One summer day in Kiev, I sat in Stalin’s private cinema. It was during a tour of the grandiose Neoclassical parliament building, the Verkhovna Rada, opened as a fig-leaf national assembly in 1939 at the height of Soviet state terror. In a basement room, the dictator, who dropped in fairly often, used to sit and watch films. Our party chuckled over this weird anecdote from the barbaric past.

How long ago those dark days felt, back then – in the middle of the last decade. Kids in orange T-shirts strolled through peaceful streets. Green parks spilled down to the broad river Dnieper in a sun-dappled city that local writer Mikhail Bulgakov called “a pearl in turquoise”. At a conference in the parliament, writers and academics mocked the EU for embracing their Polish cousins while, absurdly, consigning them to the savage East. Yet they believed that this gross error would be put right. And Ukraine’s recent revolution seemed unassailable.

This week, down the road on the Maidan and around Khreshchatyk Street, scores of sniper‑targeted protesters – about 100 dead – fell amid the flames and barricades of a virtual civil war. Battles raged outside the parliament. Yesterday, riot police briefly infiltrated the building itself as deputies debated President Yanukovych’s offer of early elections, a unity government and a return to the more balanced constitution of those optimistic days after 2004.

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The Slavic goddess Berehynia, on top of the kitsch gilded column where I once met the droll and brave novelist Andrey Kurkov before we sloped off to a merry diplomatic party, now overlooks a killing field.

From Moscow, Putin cracks the whip and loads the guns of his tottering henchman. The European Union belatedly wakes up. Fragmented opposition forces lose touch with the surging anger of the “Euromaidan” rebels. In the pithy words of Ukraine specialist Andrew Wilson, the EU at first “took a baguette to a knife fight”. The foreign ministers’ troika from Poland, France and Germany has at last begun to put some beef into the European sandwich. But how did it ever come to this?

