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"I wanted him to feel who we are,” Yakimchuk told the Kyiv Independent. “Later, he proudly took a small Ukrainian flag we had back at home, placed it on top of his toy ladder, and told me: ‘Glory to Ukraine!’ internalizing this new experience through play.
”In the early morning hours of Nov. 30, Berkut riot police armed with batons, stun grenades, and tear gas attacked peaceful demonstrators on Independence Square as well as nearby civilians. Most of them were students.
Ukrainians had gathered at Independence Square, or Maidan Nezalezhnosti, to protest then President Viktor Yanukovych’s refusal to sign an association agreement with the European Union in November 2013 in favor of strengthening economic ties with Russia. They endured months of brutally cold weather and police brutality, the latter of which claimed the lives of about 100 people, known today as the Heavenly Hundred.
Yanukovych fled to Russia in February 2014. Shortly thereafter, Russia unlawfully annexed the Crimean Peninsula and invaded Ukraine's Donbas region. The culmination of Russian aggression against Ukraine occurred in February 2022 with a full-scale invasion against the country.
Despite the challenges faced in the decade following the Revolution of Dignity, also known as the EuroMaidan Revolution, Ukrainian identity has coalesced around a robust civic society and a cultural renaissance that has provided strength and resilience in the face of ongoing Russian aggression.
Not only has Ukrainian identity embarked on a transformative journey since then, but so has European identity itself. UPD UPD
