More analysis, looks solid to me. De facto partition could be an end state that would not represent full out civil war, despite the ups and downs of the past two days.

http://www.the-american-interest.com/wrm/2014/02/22/springtime-in-kiev-or-just-another-winter-storm/

The east west split is obvious, but the hotspots in such scenario would be the SW on the west side of the Dniepr, and the NE on the East side of the Dniepr. The river is the obvious geographical frontier, but the ideological division does not follow its margins.

Edit: Unfortunately just read (not confirmed source) that Yanukovich flew to Kharkov, his car was being shot at on way to airport, PL and FR and DE representatves agree the opposition side broke the agreements, and Putin rejected Yanukovich proposal to declare SE Ukraine separate from NW.

If this is true the other end state seems more plausible - a form or military repression, possibly with Russian aid. You might call this civil war, but honestly, given the forces involved I would expect that like Georgia it would rather be a quick and bloody repression.

It all depends if any military units choose side with the opposition. EU, US including bordering countries (other than Russia) I highly doubt will intervene officially if it gets to such point.

I don't believe Putin would dare such an approach. Too close to NATO member states who could "feel threatened" by a direct Russian incursion in Ukraine.

Hopefully the whole thing will be left to the actual people of Ukraine to deal with themselves. The fact that the former president was not caught might become a problem though :/

The Chapter Master is too preoccupied with Olympics to actively intervene. If the whole affair happened after it was over, who knows how things would've played out, but right now Russian involvement (other than stopping the financial aid to the Ukraine till the matter is sorted out) is likely to be very limited.
I would not call the situation a civil war (at least yet), it's more of a coup. A shame blood had to be shed, but if this was a civil war, there'd be much more of it.

The sad part is that they have ousted a person that was placing Ukraine under russian control/influence only to elect someone that will hand control over to the US and the EU. Either way, it's going to be bad for them. Economic pressure from both sides will guarantee that they won't be in a position to be independent either .

for those who are interested, the wiki link to Svoboda. Amongst others John McCain could have benefitted from reading that prior to his visit.

Categorising the demonstrations as wholly or even majority far right is incorrect, of course, but characterising them as being free of them is equally incorrect. They're an integral part of the opposition, and their policies form the basis for the concerns the east and south have about their democratically elected president being set aside by western ukrainians.

Yep Yanukovich wasn't a dick and haven't steal a lot of money...

Yanukovich's Home

After watching the pictures I was like: Uh is this in Ukraine or in Dubai/Saudi Arabia/Bahrein...

Can someone translate? Somehow google gave up on it (tried several times).

They mainly show photos on how the "rioters" went into his humble home to look around :)

I gathered that from the pictures. Poor animals - they sure don't look very happy.

What I wanted to know what was written in the image captions. Have a take on the "tone" (Neutral, spiteful etc.)

If we don't $uck everything up again, it'll be at least a bit better. But last days' events were really messed up. It's like watching the news about civil protests in Livia and suddenly realizing that it is actually happening right here.

That was quick turnaround in the conflict. Fortunately Yanukovich were not so fanatical after all or it might've turned quite terrible for the opposition. It still can if he has enough support and he still tries to fight back and call it coup. Just hope Russia stays out of it outside of calling the opposition "mass murderers" and "terrorists" (That has become name for anyone who opposes goverment over past decate or so hasn't it?). From russian goverment point of view Yanukovich, who essentially ordered murder of over hundred fellow country men, must be a partriot.

I can't image what it must be like. I was there when the east german, "The Peaceful Revolution", as they call it, took place. I think we were very lucky.

From how you post I infer you are not in the thick of the events. But di you have friends, relatives in Kiev?
Stay strong.

You have no idea what are you writing about.

Actually I live in Kiev. Though I was not in the thick of it. Maybe if it was turning this radical from the beginning I'd go there myself, but I was shocked at how quickly things got out of hand. People died. People who didn't have to die. Now we need to never forget this lesson.

Most of the people of this country, be it western or eastern part, just want to live and work. I doubt there'll be any serious unrest in the east. They all know who betrayed them in the end. Who built themselves palaces, while others were looking for a decent job or working just to make ends meet.