Shape Created with Sketch. In pictures: Ukraine uprising Show all 100 left Created with Sketch. right Created with Sketch. Shape Created with Sketch. In pictures: Ukraine uprising 1/100 Ukraine People light candles during a religious service at a church in Kiev 2/100 Ukraine A child lights a candle on a makeshift memorial to anti-government protesters killed in the past weeks' clashes with riot police on Kiev's Independence Square 3/100 Ukraine Newly freed Ukrainian opposition icon Yulia Tymoshenko speaks at Independence Square moments after parliament voted to hold early presidential elections in May. Tymoshenko received a rapturous welcome on Independence Square. 'You are heroes, you are the best of Ukraine' she told the 50,000-strong crowd before breaking down in tears 4/100 Ukraine People visit the Independence square in Kiev 5/100 Ukraine People walk by barrycades and makeshift memorials to the victims of the riots in central Kiev 6/100 Ukraine People lay flowers on the Independence Square in Kiev 7/100 Ukraine Maidan self-defence activists stand on an armored vehicle in central Kiev 8/100 Ukraine People gather for prayers and to listen to speakers in Independence Square 9/100 Ukraine A woman with a Ukrainian flag wrapped around her sholders looks on as she lights a candle at a makeshift memorial to anti-government protesters killed in the past weeks' clashes with riot police 10/100 Ukraine The body of Ustim Holodnyuk (19) who was killed in fighting between anti-government protesters and police, is carried from Independence Square in Kiev 11/100 Ukraine An anti-government protester injured during clashes with riot police receives medical care at a makeshift hospital in Kiev 12/100 Ukraine Protestors build a barricade at the Independent square in Kiev 13/100 Ukraine Anti-government protesters shout 'Glory to the Ukraine' as they man a barricade at Independence Square in Kiev 14/100 Ukraine An anti-government demonstrator holds a burning tire as he build a barricade at the Independent square in Kiev 15/100 Ukraine An anti-government demonstrator builds a barricade with burning tires at the Independent square in Kiev 16/100 Ukraine An anti-government demonstrator throws a burning tire as he build a barricade at the Independent square in Kiev 17/100 Ukraine Anti-government protesters carry an injured man on a stretcher after clashes with riot police in the Independence Square in Kiev 18/100 Ukraine Protesters cheer while they managed to break police blockade in Kiev 19/100 Ukraine Anti-government protesters take cover while under fire from police snipers during clashes with riot police in central Kiev 20/100 Ukraine Protesters hold petrol bombs during clashes with police in Kiev 21/100 Ukraine Anti-government protesters carry an injured man on a stretcher after clashes with riot police in the Independence Square in Kiev 22/100 Ukraine Protesters walk on a puddle of blood left by a wounded demonstrator during clashes with the police in the center of Kiev 23/100 Ukraine An anti-government protester holds a firearm as he mans a barricade on the outskirts of Independence Square in Kiev 24/100 Ukraine An Otrthodox priest gestures after clashes between anti-government protesters and riot police in the Independence Square in Kiev 25/100 Ukraine An elderly protester smokes during a break in clashes with police in central Kiev 26/100 Ukraine A protestor carries food for demonstrators on the barricades during the face off against heavily-armed police in Kiev 27/100 Ukraine An anti-government protester reacts following clashes with riot police in Independence Square in Kiev 28/100 Ukraine Two anti-government protesters use a large drum after violence erupted in the Independence Square in Kiev 29/100 Ukraine A man plays the trumpet as anti-government protesters continue to clash with police in Independence square in Kiev 30/100 Ukraine Riot police fire at anti government demonstrators on the Independence square in Kiev 31/100 Ukraine Anti government demonstrators carry a wounded comrade during clashes with riot police on the Independence square in Kiev 32/100 Ukraine A protester shouts slogans as he stands behind barricades during clashes with police in Kiev 33/100 Ukraine A protester throws a petrol bomb as he stands behind barricades during clashes with police in Kiev 34/100 Ukraine Ukraine's embattled leader announced a 'truce' with the opposition as he prepared to get grilled by visiting EU diplomats over clashes that killed 26 and left the government facing diplomatic isolation 35/100 Ukraine Protesters burn as they stand behind burning barricades during clashes with police in Kiev 36/100 Ukraine Anti-government protesters continue to clash with police in Independence square, despite a truce agreed between the Ukrainian president and opposition leaders in Kiev 37/100 Ukraine A protester sits on a statue while others stand on a barricade during clashes with police in Kiev 38/100 Ukraine Protesters carry a wounded protester during clashes with police, after gaining new positions near the Independence square in Kiev 39/100 Ukraine Protester carries bottles during the clashes with police in Independence square in Kiev 40/100 Ukraine Protesters walk and stand near a burning bus at the Institutskaya Street close to the central Independence Square in Kiev 41/100 Ukraine Protesters stand behind burning barricades during a face-off against police in Kiev 42/100 Ukraine Protesters escort a 'captured' policeman near Independence square in