Protesters in large cities in Ukraine have been calling for their president, Viktor Yanukovych, to resign peacefully since late November. The protests were spurred after President Yanukovych refused to sign a treaty that would integrate Ukraine more into the EU 28-nation bloc in favor of maintaining stronger ties with Russia. Ukraine is one of Europe's largest nations with a population of 45 million people. Because it's so large, the eastern and the western parts of the country rarely agree. Case in point: this protest, the first wide-spread anti-government incident in an unstable country since the Orange Revolution in 2004. The anti-government sentiments stem from the youth in large cities' desire for a stronger relationship with Western Europe; on the eastern side of the country most people speak Russian and desire a stronger relationship with Russia.
So why do these protests matter?
I haven't found anything on deaths as a result of the protests so far; however, it looks like these protests will continue until Yanukovych either rescinds his decision to ignore the EU or renounces his presidency so elections can take place for a new government.
Ukraine has been termed "the breadbasket of Europe" because of its advances in agribusiness over recent years. Although Ukraine, like most former Soviet states, has a weak economy, it has the potential to be a major asset to whichever bloc it joins.
These protests represent, yet again, that the world is changing and that it is primarily the youth that want change. We saw this with the Arab Spring a couple of years ago, and the Southeast Asian and African independence movements leading all the way back to the post WWII years. People want control of their countries. But, as is often the case, people in the same nation might not always agree as to what the best future course may be.
