Timeline of the Orange Revolution

Below is the timeline of events that followed the runoff presidential election held in Ukraine on 21 November 2004 that sparked off the "Orange Revolution".

Tens of thousands of opposition supporters, including members of the PORA student movement, gathered in Independence Square in Kyiv to see the results broadcast live on television.

Later that night, Yushchenko told supporters to stay in the square overnight to keep the tent encampment safe from security forces who wanted to dismantle it.

There must be more and more of us here every hour.City councils of four major cities in Western Ukraine, including L'viv and Ivano-Frankivs'k, refused to recognize the official results and declared that Yushchenko had won the election.

The chairman of the Russian State Duma, Boris Gryzlov, acting as the observer, estimated the declared results as final and congratulated Viktor Yanukovich on his victory, following which Vladimir Putin did the same.

Despite the cold weather and fear caused by the relocation of the military vehicles and the special operations personnel, the supporters of Yushchenko gathered around 100-150 thousands of followers.

Timoshenko called for the start of mass strikes in industries and higher level educational institutions, as well as for the closure of all the roads, airports, and railways.

The Yushchenko administration requested for an extraordinary seating of the Rada, the annulation of the election in the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts where no observers or journalists were allowed after the closing of the electoral districts.

The chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Richard Lugar declared: "Now it became apparent that the aggressive and powerful plan of falsification and infringement at the day of election was conducted whether under the coordination or cooperation with the government."

The chairman of the foreign affairs committee of the European Parliament Elmar Brok threatens Ukraine with financial sanctions if the information about the falsification will be confirmed.

Approximately 100,000 Yushchenko supporters gathered in Kyiv awaiting a session of the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, in the hope that it would discuss the accusations of fraud and come to a solution.

Yushchenko urged his supporters to engage in a series of nationwide general strikes – an "Orange Revolution", after his campaign color – with the intent of crippling the government and forcing Yanukovych to concede defeat.

However, local television stations in Yanukovych's heartland of eastern Ukraine continued to toe the government line by not screening images of the demonstrations.

[citation needed] After failing to reach an agreement with Yanukovych, Yushchenko announced that he would only agree to further negotiations if they would be on the subject of holding another vote.

(Irish Times) On the same day the Ukrainian parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, declared the poll results invalid, and also passed a vote of no confidence in Ukraine's Central Election Commission.

Borys Kolesnikov, president of the Donetsk region council, suggested turning Ukraine into a federation and creating a new South-East Ukrainian Autonomous Republic with its capital in Kharkiv.

[1][2] Yushchenko criticized these ideas as anti-constitutional, and observers suggested that Yanukovych's apparent support for separatism had damaged the standing of the government side.

Over 10,000 IM (Internal Ministry) troops mobilized to put down the protests in Independence Square in Kyiv according to their commander Lt. Gen. Sergei Popkov.

At the same time, the opposition seemed to suffer a setback as the Ukrainian parliament initially failed to pass a motion of no confidence in the Yanukovych government.

The vote urges President Leonid Kuchma to dismiss Yanukovych and appoint a caretaker prime minister, who would probably be parliamentary speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn.

As a gesture of goodwill, Yushchenko agreed to tell his supporters to cease their blockade of official buildings in Kyiv so that government work could resume.

Yanukovych's camp submitted a complaint to the Ukrainian Supreme Court protesting alleged irregularities in Yushchenko-supporting regions of Ukraine and Kyiv.

President George W. Bush also issued a statement, saying that any new poll should be open, fair and free of foreign influence, and that the will of the Ukrainian people must be known and heard.

However, he refused to meet demands to sack Yanukovych, potentially setting up a fresh confrontation with the Ukrainian parliament, which had earlier passed a motion of no confidence in the government.

The Times reported that Austrian doctors had confirmed that Yushchenko's mysterious illness was due to poisoning from a biological or chemical agent.

Doctor Michael Zimpfer, president of the Rudolfinerhaus clinic, stated that his illness had resulted from "high concentrations of dioxin, most likely orally administered".