Kiev 43/100 Ukraine Violent clashes erupted in Kiev following renewed anti-government protests, with the death toll rising to 25 44/100 Ukraine An anti-government protesters prays in Independence Square in Kiev 45/100 Ukraine Anti-government protester throws Molotov cocktail at the police in Independence Square in Kiev 46/100 Ukraine Injured anti-government protester at the Independence Square in Kiev 47/100 Ukraine Anti-government protesters in Independence Square in Kiev 48/100 Ukraine Anti-government protesters carry a roundwood as they gather in Independence Square in central Kiev 49/100 Ukraine An anti-government protester looks on as smoke from a fire rises above Independence Square in central Kiev 50/100 Ukraine Protesters at the Independence Square in Kiev 51/100 Ukraine Ukrainian protesters poured on to a central Kiev square to confront police anew after the bloodiest day since the former Soviet republic, caught in a geopolitical struggle between Russia and the West, won its independence 52/100 Ukraine Interior Ministry officers walk in formation as smoke rises above Independence Square where anti-government protesters are holding a rally in central Kiev 53/100 Ukraine Smoke rises above Independence Square as clashes between anti-government protesters with Interior Ministry members and riot police continue in central Kiev 54/100 Ukraine A trade union building is seen on fire in Independence Square in central Kiev 55/100 Ukraine Interior Ministry members and riot police block a street as anti-government protesters gather in front of them amidst heavy smoke during clashes in Kiev 56/100 Ukraine Ukrainian riot police take cover behind their shields during clashes with anti-government protesters near Independence Square in Kiev 57/100 Ukraine Ukrainian riot police stand in front of the fire ring around of the Independence Square during the continuing protest in downtown Kiev EPA 58/100 Ukraine Flames engulfed the main anti-government protest camp on Independence Square as riot police 59/100 Ukraine Anti-government protesters clash with the police during their storming of Independence Square in Kiev Sergei Supinsky/AFP/Getty Images 60/100 Ukraine Anti-government protesters clash with the police during their storming of Independence Square in Kiev. Flames engulfed the main anti-government protest camp on Kiev's Independence Square on Tuesday as riot police tried to force demonstrators out following the bloodiest clashes in three months of protests Genya Savilov/AFP/Getty Images 61/100 Ukraine Monuments to Kiev's founders burn as anti-government protesters clash with riot police in Kiev's Independence Square Efrem Lukatsky/AP 62/100 Ukraine Riot police storm Kiev's Independence Square Efrem Lukatsky/AP 63/100 Ukraine Riot police storm Kiev's Independence Square, the epicenter of the country's current unrest Efrem Lukatsky/AP 64/100 Ukraine Anti-government protesters clash with riot police in Kiev's Independence Square Efrem Lukatsky/AP 65/100 Ukraine An anti-government protester runs during clashes with riot police in Kiev's Independence Square Efrem Lukatsky/AP 66/100 Ukraine Anti-government protesters clash with riot police in Kiev's Independence Square, the epicenter of the country's current unrest Efrem Lukatsky/AP 67/100 Ukraine Ukrainians gather on the Independence Square during continuing protest in Kiev; smoke is visible in the sky, above the city Igor Kovalenko/EPA 68/100 Ukraine Smoke from exploding fireworks and fires billows into the night sky as Ukrainians gather on the Independence Square during continuing protest in Kiev Igor Kovalenko/EPA 69/100 Ukraine Police clash with anti-government protesters in Kiev. Police on Tuesday began an assault on the main anti-government protest camp in Kiev after a day of bloody clashes, AFP journalists at the scene said Anatolii Boiko/AFP/Getty Images 70/100 Ukraine Anti-government demonstrators stand on barricades during clashes with riot police in Kiev 71/100 Ukraine An opposition demonstrator holds a Molotov cocktail during clashes with police in Kiev 72/100 Ukraine Injured anti-government protesters look on a policeman during clashes with riot police outside Ukraine's parliament in Kiev 73/100 Ukraine Wounded people walk after clashes with riot police in central Kiev 74/100 Ukraine Anti-government female protesters help an injured comrade during clashes with riot police outside Ukraine's parliament in Kiev 75/100 Ukraine Injured anti-government protesters during clashes with riot police outside Ukraine's parliament in Kiev 76/100 Ukraine Anti-government protesters carry a wounded man during clashes with riot police in Kiev 77/100 Ukraine Opposition demonstrators evacuate a wounded protester during clashes with police in Kiev 78/100 Ukraine Red Cross workers give first aid to policemen wounded during clashes with anti-government protester in Kiev 79/100 Ukraine An injured anti-government protester lies on the ground during clashes with riot police outside Ukraine's parliament in Kiev 80/100 Ukraine Interior ministry members take cover behind shields during clashes with anti-government protesters in Kiev 81/100 Ukraine Opposition demonstrators stand in front of burning barricades during clashes with police in Kiev 82/100 Ukraine Anti-government protesters clash with police in front of the Ukrainian Parliment in Kiev 83/100 Ukraine A protester holds a makeshft shield in front of a burning car during clashes with police in Kiev 84/100 Ukraine Anti-government protesters shield