Ukraine’s Euromaidan protests are protected by multi-level barricades built from sacks filled with snow. Photo from zyalt.livejournal.com, used with permission

The task of changing what hundreds of thousands of citizens in Ukraine find to be a corrupt, authoritarian regime into a country where a simple, comfortable life is possible for everyone is one that has daunted Ukrainians for many years, but especially so during the years of current President Viktor Yanukovych. Those that oppose the government face persecution – any excuse for a jail sentence. Among the first and most public examples is the imprisonment of his political rival and former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.