© Getty ImagesProtesters in Kiev's Independence Square, Dec 2013
November 23 2004 An estimated 500,000 protestors assemble in Kiev's Independence Square. The Orange Revolution is born. Ukraine's Supreme Court suspends publication of the election results pending an investigation.
December 8 2004 Following the Supreme Court's annulment of the elections, a December re-run of the disputed presidential election is announced. Protesters scale down their demonstration and government employees return to work.
December 11 Doctors in Vienna announce that tests have confirmed that Yushchenko was poisoned with a dioxin.
December 27 2004 Polls close on the third round of voting, with results showing a handsome margin of victory for Yushchenko. Yanukovich resigns as Prime Minister following his failed court action against the latest results. He says he cannot work with Yushchenko loyalists.
January 23 2005 Viktor Yushchenko is sworn in as president following Supreme Court validation of the final results. He appoints political ally Yulia Tymoshenko as prime minister. Widespread political and economic reforms are announced but the government is sacked by Yushchenko later in the year.
March 2006 Parliamentary elections give Yanukovich's Party of the Regions a majority, leading President Yushshenko to appoint his former opponent as prime minister.
September 2007 Yanukovich's party wins the greatest share of votes in parliamentary elections, but alternative opposition figure Yulia Tymoshenko eclipses Viktor Yushchenko. The Orange parties win a narrow majority, forming a coalition government under Tymoshenko's leadership in December.
May 29 2009 The EU announces an ambitious "Eastern Partnership" programme to negotiate deep and comprehensive free trade agreements with Ukraine and five former Soviet republics. The plan aims to build a "sphere of interest" embracing post-Soviet states bordering Russia conditional on legal, economic and political reforms.
February 7 2010 Viktor Yanukovich narrowly defeats prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko in the final round of presidential elections, completing a stunning political comeback. Tymoshenko is also forced out of office as prime minister following her unsuccessful appeal against the result.
June 24 2011 A trial is launched in which Tymoshenko is accused of abusing her office by signing a controversial gas deal contract with Russian supplier Gazprom. Tymoshenko is accused of agreeing to inflated gas prices in return for political and financial backing. In October, Tymoshenko is found guilty and sentenced to seven years in prison.
March 2012 Senior officials meet in Brussels to initial the text of an EU-Ukraine Association Agreement. The deal faces lengthy negotiations before it can be completed and EU leaders insist that Tymoshenko be released from prison.
November 21 2013 Yanukovich announces that he has suspended negotiations with the EU for an association agreement. He claims that the EU needed to offer more to secure Ukraine's economic future. Critics point to external pressure from Russian president Vladimir Putin who has made a number of threats against Ukraine, including hefty tariffs on imports to Russia. Protesters against the decision emerge on Independence Square.
November 30 2013 Protests are cleared from Independence Square by security forces.
December 1 2013 An estimated 350,000 protestors bearing EU and Ukrainian flags come out onto Kiev's streets to protest against the government's security response and to demand greater engagement with Europe. Ukrainian prime minister Mykola Azarov warns that the protests are becoming "uncontrollable" as demonstrators attempt to storm the presidential buildings.
December 2 2013 Ukraine's bond yields soar and the price of insuring against a default on government debt surges as protesters call for revolution. Vladimir Putin condemns the 12-day protests as "a pogrom". Yanukovich makes a televised address appealing for calm and pledges to re-engage with Brussels on the details of the association agreement.
December 3 2013 Deputies present a no-confidence motion in Yanukovich's government as he flies to China to seek a multi-billion dollar loan deal. The motion fails to defeat the government's majority.
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