themselves during clashes with riot police in central Kiev 85/100 Ukraine Interior Ministry members are on fire, caused by molotov cocktails hurled by anti-government protesters, as they stand guard during clashes in Kiev 86/100 Ukraine Protesters clash with riot police as a rainbow appears during continuing protests in downtown Kiev 87/100 Ukraine Anti-government protesters clashed violently with police in central Kiev, a day after Moscow moved to cement its influence over Ukraine with $2 billion in cash to shore up the former Soviet state's heavily indebted economy 88/100 Ukraine People speak near a barricade on fire during clashes between anti-government protesters and Interior Ministry members in Kiev 89/100 Ukraine Two wounded policemen are guided to the ambulance cars during an anti-government protest in downtown Kiev 90/100 Ukraine Protesters take over the main office of the ruling Ukrainian 'Party of Regions' political party in downtown Kiev 91/100 Ukraine Anti-government protesters attempt to break a door inside an office of the pro-presidential Party of the Regions in Kiev 92/100 Ukraine A protester inside the main office of the ruling Ukrainian Party of Regions political party in downtown Kiev 93/100 Ukraine An anti-government protester dressed in Ukrainian national dress throws a stone during clashes with riot police outside Ukraine's parliament in Kiev 94/100 Ukraine Anti-government protesters gather by the entrance as they attack an office of the pro-presidential Party of the Regions in Kiev 95/100 Ukraine A young anti-government protester looks on during clashes with police in front of the Ukrainian Parliment in Kiev 96/100 Ukraine An anti-government protester wears a gas mask during clashes with Interior Ministry members in Kiev. Several thousand anti-government protesters clashed with police near Ukraine's parliament torching vehicles and hurling stones in the worst violence to rock the capital Kiev in more than three weeks 97/100 Ukraine Thousands of angry anti-government protesters clashed with police in a new eruption of violence following new maneuvering by Russia and the European Union to gain influence over this former Soviet republic 98/100 Ukraine An anti-government protester threatens riot police outside Ukraine's parliament in Kiev 99/100 Ukraine Protesters marched toward the parliament to demand constitutional reforms that would curb the powers of President Viktor Yanukovych. Ukraine has been mired in political crisis since November 2013 after the government backed away from a trade agreement with the European Union and signed a 15-billion-dollar loan deal with Russia instead 100/100 Ukraine At least five anti-government protesters were killed and some 150 others injured in fresh clashes between police and demonstrators protesting near Ukraine's parliament building in Kiev 1/100 Ukraine People light candles during a religious service at a church in Kiev 2/100 Ukraine A child lights a candle on a makeshift memorial to anti-government protesters killed in the past weeks' clashes with riot police on Kiev's Independence Square 3/100 Ukraine Newly freed Ukrainian opposition icon Yulia Tymoshenko speaks at Independence Square moments after parliament voted to hold early presidential elections in May. Tymoshenko received a rapturous welcome on Independence Square. 'You are heroes, you are the best of Ukraine' she told the 50,000-strong crowd before breaking down in tears 4/100 Ukraine People visit the Independence square in Kiev 5/100 Ukraine People walk by barrycades and makeshift memorials to the victims of the riots in central Kiev 6/100 Ukraine People lay flowers on the Independence Square in Kiev 7/100 Ukraine Maidan self-defence activists stand on an armored vehicle in central Kiev 8/100 Ukraine People gather for prayers and to listen to speakers in Independence Square 9/100 Ukraine A woman with a Ukrainian flag wrapped around her sholders looks on as she lights a candle at a makeshift memorial to anti-government protesters killed in the past weeks' clashes with riot police 10/100 Ukraine The body of Ustim Holodnyuk (19) who was killed in fighting between anti-government protesters and police, is carried from Independence Square in Kiev 11/100 Ukraine An anti-government protester injured during clashes with riot police receives medical care at a makeshift hospital in Kiev 12/100 Ukraine Protestors build a barricade at the Independent square in Kiev 13/100 Ukraine Anti-government protesters shout 'Glory to the Ukraine' as they man a barricade at Independence Square in Kiev 14/100 Ukraine An anti-government demonstrator holds a burning tire as he build a barricade at the Independent square in Kiev 15/100 Ukraine An anti-government demonstrator builds a barricade with burning tires at the Independent square in Kiev 16/100 Ukraine An anti-government demonstrator throws a burning tire as he build a barricade at the Independent square in Kiev 17/100 Ukraine Anti-government protesters carry an injured man on a stretcher after clashes with riot police in the Independence Square in Kiev 18/100 Ukraine Protesters cheer while they managed to break police blockade in Kiev 19/100 Ukraine Anti-government protesters take cover while under fire from police snipers during clashes with riot police in central Kiev 20/100 Ukraine Protesters hold petrol bombs during clashes with police in Kiev 21/100 Ukraine Anti-government protesters carry an injured man on a stretcher after clashes with riot police in the Independence