Protesters call for nationwide strike in Ukraine

 

Nine years ago, a massive populist movement in Ukraine booted then-Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich from office.

Today, the eastern European country is in the midst of a new wave of anti-government protests, the likes of which it hasn’t seen since those turbulent days in 2004.

And this time, say protesters, they want to see Yanukovich — now Ukraine’s president — gone for good.

The protesters have called for a nationwide strike, beginning Monday.

They want to close streets and surround government buildings. On Facebook, they posted a map suggesting places where demonstrators can park their cars to block traffic.

“It is not about the European Union or the customs agreement with Russia anymore,” said protester Irina Zaloga. “It is about Ukraine fighting against the criminal authorities.”

What started out late last month as demonstrations against Yanukovich’s decision not to sign a landmark trade deal with the European Union has ballooned into something much larger. Demonstrators say they will stop at nothing short of new parliamentary and presidential elections.

“This is not a protest. This is a revolution,” protest leader, Yuri Lutsenko, told a crowd of thousands who packed Independence Square in the capital Kiev on Sunday.