Today, the Parliament of Ukraine voted for the ouster of the President Viktor Yanukovych, and appointed new presidential elections on May 25. Yanukovych left Kyiv and protesters occupied his residence located nearby.

Here is a number of photos takes inside the residence abandoned in a hurry. Viktor Yanukovych loved living on a grand scale. For example, here is a nice looking 1 kilo gold medal with his portrait.

let’s take a walk

Tags: Kiev city

There are several common misconceptions about Maidan and the situation there.

The first one is that almost the entire Kyiv is literally destroyed. This is not true. All the pictures of confrontation that you can see were taken on one relatively small area near the entrance to the Dinamo Stadium, it is government quarter.

Photos are of course apocalyptic, but it is actually not that bad.

revolution in Ukraine

Tags: Kiev city

Euromaidan is a mass multi-day protest on Independence Square (Maidan Nezalezhnosty) and adjacent streets and squares in the center of Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities.

It began November 21, 2013 in response to the Ukrainian government suspension of preparatory process for the signing of an association agreement between Ukraine and the EU.

protesting in Ukraine

Tags: Kiev city

A lot of Ukrainians continue their protest on Independence Square in Kyiv demanding integration with the European Union. This very cool video was shot December 14.

Tags: Kiev city

December 1, in Kyiv, a demonstration of supporters of Ukraine’s signing of the Association Agreement with the European Union was held, which ultimately resulted in the largest in recent history anti-government and anti-presidential protest.

Several hundred thousand people of different ages, social status and political beliefs came to the central part of the Ukrainian capital.

the streets of protesting Kyiv

Tags: Kiev city

Interesting animation showing how the percentage of students studying in the Ukrainian language in Ukrainian schools was changing from 1991 to 2012.

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August 24, Ukrainians celebrated the 22nd anniversary of independence of Ukraine. The main celebrations were held in Kyiv.

On this day, many Ukrainians came on the central square of Kyiv, Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square) dressed in “vyshivanka” (traditional Ukrainian embroidered shirts). Let’s take a look at them. Photos by Karpov Igorok

more photos of Ukrainians

Tags: Kiev city

An interesting set of photographs taken in different regions of Ukraine in the mid-20th century.

more historical photos

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Even after many years the events of the Second World War are still interesting. Unlike earlier wars, this war left behind a huge amount of documentary photographs. Realistic color images that more accurately convey the atmosphere of this period are of particular interest.

Here is a series of photographs of Kharkiv occupied by German troops; most of the pictures were made in 1942. Some of the buildings in the photos are destroyed as a result of bombing and shelling. In 1943, a lot of the buildings will be destroyed, when the city once again will be the scene of fierce battles.

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Tags: Kharkov city

Every year (July 1-10) the area near the waterfall Shipot (Volovets district of Zakarpattia region) becomes the place of festival “Shipot”. All kinds of informal people are going to the festival: punks, hippies, rastaman, representatives of other subcultures and, of course, ordinary tourists.

The first festival was held in 1993. The motto of “Shipot” is “Love, Peace & Wine!” The main day of the festival is the day of Ivan Kupala – July 7. Photos by Oleg Grigoryev

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Tags: Zakarpattia oblast