Square in Kiev 22/100 Ukraine Protesters walk on a puddle of blood left by a wounded demonstrator during clashes with the police in the center of Kiev 23/100 Ukraine An anti-government protester holds a firearm as he mans a barricade on the outskirts of Independence Square in Kiev 24/100 Ukraine An Otrthodox priest gestures after clashes between anti-government protesters and riot police in the Independence Square in Kiev 25/100 Ukraine An elderly protester smokes during a break in clashes with police in central Kiev 26/100 Ukraine A protestor carries food for demonstrators on the barricades during the face off against heavily-armed police in Kiev 27/100 Ukraine An anti-government protester reacts following clashes with riot police in Independence Square in Kiev 28/100 Ukraine Two anti-government protesters use a large drum after violence erupted in the Independence Square in Kiev 29/100 Ukraine A man plays the trumpet as anti-government protesters continue to clash with police in Independence square in Kiev 30/100 Ukraine Riot police fire at anti government demonstrators on the Independence square in Kiev 31/100 Ukraine Anti government demonstrators carry a wounded comrade during clashes with riot police on the Independence square in Kiev 32/100 Ukraine A protester shouts slogans as he stands behind barricades during clashes with police in Kiev 33/100 Ukraine A protester throws a petrol bomb as he stands behind barricades during clashes with police in Kiev 34/100 Ukraine Ukraine's embattled leader announced a 'truce' with the opposition as he prepared to get grilled by visiting EU diplomats over clashes that killed 26 and left the government facing diplomatic isolation 35/100 Ukraine Protesters burn as they stand behind burning barricades during clashes with police in Kiev 36/100 Ukraine Anti-government protesters continue to clash with police in Independence square, despite a truce agreed between the Ukrainian president and opposition leaders in Kiev 37/100 Ukraine A protester sits on a statue while others stand on a barricade during clashes with police in Kiev 38/100 Ukraine Protesters carry a wounded protester during clashes with police, after gaining new positions near the Independence square in Kiev 39/100 Ukraine Protester carries bottles during the clashes with police in Independence square in Kiev 40/100 Ukraine Protesters walk and stand near a burning bus at the Institutskaya Street close to the central Independence Square in Kiev 41/100 Ukraine Protesters stand behind burning barricades during a face-off against police in Kiev 42/100 Ukraine Protesters escort a 'captured' policeman near Independence square in Kiev 43/100 Ukraine Violent clashes erupted in Kiev following renewed anti-government protests, with the death toll rising to 25 44/100 Ukraine An anti-government protesters prays in Independence Square in Kiev 45/100 Ukraine Anti-government protester throws Molotov cocktail at the police in Independence Square in Kiev 46/100 Ukraine Injured anti-government protester at the Independence Square in Kiev 47/100 Ukraine Anti-government protesters in Independence Square in Kiev 48/100 Ukraine Anti-government protesters carry a roundwood as they gather in Independence Square in central Kiev 49/100 Ukraine An anti-government protester looks on as smoke from a fire rises above Independence Square in central Kiev 50/100 Ukraine Protesters at the Independence Square in Kiev 51/100 Ukraine Ukrainian protesters poured on to a central Kiev square to confront police anew after the bloodiest day since the former Soviet republic, caught in a geopolitical struggle between Russia and the West, won its independence 52/100 Ukraine Interior Ministry officers walk in formation as smoke rises above Independence Square where anti-government protesters are holding a rally in central Kiev 53/100 Ukraine Smoke rises above Independence Square as clashes between anti-government protesters with Interior Ministry members and riot police continue in central Kiev 54/100 Ukraine A trade union building is seen on fire in Independence Square in central Kiev 55/100 Ukraine Interior Ministry members and riot police block a street as anti-government protesters gather in front of them amidst heavy smoke during clashes in Kiev 56/100 Ukraine Ukrainian riot police take cover behind their shields during clashes with anti-government protesters near Independence Square in Kiev 57/100 Ukraine Ukrainian riot police stand in front of the fire ring around of the Independence Square during the continuing protest in downtown Kiev EPA 58/100 Ukraine Flames engulfed the main anti-government protest camp on Independence Square as riot police 59/100 Ukraine Anti-government protesters clash with the police during their storming of Independence Square in Kiev Sergei Supinsky/AFP/Getty Images 60/100 Ukraine Anti-government protesters clash with the police during their storming of Independence Square in Kiev. Flames engulfed the main anti-government protest camp on Kiev's Independence Square on Tuesday as riot police tried to force demonstrators out following the bloodiest clashes in three months of protests Genya Savilov/AFP/Getty Images 61/100 Ukraine Monuments to Kiev's founders burn as anti-government protesters clash with riot police in Kiev's Independence Square Efrem Lukatsky/AP 62/100 Ukraine Riot police storm Kiev's Independence Square Efrem Lukatsky/AP 63/100 Ukraine Riot police storm Kiev's Independence Square, the epicenter of the country's current