Was there an 2014 coup in Ukraine which resulted in Kiev regime?

According to Russia there was an unconstitutional coup in Ukraine in 2014 which resulted in “Kiev regime”, or as Russia calls it sometimes — junta. Are these claims true? Short answer — no. There were two democratic elections between 2014 and 2022 with the big change in power in 2019. If you want to know more — read further.

First clarification — capital city of Ukraine is named Kyiv, not Kiev. Russian sources say “Kiev” (as in “Kiev regime”) — this is a Russian name for the same city. Please don’t be confused.

After Euromaidan — events in Kyiv in winter 2013–2014 — and just after signing an agreement with opposition, Yanukovich fled to Russia. Why did he do that, remains a mystery, but it is a fact — he did flee. Ukrainian constitution does not mention what to do if a president flees (many do?), so the parliament voted (with a constitutional majority) for having some interim government and called for new elections. Calling for elections is not something you would expect from “regime”. And as we will see, the “regime” candidates did not win.

Pretty soon there were presidential elections (2014), which were accepted as democratic by international observers. Poroshenko won with more than 50% of votes in first tour and got the first place in all of the Ukraine. Poroshenko was not one of the three so called leaders of Euromaidan (Yatsenyuk, Klitchko and Tyahnybok), even though he had some support from Yatsenyuk and Klitchko. Fun fact — Poroshenko was one of the “Partiya Regioniv” founders — political party strongly associated with Yanukovich (the president who just fled).

Results of the 2014 elections showed very little support for right-wing candidates. Yarosh — the leader of a Right Sector (right-wing organisation feared by Russia) together with Tyahnybok — leader of a right-wing Svoboda — got about 2% of votes together.

After 5 years passed the new presidential elections (2019) took place. This time Zelenskyy won with the majority of votes against Poroshenko (73% vs 25%) in a second tour. This was a fearsome battle. The candidates disliked each other quite a lot. There was a great tension in society. But when elections took place, there were no mass protests whatsoever. Everyone agreed that elections were democratic. Zelenskyy had more support in the East of Ukraine, which is usually associated with being pro-Russian.

So what do we see? After Yanukovich fled, there were two democratic elections. Both times the power shifted. Poroshenko was not one of the Euromaidan leaders, and he still won elections in 2014 winning in all Ukrainian regions. Zelenskyy was not even considered to be a candidate before 2019 but he still won, having more support in historically pro-Russians regions. Zelenskyy and Poroshenko were so different, that even if there was some “Kiev regime” installed in 2014, it would be removed in 2019 anyway. In both elections — 2014 and 2019 — right wing candidates had no chance and had very little support.

The whole idea of “Kiev regime” is flawed on so many levels. There was no coup, there were two democratic elections with international observers, and indeed if Poroshenko’s presidency was indeed a “regime”, he would most likely also win the 2019 elections.

Actually we know how “regimes” look like. Good examples are Belarus and Russia. Ukraine being the counter-example to that.