Netizen Maps Spreading Unrest After Protesters are Killed in Ukraine
On January 22, 2014, during a fourth consecutive day of violent clashes between Euromaidan protesters in Kyiv and police, two protesters were reported dead with the death toll rising to at least five in the past several days. After this news, mass anti-government protests erupted in several regions of Ukraine and began to spread quickly through the country.
The protesters demand the resignation of the local and national government and the President, sometimes also calling for a ban on the ruling Party of Regions and the Communist party, which has been supportive of President Yanukovych. The process has begun in Western Ukraine, where the protesters took over regional state administration buildings, in some cases forcing local governors to resign [uk] and announcing the creation of an alternative government.
The new governments have already been set up in Lviv, Ternopil and Volyn regions. In Rivne, the city policemen have resigned en masse [uk] thus refusing to take action against the protesters. From the Western regions the unrest quickly spread to Central and Southern Ukraine.
With many conflicting reports coming from the regions, a Kyiv-based journalist Sergii Gorbachov has begun creating maps that show the latest developments and publishing them on his Facebook page. He bases his conclusions on media reports as well as comments and updates from other social media users.
The maps demonstrate that in just four days, the protests have spread from five to twenty three regions [ru, uk, en], which undermines a popular misconception about the existence of “very strong” regional divide in Ukraine.
A map of political situation in Ukraine’s regions as of 3:50 pm, January 26, 2013. Created by Sergii Gorbachov
As of January 26, the maps also reflect in which regions local authorities have recognized alternative governments created by the protesters.
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