unrest Efrem Lukatsky/AP 64/100 Ukraine Anti-government protesters clash with riot police in Kiev's Independence Square Efrem Lukatsky/AP 65/100 Ukraine An anti-government protester runs during clashes with riot police in Kiev's Independence Square Efrem Lukatsky/AP 66/100 Ukraine Anti-government protesters clash with riot police in Kiev's Independence Square, the epicenter of the country's current unrest Efrem Lukatsky/AP 67/100 Ukraine Ukrainians gather on the Independence Square during continuing protest in Kiev; smoke is visible in the sky, above the city Igor Kovalenko/EPA 68/100 Ukraine Smoke from exploding fireworks and fires billows into the night sky as Ukrainians gather on the Independence Square during continuing protest in Kiev Igor Kovalenko/EPA 69/100 Ukraine Police clash with anti-government protesters in Kiev. Police on Tuesday began an assault on the main anti-government protest camp in Kiev after a day of bloody clashes, AFP journalists at the scene said Anatolii Boiko/AFP/Getty Images 70/100 Ukraine Anti-government demonstrators stand on barricades during clashes with riot police in Kiev 71/100 Ukraine An opposition demonstrator holds a Molotov cocktail during clashes with police in Kiev 72/100 Ukraine Injured anti-government protesters look on a policeman during clashes with riot police outside Ukraine's parliament in Kiev 73/100 Ukraine Wounded people walk after clashes with riot police in central Kiev 74/100 Ukraine Anti-government female protesters help an injured comrade during clashes with riot police outside Ukraine's parliament in Kiev 75/100 Ukraine Injured anti-government protesters during clashes with riot police outside Ukraine's parliament in Kiev 76/100 Ukraine Anti-government protesters carry a wounded man during clashes with riot police in Kiev 77/100 Ukraine Opposition demonstrators evacuate a wounded protester during clashes with police in Kiev 78/100 Ukraine Red Cross workers give first aid to policemen wounded during clashes with anti-government protester in Kiev 79/100 Ukraine An injured anti-government protester lies on the ground during clashes with riot police outside Ukraine's parliament in Kiev 80/100 Ukraine Interior ministry members take cover behind shields during clashes with anti-government protesters in Kiev 81/100 Ukraine Opposition demonstrators stand in front of burning barricades during clashes with police in Kiev 82/100 Ukraine Anti-government protesters clash with police in front of the Ukrainian Parliment in Kiev 83/100 Ukraine A protester holds a makeshft shield in front of a burning car during clashes with police in Kiev 84/100 Ukraine Anti-government protesters shield themselves during clashes with riot police in central Kiev 85/100 Ukraine Interior Ministry members are on fire, caused by molotov cocktails hurled by anti-government protesters, as they stand guard during clashes in Kiev 86/100 Ukraine Protesters clash with riot police as a rainbow appears during continuing protests in downtown Kiev 87/100 Ukraine Anti-government protesters clashed violently with police in central Kiev, a day after Moscow moved to cement its influence over Ukraine with $2 billion in cash to shore up the former Soviet state's heavily indebted economy 88/100 Ukraine People speak near a barricade on fire during clashes between anti-government protesters and Interior Ministry members in Kiev 89/100 Ukraine Two wounded policemen are guided to the ambulance cars during an anti-government protest in downtown Kiev 90/100 Ukraine Protesters take over the main office of the ruling Ukrainian 'Party of Regions' political party in downtown Kiev 91/100 Ukraine Anti-government protesters attempt to break a door inside an office of the pro-presidential Party of the Regions in Kiev 92/100 Ukraine A protester inside the main office of the ruling Ukrainian Party of Regions political party in downtown Kiev 93/100 Ukraine An anti-government protester dressed in Ukrainian national dress throws a stone during clashes with riot police outside Ukraine's parliament in Kiev 94/100 Ukraine Anti-government protesters gather by the entrance as they attack an office of the pro-presidential Party of the Regions in Kiev 95/100 Ukraine A young anti-government protester looks on during clashes with police in front of the Ukrainian Parliment in Kiev 96/100 Ukraine An anti-government protester wears a gas mask during clashes with Interior Ministry members in Kiev. Several thousand anti-government protesters clashed with police near Ukraine's parliament torching vehicles and hurling stones in the worst violence to rock the capital Kiev in more than three weeks 97/100 Ukraine Thousands of angry anti-government protesters clashed with police in a new eruption of violence following new maneuvering by Russia and the European Union to gain influence over this former Soviet republic 98/100 Ukraine An anti-government protester threatens riot police outside Ukraine's parliament in Kiev 99/100 Ukraine Protesters marched toward the parliament to demand constitutional reforms that would curb the powers of President Viktor Yanukovych. Ukraine has been mired in political crisis since November 2013 after the government backed away from a trade agreement with the European Union and signed a 15-billion-dollar loan deal with Russia instead 100/100 Ukraine At least five anti-government protesters were killed and some 150 others injured in fresh clashes between police and demonstrators protesting near Ukraine's parliament building in Kiev

