Ukraine without Kuchma

Ukraine without Kuchma
Ukraine without Kuchma
	Mass protest in Khreschatyk, 6 February 2001
Date	15 December 2000 – 9 March 2001
Location	City of Kyiv; Shevchenko Memorial Park
Caused by	Cassette Scandal Investigation of Georgiy Gongadze disappearance; Investigation of Viacheslav Chornovil death;
Goals	Investigation of Georgiy Gongadze disappearance Dismissal of law enforcement officials; Dismissal of the General Prosecutor of Ukraine Mykhailo Potebenko; Resignation of President Leonid Kuchma;
Result	Unrest extinguished Numerous arrests; Case of the March 9; 2002 Myroslava Gongadze v. Ukraine;
Parties
Government of Ukraine Ministry of Internal Affairs Berkut; Militsiya; Internal Troops; ; Security Service; SDPU(o); ;	Ukrainian opposition National Salvation Committee; People's Movement of Ukraine; Socialist Party; UNA-UNSO; PRP; For the Truth!; Sobor; URP; SDPU; ;
	Supported by:; USA; EU
Lead figures
	Leonid Kuchma; Yuriy Kravchenko Taras Chornovil; Andriy Shkil; Volodymyr Chemerys; Yuriy Lutsenko; Yulia Tymoshenko; Ihor Mazur; Mykola Lyakhovych
Number
2,000–4,000	кп to 7,000
Casualties and losses
12 Policemen (WIA)	Activists arrested: 203
Casualties
Charged	19

"Ukraine without Kuchma" (Ukrainian: Україна без Кучми, УБК, romanized: Ukraina bez Kuchmy, UBK) was a mass protest campaign that took place in Ukraine in 2000–2001, demanding the resignation of President Leonid Kuchma. Unlike the subsequent Orange Revolution, "Ukraine without Kuchma" was effectively extinguished by the government enforcement units, and followed by numerous arrests of the opposition and the Ukrainian-speaking participants. The pursuit of criminal charges for those involved was renewed with the election of Viktor Yanukovych as the President of Ukraine.

"Ukraine without Kuchma" was organized by the political opposition, influenced by the infamous Cassette Scandal, and aimed mainly to demand the resignation of the recently re-elected President Kuchma. The protests did not disappear untraced and resulted in consolidation of the democratic opposition which led to the Orange Revolution.