On the anniversary of the climax of the events on the Maidan, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, announced the upcoming start of the construction of the Museum of the "Dignity Revolution" in Kiev.

“We have set ourselves the goal that this autumn the construction of the Museum of the Revolution of Dignity will begin.

Such terms were designated by the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky.

All processes have been accelerated, a tender has been held for the development of design and estimate documentation, ”Tymoshenko wrote on his Facebook page.

According to him, all work on the project should be completed by the end of 2023.

As previously reported by the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, a discussion was held under the leadership of Zelensky regarding the implementation of this project.

In particular, the press service of the Office of the Ukrainian leader informed that Zelensky had dwelled on the issue of building a museum of the “revolution of dignity” as part of the national memorial complex of the heroes of the “heavenly hundred”.

It is noted that the project provides for the construction of a museum building near the International Center for Culture and Arts of the Federation of Trade Unions of Ukraine (October Palace) in Kiev, "where the most tragic events took place in the winter of 2014."

“To date, the concept of the museum’s exposition has been developed, which will tell about the struggle of Ukrainians for freedom and dignity,” the message says.

Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine Oleksandr Tkachenko also took part in the discussion of the project, noting that the new building will become not only a museum space, but also a significant cultural and educational center, a place for discussions and “rethinking history”.

According to Tkachenko, this initiative is important not only for citizens of Ukraine, but also for foreign guests of the country, since the museum will supposedly be able to clearly demonstrate and tell “about the choice of the Ukrainian people in 2014.”

“This museum is a symbolic project.

He should remind us how the struggle for our freedom began,” Tkachenko said.

He also noted that the cost of building the museum could be about UAH 1 billion (more than 2.7 billion rubles).

Tkachenko added that the exact amount will be determined after the completion of the work.

The minister also drew attention to the fact that the construction of the museum was discussed on February 18, the day when the so-called “storming of the Maidan” began.

According to him, Ukrainians "paid a high price for the opportunity to call themselves free."

“The events of the Revolution of Dignity, which divided the life of Ukrainians into “before” and “after”, took place as if yesterday.

They are still fresh in the memory of each of us.

To perpetuate them, to honor the heroes who gave their lives for a free Ukraine is an important mission of the state,” he said.

Historical background

Remember, at the end of 2013 - beginning of 2014.

In Ukraine, protests took place, called "Euromaidan", which turned into riots and clashes with law enforcement officers.

Then the activists demanded the authorities to sign an association agreement with the European Union.

As a result, more than a hundred people became victims of unrest, actively fueled by the radicals.

At the same time, on February 18, 2014, mass executions of protesters on the Maidan began, and unknown snipers fired at people for three days.

The tragic events contributed to the growth of tension in Ukrainian society, which resulted in a violent seizure of power, which, in turn, provoked an armed conflict in eastern Ukraine.

  • "Euromaidan"

  • © AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky

According to the press service of Zelensky's office, on February 18 this year, the Ukrainian leader got acquainted with the reports on the investigation of crimes that were committed against Maidan activists.

At a meeting with Zelensky and other officials, Prosecutor General of Ukraine Irina Venediktova said that as of February 18, 2022, 518 people were under suspicion, 248 indictments were sent to court, 372 people were charged, and sentences were passed against 50 citizens.

At the same time, she acknowledged that lawsuits of this kind last for a long time - "more than four or five years, and in some cases more than seven years."

According to the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, a number of cases remain unsolved, in particular, the investigation into the murders of 13 law enforcement officers and the infliction of bodily injuries on almost 900 law enforcement officers continues.

"For PR"

According to sources interviewed by RT in the political circles of Ukraine and experts, promoting the idea of ​​\u200b\u200bcreating a museum of the "revolution of dignity", Zelensky is following the lead of the radical part of Ukrainian society.

“The museum acts in this case as an important ideological tool.

Tourists will be taken to it and told about the supposedly heroic deeds of Ukrainians.

Whether they were or not is irrelevant.

The main thing is to convince the local population and the whole world of this.

And, apparently, the price does not matter, given the planned costs, ”said a RT source in the Servant of the People party.

As Nikolai Mezhevich, chief researcher at the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences, noted in an interview with RT, Zelensky is implementing a project to create a “revolution of dignity” museum with budget money in order to raise his own rating among the radical electorate, concentrated mainly in the West of Ukraine.

“This is another tribute to the radicals.

In Western Ukraine, Zelensky's position is not strong enough.

He comes from the eastern part of the country.

But the elections and the election campaign are approaching.

And the president is thinking about how to win over the electorate in the West of the state to his side.

Zelensky continues his line of flirting with the radicals, and at the same time wants to master the budget through the construction of a museum, ”the expert argues.

Andrey Suzdaltsev, Deputy Dean of the Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs at the National Research University Higher School of Economics, also believes that Zelensky needs the museum to achieve his domestic political goals.

“Such an object should be in the nature of a propaganda center for the achievements of President Zelensky.

It will be created to, among other things, support the election campaign of the incumbent president.

All this is done for the sake of PR and receiving political dividends from the radicals, ”he said in a conversation with RT.

An RT source in the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine, for its part, said that due to the creation of the Museum of the “Revolution of Dignity”, the events of the “Euromaidan” “want to perpetuate and make historical”.

“It was a rampage of radicals, but Ukrainians need to be explained what the role of the Maidan is if it led to a drop in living standards, a war in the east of the country and many other unpleasant events.

Therefore, the president needs a museum to emphasize the importance of the events that took place on the Maidan,” he said.

An RT source in the Batkivshchyna party stated that in reality, the Maidan brought Ukraine only a lot of problems, and not the “freedom” that Ukrainian officials are now talking about.

“It was possible to wait for the elections and choose another president.

But what happened set off a network of tragic events.

Ukraine is on the brink of war, the standard of living of the population has fallen, and Europe is in no hurry to help.

It would be better if the money that is spent on a meaningless museum were spent on urgent needs, ”the deputy believes.

At the same time, Nikolai Mezhevich believes that there are many internal problems in Ukraine that the authorities want to mask by creating objects such as the Museum of the “Revolution of Dignity”.

“This is a “clinical case”: on the territory of Ukraine, each piece of land is controlled by a separate gang, the centralized government is very weak to manage them.

Under these conditions, all kinds of museums are a way to turn a blind eye to the problem.

But here it is important to have time to do all this.

It is not a fact that Zelensky will sit in his post until the creation of this museum, ”the expert says.

  • President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky

  • © www.president.gov.ua

Mezhevich also noted that instead of creating a museum of the “revolution of dignity”, the Kiev authorities should have made more efforts to investigate the executions on the “Maidan”.

“The testimonies of people representing the nationalist circles of Ukraine have been published in the public domain, who directly say that their task was to provoke a bloody conflict in order to stage a coup.

Kiev does not want to investigate all this, since it is unprofitable for it to stir up a radical segment of society.

Everyone knows everything, but no one will bear any responsibility, ”the analyst believes.

According to Suzdaltsev, now a “cult of the revolution of dignity” is being literally imposed on Ukraine, despite the fact that cases of executions on the “Euromaidan” are not being investigated to the proper extent.

“Many of the dead protesters, including the so-called “heavenly hundred”, are sacralized by Kiev and presented as fighters for the true sovereignty of Ukraine.

However, in reality, they were often radicals who wanted to stage a coup d'état at all costs, which ultimately led to all the extremely negative consequences that the country and its neighbors are now dealing with, ”concluded the expert.