although they were smaller in number than in Kyiv. Photo by Rudy Hightower, December 2013
Protestors clashed with security forces in Kyiv, often coming to resemble a war zone more than mere protests. Photo by Аимаина хикари
Demonstrations began, in part, as a pro-EU effort, pictured above by Yuriy V Dzyadyk, December 2013.
Monument and reactor number 4 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine. Photo by Tiia Monto
Soviet poster marking the 300-year anniversary of the Treaty of Pereyaslav. The text on the poster reads "Eternally tying its fate with the brotherly Russian people, the Ukrainian people saved themselves from foreign enslavement, allowing the possibility of their national development."
1934 photo of the DnieproGES hydropower plant, part of the Soviet industrialization in Ukraine
This photo from 1933 shows the corpses of starved peasants in Ukraine. They were victims of the the Holodomor, the horrifying Ukrainian Famine of 1932–33, created by the policies of Joseph Stalin.
Photo showing burned and destroyed buildings of Kyiv after bombings from WWII
The original German inscription on the back of the photograph reads: "Ukraine 1942, Jewish Action [operation], Ivangorod."
President Putin visiting with then Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych (and later President) in this photo from December 2006
The baptism of the Grand Prince Vladimir led to the adoption of Christianity in Kyivan Rus' (present-day Ukraine). Muscovite tsars traced their lineage and the origins of their power back to Kyivan Rus', a mighty medieval empire.
Vladimir Zhirinovsky, an ultranationalist Russian politician who is known for his provocative declarations, shocked the Polish foreign ministry with an offer to divide Ukraine. Photo by A. Sdobnikov in 1999
In 1654, the Ukrainian Zaporozhian Cossacks, located in the eastern part of what is today Ukraine, were accepted under the protection of the Orthodox Russian tsar after an exhaustive war against the Polish state. In this painting above, by Jozef Brandt ca. 1890, Cossacks battle with Tatars.
This Russian Decree of 1863 banned the publication of religious and educational works in the Ukrainian language. Then in 1876, Tsar Alexander II prohibited the publication of any Ukrainian books, now including literature, as well as the use of Ukrainian on stage.
As part of many abrupt changes in policy during Joseph Stalin's time, he instituted an end to the indigenization policies and unleased the Holodomor, the horrifying Ukrainian Famine of 1932–33, pictured above.
This propaganda poster was addressed to the Western Ukrainian population. The Ukrainian text reads: "Electors of the working people! Vote for the joining of Western Ukraine with Soviet Ukraine, for a united, free and thriving Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. Let's forever eliminate the border between Western and Soviet Ukraine. Long Live the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic!" Joseph Stalin seized the opportunity to annex ethnically Ukrainian lands from Poland, Romania, and Czechoslovakia during WWII. Soviet expansionist policies thus helped bring together most Ukrainians into the same state.
A group of armed workers posing for the camera here in 1918. They were participants of the January Uprising for Independence, 1917-1921.
Orange Revolution activists in Kyiv, on first day in November 2004
Russian President Vladimir Putin and President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych signed a joint bilateral program of celebrations for the 200th anniversary of the birth of Taras Shevchenko in 2014.
Opposition leaders Vitali Klitschko, Arseniy Yatsenyuk and Oleh Tyahnybok, addressing demonstrators, 27 November 2013