In hindsight, even then – during times of hope for a Western-oriented, fully democratic future after the Orange Revolution of late 2004 – there were warning signs to heed. Despite the official cult of Ukrainian promoted by the nationalists then in power, Russian still served as a lingua franca of the streets. At any meal, the façade of nationalist unity would start to crack and the unhealed rifts between Europhiles and Slavophiles – “right bank” and “left bank” Ukraine, after the flanks of the mighty Dnieper – begin to emerge.

After a few pepper-and-honey vodkas, over plump roast river fish, some of our hosts would – if they hailed from Russophile provinces – raise doubts about the validity of the new state that came into being in December 1991 amid the wreckage of Stalin’s Soviet empire. Culture mattered to them. But then, in these parts, it always does.

Glinting above the riverbank, the gold-domed monasteries of Pechersk Lavra recall the medieval heyday of Kievan Rus – the spiritual mothership of all Russian Orthodoxy, not just this patch of it. For pan-Slav thinkers, Ukraine remains, etymologically, the “borderland” of greater Russia.

A guy from the coal-mining, Moscow-backing Donbas told me of his outrage that the Russian classics should be taught as “foreign literature” in this city. In Kiev, where so many great Russian souls had lived and written!

Now a haunting museum, Bulgakov’s beloved family home – the setting of his novel The White Guard and play The Days of the Turbins – sits halfway down the winding, cobbled Andreyevsky Descent. Bulgakov loved his home town, but he called Kiev “a beautiful city, a happy city, the mother of Russian cities”. He was never remotely a Bolshevik. Still, Ukrainian nationalism repelled him as a primitive peasant throwback.

That backwoods chauvinism has shown its face in the current unrest. Late last year, the right-wing Svoboda (Freedom) party tried to hijack the uprising with posters of the pro‑Nazi wartime guerrilla leader Stepan Bandera. They remain a small minority among protesters. Most want “Europe” as a proxy or blanket term for accountability, transparency, democracy.

Even in the east, the Euromaidan has plenty of backers – although rallies there seem to express rage at the shameless kleptocracy of Yanukovych and his “family” more than any love of Brussels. See the website yanukovich.info for some solidly documented material on corruption among the ruling clique.

Breakdowns in legitimacy and breakdowns in governance run in tandem. If a large proportion of citizens feel that their state lacks values and authority, then what’s to stop a crooked elite from treating it as a private cash machine?

Ukraine’s divisions still run as deep as the Dnieper. If you credit a range of polls, support for the anti-government demonstrations since the abrogation of an EU co-operation deal on 21 November has stayed at or just under 50 per cent. Backing for the Yanukovych camp has hovered around, or just above, 40 per cent. In some parts of the west, fewer than 15 per cent wish to toe the Russian line; in the east, it’s a mirror image – with comparable figures.

Even if Yanukovych goes, Ukraine will still suffer its crisis of legitimacy. Yulia Tymoshenko, the former leader jailed in 2011 whose release the parliament agreed yesterday, still has enemies enough to derail any comeback. No unifying, pacifying figurehead – a Walesa or a Havel – lurks on the horizon. And Russian tutelage still has appeal for almost half the country.

Andrey Kurkov wrote recently: “Ukraine is a country where victory for any one side is impossible.” A trial of Yanukovych and his cronies “would look a great deal more elegant” than the current carnage, but “would be sanctioned by half the population”.

A house divided, we tend to think, cannot stand. But how much fundamental disaffection can a country take? This is not just a teaser for foreign-affairs buffs. After all, the United Kingdom – that ramshackle old jalopy of a polity, tied together with string and myth – is wheezing towards an abyss of its own.

Come September, the Scottish referendum presents a painfully perfect lose-lose scenario. Given a rejection of independence (still more likely), a thoroughly disgruntled 40-plus percentage of Scots will continue to press for devo max at the highest proof available. Now imagine a – far from impossible – “Yes” vote of 51 per cent or so, secured by cack-handed, backfiring pro-union interventions by everyone from Osborne to Barroso to Bowie.

No, we shouldn’t predict barricades on Princes Street or bonfires on the Royal Mile. Edinburgh will not burn like Kiev. Yet believers in a multinational state that has – despite or because of its anomalies – lasted since 1707 will find themselves suddenly thrown into citizenship of a country that commands none of their loyalty.

At least in the early of days of independence, half the country will not care to fly its new flag. Non-unionist Scots have long-practised skills in cultural separateness. For a large, restive unionist minority, the same would not apply. Have Alex Salmond and his team planned enough for the outcomes of a narrow-scrape victory? Without alarmism, it doesn’t seem absurd to direct them to the rocky history of post-Communist Europe. Secessionists who dream of Norway and Denmark should at least take a peek not just at Ukraine but into the long nightmare of Bosnia – shaken again this month by disintegrative protests.

We don’t need to travel that far to witness the lingering misery of botched state formation. This year is the centenary not only of the First World War but also of a local uprising against the authority of the British parliament. It happened in Ireland, yes. And Ulster Protestants were responsible.

When the passage of the third Home Rule Bill of 1912, giving de facto self-government to all Ireland, became inevitable, the country’s unionists rose in arms.

Edward Carson, the firebrand barrister-politician who had destroyed his fellow Dubliner Oscar Wilde in court, raised 100,000 rebels to fight against Westminster’s decision. At the Curragh, in March 1914, army officers mutinied. The Ulster Volunteers illegally imported rifles, while in the south, the Irish Volunteers – a core component of the later IRA – came into being to oppose them. At gunpoint, Carson won his Northern Irish statelet. Ireland descended into civil wars. That collapse of legitimacy drained and wounded both islands for almost a century.

Back in Kiev, Putin’s neo-Stalinist playbook – of remote-control repression via heavy-handed puppet regimes – has come to grief. He will not be welcome for a private screening in the Verkhovna Rada any time soon. As for Bulgakov, who lived through 10 coups in Kiev after the October Revolution in 1917, he came to loathe every bloody faction.

At the end of The White Guard, he voices the hope that “all this will pass. The sufferings, agonies, blood, hunger and wholesale death. The sword will go away, but the stars will remain… So why do we not want peace, and why are we reluctant to turn our gaze to the stars?”

Peace must mean that your home – however quarrelsome – stands firm. Bungle the architecture of statehood and the repairs may last for ever, and cost the earth.